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Minwax®: The Story Behind the Familiar Yellow Label
Teddy Roosevelt had just won the Presidential race for a second term in
office. The Wright Brothers' heavier-than-air machine had flown 120 feet
on her maiden voyage. And construction was underway for the first railroad
tunnel under the Hudson River between Manhattan and New Jersey.
1904 was a year of astonishing progress. The discoveries made that year
heralded the beginnings of whole new industries and the founding of many
new companies.
One company in particular was founded in Brooklyn, New York, by Arthur
B. Harrison. It would later come to be known as the Minwax Company.
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History Begins for Minwax
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At the exact moment Wilbur and Orville Wright were struggling to keep
their new invention in the air over Kitty Hawk, NC, Arthur B. Harrison
was at work in New York City testing his new waterproofing and damp-resistant
materials to see if they would keep the air’s moisture out
of homes and buildings. In 1904, Arthur B. Harrison persuaded his
employer at Clifford I. Miller Company, a plaster manufacturer,
that a plant producing his materials could be a profitable venture.
Mr. Miller agreed, though little realizing that someday Mr. Harrison’s
enterprise would produce the Rolls Royce of wood finishing products.
In 1910, Mr. Harrison purchased the Miller interests, and four years
later he incorporated his business under the name Minwax.
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Discovery at Cleopatra’s Needle
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By 1916, the company had expanded and moved across the Hudson River to
larger plant facilities in Clifton, NJ. Mr. Harrison was, by that time,
the acknowledged expert in the field of waterproofing. In fact, membrane
waterproofing, still in use today, was among his early innovations.
In addition to general architectural and engineering projects, the Minwax
Company was often asked to engineer waterproofing projects of significant
historical importance.
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Cleopatra’s Needle, the Egyptian obelisk in Central Park, was thousands
of years old when it arrived in New York. However, archeologists soon
realized the climatic change from the desert to North America was accelerating
the deterioration of the monument. To help preserve it, the waterproofing
techniques of the Minwax Company were called upon.
At that point in time, stone structures were waterproofed by burning
paraffin wax into the stone itself. Cleopatra’s Needle was too delicate
for this. Burning paraffin would blacken the stone and destroy the hieroglyphic
markings on it. To avoid this, Mr. Harrison developed a liquefied formula
containing paraffin that would penetrate and seal the stone with a brush
application.
A wood scaffold was erected around the monument for the project. While
brushing on the preparation, the workers noticed that drips and spills
on the scaffolding beautified the wood. In fact, the scaffold looked like
it had been treated to a paste wax finish, yet it was not slippery to
walk on.
The formula was refined and introduced to architects who began to specify
it for wide use on floors and woodwork in public buildings and fine homes.
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Entry into the DIY Field
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In the late 1940s and early ‘50s, Minwax moved into the consumer
market. According to R. W. Harrison, Jr., a grandson of Arthur B. Harrison
who also served as President of Minwax from 1962-1978, this growth “…came
with the realization we had a product the average person could use successfully.”
The product itself was redesigned and improved for homeowner use, and
the wax in the finish was replaced by varnish gums, making the new Wood
Finish™ the first modern “quick-drying” product.
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Donald H. Henderson, a former President of Minwax, recalled, “Marketing
of the new Wood Finishes was originally a low-key activity, but word-of-mouth
endorsement by satisfied customers generated enormous demand.” Gradually,
new colors were added to the line and new companion products were introduced
to make Minwax a complete Wood Finishing Products Company.
Today, the power and beauty of wood is still important in both public
buildings and private homes, and the Minwax Company provides consumers
with a complete line of products to meet every wood finishing need. We
look ahead excitedly as we continue our work to make and keep wood beautiful®.
Our future promises to be as exciting as our past!
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