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The
roots of Johnson Products weave a story rich in
African American History as a testament to the American
Dream. The story begins in Richton, Mississippi,
in 1927 when George Ellis Johnson was born in a
three-room sharecropper’s shack. After his
parents divorced, 2-year-old George and his mother,
Priscilla, moved to Chicago. As soon as he was old
enough, George started shining shoes and selling
bottles he collected to help keep food on the table.
As he got older, he waited tables and set pins in
a bowling alley. Midway through high school, he
left to work full-time for the Fuller Products Company,
a black-owned cosmetics firm. A simple beginning…
years of hard work… perseverance… the
formulation of a dream…
If you have a new idea, your biggest job is
going to be to inform the public what you’ve
got.
- George Johnson
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In
1954, George Johnson borrowed $250 from a bank and
another $250 from a friend and launched his own
company, Johnson Products – the first hair
care brand developed specifically for African American
hair. The company’s first product was Ultra
Wave, a hair relaxer for men. In 1957, Ultra Sheen
was introduced as a hair relaxer for women. During
the next quarter century, more product lines were
introduced like Afro Sheen, and the most recognizable
Johnson Products brand of all, the Ultra Sheen hair
dress line. In 1981, the company introduced Gentle
Treatment, the first no-lye conditioning relaxer
on the market. And in 1989, Gentle Treatment expanded
by adding a formula designed specifically for gray
hair.
As
a result of the enormous success and continuing
growth of the company, in 1971 Johnson Products
became the first minority-run business listed on
the New York Stock Exchange. In 2003, Johnson Products
became a part of the Procter & Gamble family.
The long standing heritage and proven success through
more than two decades of acquistions and mergers
is a testament to the strength of Johnson Products’
brands.
Our success has been a beacon for a lot of Blacks
who had the ambition to try to do something and
were encouraged by the fact that we were successful.
- George Johnson
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Johnson
Products has remained a trusted brand for more than
a half century. Developed by an African-American
for African-Americans, Johnson Products continue
to reinforce its ties to the community. Since 1960,
the company has spent nearly all of its advertising
dollars in black-owned publications like Ebony and
Jet magazines, it expanded into ethnic radio, and
became the first black advertiser to sponsor a nationally-syndicated
television show, TV’s trendsetting Soul Train.
Today, the company continues to develop hair care
products of the highest caliber to meet the ever
changing needs and desires of its African-American
clients.
I am most proud of the impact that my success
has had upon the Black youth in our community.
- George Johnson
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