Who invented the roll-on deodorant?
The invention of the roll-on deodorant is a demonstration of how one completely unrelated invention can lead to another. The so-called "mother" deodorant—which dates back to the nineteenth century—was sticky and hard to apply.
Helen Barnett Diserens (1918-2008) joined Bristol-Meyers' product development team as a researcher in the late 1940s. One of the products that the company specializes in was toiletries. One of Diserens' team focused on the way ballpoint pens work and inspired the invention of the rubbing deodorant.
Helen Barnett Diserens (born 1919) was an American chemist and inventor, known as one of inventors of Ban (roll on) deodorant. In the mid-1950s, she landed a job at Bristol Myers, where she became the head of the research laboratories for their deodorant product line. Diserens was working on Mum deodorant, which was originally founded in 1888 by an anonymous inventor in Philadelphia, and was bought by Bristol-Myers in 1931.
Diserens' spreadable deodorant mechanism consisted of a spinning ball placed on the tip of a glass bottle. The product was first tested in the United States in 1952, then released worldwide in 1955 and was met with great acclaim. However, with the introduction of antiperspirant spray deodorants shortly after, the market share of wearable roll-on deodorants dropped significantly.
The Squibb corporation was founded in 1858 by Edward Robinson Squibb in Brooklyn, New York. The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS) is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in New York City, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consistently ranks on the Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. corporations.
Until the 1970s, spray deodorants dominated the market. However, it was later understood that aerosol deodorants pierced the ozone layer due to the harmful gases released. Thereupon, roll-on deodorants regained popularity and regained a dominant position, especially in the antiperspirant products market.
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