Esquire Shoe Polish was the best selling shoe polish brand in America from the 1940s to the 1960s.
During the Great Depression, Sam and Albert Abrams, chemists and entrepreneurs from Brooklyn, took over an ailing boot polish maker, the Knomark Manufacturing Company of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. [1] In 1938 they purchased the Esquire brand. [1] After a saturation advertising campaign in 1944, the company became the best selling shoe polish manufacturer in the US. [1] A 1951 advertising campaign featured the singer and television star Kate Smith. [2] In the late 1950s, they sold Knomark and the 1914-built [3] Esquire Building on 330 Wythe Avenue [3] in Brooklyn. In 1957, Revlon acquired Knomark, including the Esquire brand. [4] Revlon sold Knomark in 1969, [5] and after a period as a subsidiary of the Papercraft Corp., [6] Knomark became a subsidiary of the Sara Lee company, which owned several other polish brands including Kiwi. After federal regulators became concerned about Sara Lee's monopoly power, it divested itself of Knomark, selling the company and Esquire Brand. The Esquire trademark is currently owned by Griffin Brands, Inc., [7] although the company does not appear to be marketing products under that name.
The Esquire Building was acquired in 1984 and converted to condominiums by Stephanie Eisenberg [3] in 2000.
Revlon, Inc. is an American multinational company dealing in cosmetics, skin care, perfume, and personal care. The headquarters of Revlon was established in New York City on March 1, 1932, where it remains. Revlon was founded by brothers Charles and Joseph Revson, and chemist Charles Lachman. Revlon products are sold in 150 countries and the company has many global locations including Mexico City, London, Paris, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Sydney, Singapore, and Tokyo.
Brooks Sports, Inc., also known as Brooks Running, is an American sports equipment company that designs and markets high-performance men's and women's sneakers, clothing, and accessories. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Brooks products are available in 60 countries worldwide. It is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.
Skechers USA, Inc. is an American multinational footwear and apparel company. Headquartered in Manhattan Beach, California, it was founded in 1992 and is the third largest footwear brand in the United States.
Shoe polish, also known as boot polish and shoeshine, is a waxy paste, cream, or liquid that is used to polish, shine, and waterproof leather shoes or boots to extend the footwear's lifespan and restore its appearance. Shoe polishes are distinguished by their textures, which range from liquids to hard waxes. Solvent, waxes, and colorants comprise most shoe polishes. Shoe polishes that would be recognizable today have been around since the Middle Ages. Originally made with dubbin, they were only used to soften leather and weather proof shoes, they did not shine shoes. However, the popularity of shoe shining that arose during the early 1900s led to many shoe polish formulas being incorporated with a shining agent.
Playtex is an American brand name for undergarments, baby products, gloves, feminine hygiene products, and sunscreen. The brand began in 1947 when International Latex Corporation (ILC) created a division named Playtex to produce and sell latex products. Playtex was the first to advertise undergarments on national television in 1955, written by Howard Shavelson at Ogilvy and Mather, and the first to show a woman wearing only a bra from the waist up in a commercial in 1977. They developed space suits for the Apollo program.
Waldbaum's was a supermarket chain with stores in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx; and in Nassau, Suffolk counties and Upstate New York. The chain also for a time operated stores in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Founded in 1904, Waldbaum's was one of seven "banner store chains" owned and operated by The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P), which acquired the chain from its founding family in 1986.
Capezio is the trade name of Capezio Ballet Makers Inc., an American manufacturer of dance shoes, apparel and accessories.
Ideal Toy Company was an American toy company founded by Morris Michtom and his wife, Rose. During the post–World War II baby boom era, Ideal became the largest doll-making company in the United States. Their most popular dolls included Betsy Wetsy, Toni, Saucy Walker, Shirley Temple, Miss Revlon, Patti Playpal, Tammy, Thumbelina, Tiny Thumbelina, and Crissy. The company is also known for selling the Rubik's Cube.
Prentice Hall was a major American educational publisher. It published print and digital content for the 6–12 and higher-education market. It was an independent company throughout the bulk of the twentieth century. In its last few years it was owned by, then absorbed into, Savvas Learning Company. In the Web era, it distributed its technical titles through the Safari Books Online e-reference service for some years.
Hotwire is a travel website that offers airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, and vacation packages. It operates by selling off unsold travel inventory at discounted prices. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Hotwire, Inc. is an operating company of the Expedia Group, which also operates the website ClassicVacations, Expedia, Hotels.com, Orbitz, Travelocity and Egencia.
In marketing, branded content is content produced by an advertiser or content whose creation was funded by an advertiser. In contrast to content marketing and product placement, branded content is designed to build awareness for a brand by associating it with content that shares its values. The content does not necessarily need to be a promotion for the brand, although it may still include product placement.
Scott Foresman was an elementary educational publisher for PreK through Grade 6 in all subject areas. Its titles are now owned by Savvas Learning Company which formed from former Pearson Education K12 division. The old Glenview headquarters of Scott Foresman is empty as of August 2020, and Crain's Chicago Business reported that the broker hired to sell the property had missed a mortgage payment.
The Chipwich is a brand of ice cream sandwich made of ice cream between two chocolate chip cookies and then rolled in chocolate chips. The Chipwich name and logo is trademarked by Crave Better Foods, LLC based in Cos Cob, Connecticut.
Bulling, Bull polishing, spit polishing, mirror shining or spit shining refers to a method for polishing leather products, usually leather dress shoes or boots, to give an extremely high shine effect. The finished effect should leave the surface of the leather highly reflective, similar to a patent leather finish. In addition to aesthetics, the wax coating can protect the leather from moisture and scuffs.
Cutex is a brand of nail care products, owned by Revlon, Inc. The original product was developed and established in 1911 by Northam Warren Company, based in Stamford, Connecticut.
Dr. Scholl's is a footwear and orthopedic foot care brand originating in the United States, marketed in some countries as simply "Scholl". Since 2021, global rights to the brand have been owned by investment firm Yellow Wood Partners through subsidiary Scholl's Wellness Company, having purchased the North American rights from Bayer in North America in 2019, and the international rights from Reckitt in 2021.
Allbirds is an American public benefit company originating in New Zealand that sells footwear and apparel, co-founded in 2014 by Tim Brown and Joey Zwillinger. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, and is known for their minimalist designs, association with environmental, social, and governance principles, and Silicon Valley. Its business model has relied on direct-to-consumer commerce, although it also has brick and mortar commerce.
Exquisite Form is an American clothing brand for women's intimates, particularly bras and shapewear for full-figured women. The brand is owned by Vanity Fair Brands, a division of Fruit of the Loom.
Margaret Elizabeth Hockaday LaFarge (1907-1992) was an American executive who established the Hockaday Associates advertising firm in New York City in 1949.
Skims is an American shapewear and clothing brand co-founded by Kim Kardashian, Emma Grede and Jens Grede. Skims has a focus on body positivity and inclusivity across the brand and practices inclusive sizing. The company was valued at over $4 billion in July 2023.