Robert G. Whitehead
Encyclopedia
Robert George Whitehead (October 31, 1916 – February 22, 2007) was a Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 businessman who created Quaker House Products, Inc., which produced and marketed the first-aid ointment known as "Blue Star Ointment"; some 50 million jars are sold annually in the United States. Robert Whitehead was a marketing maverick who used an innovative memorable 10-second television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 commercial to sell Blue Star Ointment. These shorter ads cost less than a traditional 30-second commercial to both produce and air. Whitehead packed all the information into a shorter time frame, to attract customers and to generate a community buzz, all within the old marketing format of an auctioneer.

Whitehead was born in Fort Morgan
Fort Morgan, Colorado
The City of Fort Morgan is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Morgan County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimated that the city population was 10,844 in 2005.-History:...

, in northeastern Colorado. His mother's family traces their roots to the pre-Revolutionary War
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

 period. Robert Whitehead's daughters are still both affiliated with the Daughters of the American Revolution
Daughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States' independence....

. Whitehead's father, Dan, was a third-generation cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

 broker and an auctioneer. Robert said that much of his early business success came from his father's direction. In 1882, Dan Whitehead's family established the town of Oakland
Oakland, Iowa
Oakland is a city located along the West Nishnabotna River in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 1,487. Formerly named Big Grove, Oakland is home to Nishna Heritage Museum...

 in Pottawattamie County
Pottawattamie County, Iowa
Pottawattamie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 93,158 in the 2010 census, an increase from 87,704 in the 2000 census and is the second largest county by area in Iowa. The Pottawattamie county seat is located at Council Bluffs. It is one of three Iowa...

.

Whitehead began his sales career with the Gail Borden Company in New York City; he moved to Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...

 and accepted a Sales Director position with Amalie Oil. Later he founded Quaker Products from his home in Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

 and obtained the rights to distribute Blue Star Ointment, which became his firm’s primary product; they also offered a cleaner for steam irons. He often remarked that Blue Star Ointment successfully treated his painful psoriasis
Psoriasis
Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that appears on the skin. It occurs when the immune system mistakes the skin cells as a pathogen, and sends out faulty signals that speed up the growth cycle of skin cells. Psoriasis is not contagious. However, psoriasis has been linked to an increased risk of...

; which he suffered with since his teenage years. The product also offers relief from various types of itching from eczema to insect bites, ringworm, jock itch
Jock itch
Tinea cruris, also known as crotch itch, crotch rot, Dhobie itch, eczema marginatum, gym itch, jock itch, and ringworm of the groin in American English is a dermatophyte fungal infection of the groin region in either sex, though more often seen in males...

, and athlete's foot
Athlete's foot
Athlete's foot is a fungal infection of the skin that causes scaling, flaking, and itch of affected areas. It is caused by fungi in the genus Trichophyton and is typically transmitted in moist areas where people walk barefoot, such as showers or bathhouses...

.

Blue Star's original formula was created by German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 immigrant Adolf Gottlieb—a studied apothecary
Apothecary
Apothecary is a historical name for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist and some caregivers....

 and pharmacist
Pharmacist
Pharmacists are allied health professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use...

 in the 1920s. to the farming community of in Grimes County southeastern town Plantersville, Texas. Gottlieb sold his Blue Star formula in the 1930s to traveling salesman Jim Bourland of Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...

. When Bourland died, Robert Whitehead acquired the rights thereafter, and sales skyrocketed. Whitehead's older Henry Whitehead son and daughter Gail Whitehead assisted him in the family-owned and operated business.

Whitehead was largely self-educated; he developed a great interest and talent for literature and art. From 1955 to 1967, he was associated with the Great Book Council of Houston and led Great Books discussion clubs associated with Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...

. His art work has been displayed in Houston art galleries and museums and other commercial galleries throughout Texas. He loved working with watercolor, acrylic
Acrylic paint
Acrylic paint is fast drying paint containing pigment suspension in acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints can be diluted with water, but become water-resistant when dry...

, and oil; developing a unique abstract style.

Whitehead spent his later years in Laredo
Laredo, Texas
Laredo is the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, located on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 236,091 making it the 3rd largest on the United States-Mexican border,...

in south Texas, with his wife of 20 years, Leni Magali Whitehead. Whitehead died peacefully at home, he was survived by his 7 children, June Whitehead, Patricia Whitehead, Gail Whitehead, Danielle Whitehead, Henry Whitehead, and Kathryn Whitehead.
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