Twenty-Mule-Team Borax
Encyclopedia
William Tell Coleman
William Tell Coleman was an American pioneer. He was born in Cynthiana, Harrison County, Kentucky, and was educated at St. Louis University.-Committees of Vigilance:...
's company to move borax
Borax
Borax, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral, and a salt of boric acid. It is usually a white powder consisting of soft colorless crystals that dissolve easily in water.Borax has a wide variety of uses...
out of Death Valley, California, to the nearest rail spur between 1883 and 1889.
Mule teams were first used by Francis Marion Smith
Francis Marion Smith
Francis Marion Smith was an American miner, business magnate and civic builder in the Mojave Desert, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Oakland, California.Frank Smith created the extensive interurban public transit Key System in Oakland, the East Bay,...
to move borax out of the desert. Smith subsequently acquired Coleman's holdings in 1890 and consolidated them with his own to form the Pacific Coast Borax Company
Pacific Coast Borax Company
The Pacific Coast Borax Company was a United States mining company founded in 1890 by the American borax magnate Francis "Borax" Smith, the "Borax King".-History:...
. After the mule teams were replaced by a new rail spur, the name 20 Mule Team Borax was established and aggressively promoted by Pacific Coast Borax to increase sales.
Stephen Mather, son of J.W. Mather, the administrator of the company's New York office, persuaded Smith to add the name 20 Mule Team Borax to go with the famous sketch of the mule team already on the box. The 20-mule team symbol was first used in 1891 and registered in 1894. In 1988, just over 20 years after the acquisition of U.S. Borax by Rio Tinto Group
Rio Tinto Group
The Rio Tinto Group is a diversified, British-Australian, multinational mining and resources group with headquarters in London and Melbourne. The company was founded in 1873, when a multinational consortium of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto river, in Huelva, Spain from the...
, the Boraxo
Boraxo
Boraxo is an American brand of powdered hand soap.As its name implies, Boraxo is composed largely of borax, and is marketed as a product for those who get their hands especially dirty during the course of their work, such as mechanics and farmers....
, Borateem and 20-Mule Team product lines were sold to Dial Corporation by U.S. Borax.. Dial is now the American consumer products unit of Henkel
Henkel
Henkel AG & Co. KGaA is an multinational company headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany.The company operates in three business areas: Home Care , Personal Care ,...
.
Radio and television
Death Valley Days
Death Valley Days is an American radio and television anthology series featuring true stories of the old American West, particularly the Death Valley area. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was broadcast on radio until 1945. It continued from 1952 to 1975 as a syndicated television series...
, a radio and television anthology dramatizing true stories of the old American West, particularly the Death Valley area. The program was created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman and broadcast on radio until 1945.
From 1952 to 1975, Death Valley Days was produced as a syndicated television series. One of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
's final television roles was as host of Death Valley Days in 1964-65. Reagan also acted in some episodes. The show was sponsored primarily by Pacific Coast Borax Company
Pacific Coast Borax Company
The Pacific Coast Borax Company was a United States mining company founded in 1890 by the American borax magnate Francis "Borax" Smith, the "Borax King".-History:...
, which later became U.S. Borax. The previous host was the "Old Ranger" (Stanley Andrews
Stanley Andrews
Stanley Andrews was an American actor perhaps best known as the voice of Daddy Warbucks on the radio program Little Orphan Annie and later as "The Old Ranger", the host of Death Valley Days.-Early life:...
), and, after Reagan's departure for politics and eventual U.S. Presidency
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, hosts included Robert Taylor
Robert Taylor (actor)
Robert Taylor was an American film and television actor.-Early life:Born Spangler Arlington Brugh in Filley, Nebraska, he was the son of Ruth Adaline and Spangler Andrew Brugh, who was a farmer turned doctor...
and Dale Robertson
Dale Robertson
Dayle Lymoine "Dale" Robertson is an American actor best known for his starring roles on television. He played the role of Jim Hardie in the TV series, Tales of Wells Fargo, and the owner of an incomplete railroad line in ABC's The Iron Horse, often appearing as the deceptively thoughtful but...
. Actress Rosemary DeCamp
Rosemary DeCamp
Rosemary DeCamp was an American radio, film and television actress.DeCamp first came to fame in November 1937, when she took the role of Judy Price, the secretary of Dr. Christian in the long-running radio series of the same name. She made her film debut in Cheers for Miss Bishop and appeared in...
was featured for many years in product advertising for 20 Mule Team laundry products. Today, the product is endorsed by Linda Cobb
Linda Cobb
Linda Cobb is an American who is known as the Queen of Clean. She began her career as a cleanliness counselor as a columnist for a Michigan newspaper, and she once owned a restoration business for homes that had suffered fires in her native state.Cobb, a resident of Phoenix, Arizona, is the...
, the "Queen of Clean."