You may have never heard of the
inventor Norman “Norm” Larsen. Still, one can almost guarantee that you have
used or have the successful fortieth iteration of his most famous invention in
your garage or your storage cabinet. It is in a blue and yellow spray can and
initially designed to displace water. It has helped get a phyton free from a
sewer in Thailand, it has removed thousands of bumper stickers from the back of
our cars, and even can unstick your frozen hinge in your bedroom closet. Still
do not know what this invention is? It is WD-40.
In the early 1950s, Norm Larsen
was an American chemist that was working for Rocket Chemical Company with his
massive team of two individuals in southern California. Norman, Gordon Dawson,
and John Gregory made up the entire team at the chemical company
(wd40company.com, n.d.). Rocket Chemical Company was working on a “rust-prevention
solvent” for the aerospace industry. For some perspective, air travel was only
in its fiftieth year of existence, and the space race was just about to begin.
Sputnik was a mear four years of being hurled into space and changing human-kind
forever. Convair Aerospace Company charged Rocket Chemical Company with
developing a solvent that would protect aircraft and the outer shell of the
Atlas missile used by the National Aeronautical and Space Agency (NASA).
By all accounts,
Norm was a self-taught chemist and developed the basis of his repellent formula
in his home. Technological forces were the primary impedance for the creation
of WD-40. His zest for understanding and
solving problems helped to propel his curiosity to continue the quest to create
the repellent formula. With the formula now perfected, Norm accepted a $500
bonus and gave the rights and secret formula to the Rocket Chemical Company (Engstrand.
2014). Norm was not phased by providing the rights to his invention. Like a
true inventor, he was looking for the next problem to solve and creating a new
company shortly after leaving Rocket Chemical Company.
According to WD40.com (n.d.), one-million
cans are sold every week. Four out of five households in America have at least
one can of WD-40. WD-40 bolsters the claim that there are over 2000 documented
uses for there product. Never was there a truer saying than “If at first, you
don’t succeed, try, try, try again” – Fredrick Marryat. Norm Larsen was the
embodiment of a never give up attitude and throughout 1953, 40 times a charm,
and the rest is history. Norm only was able to see the fruits of his labor for
a few years. He died at the age of 47 years old, and 50 years later, WD-40 is a
world-wide phenomenon that is still going strong.
Link to the WD-40 History Timeline and Infographics: https://www.wd40.com/history/#:~:text=The%20product%20made%20its%20first,plant%20to%20use%20at%20home. and https://www.wd40company.com/our-company/our-history/
References
Benna, S. (2015, July 22). This billion-dollar company
failed 39 times before becoming successful. Retrieved August 5, 2020, from
Business Insider website: https://www.businessinsider.com/wd-40-failed-39-times-before-becoming-successful-2015-7
Engstrand, I. (2014). WD-40: San Diego’s Marketing
Miracle. Journal of San Diego History, 60(4), 253–270.
Retrieved from http://sandiegohistory.org/sites/default/files/journal/v60-4/v60-4engstrand.pdf
The WD-40 Company history: It all began in San Diego,
California. (2009). Retrieved from Wd40company.com website:
https://www.wd40company.com/our-company/our-history/
WD-40 History | Learn the Stories Behind the WD-40 Brand |
WD-40. (n.d.). Retrieved August 5, 2020, from www.wd40.com website:
https://www.wd40.com/history/#:~:text=The%20product%20made%20its%20first
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