KIMBERLY-CLARK CORPORATION

Kimberly-Clark Corporation was established in 1872 in Neenah, Wisconsin, as Kimberly, Clark, and Company. The business was a partnership of four men—John A. Kimberly, Charles B. Clark, Frank C. Shattuck, and Kimberly's cousin, Havilah Babcock. The company established its first paper mill in Wisconsin; their first product was newsprint made from linen and cotton rags. Within six years the company expanded by acquiring a majority interest in the nearby Atlas paper mill, which converted ground pulpwood into manila wrapping paper. The business was incorporated in 1880 as Kimberly and Clark Company. In 1889 the company constructed a large pulp and paper-making complex on the Fox River.

In 1906, after the deaths of three of the four founders, the company was reorganized and renamed Kimberly-Clark Company. In 1914 researchers working with bagasse, a pulp byproduct of processed sugar cane, produced creped cellulose wadding, or tissue. During World War I (1914–18) this product, called cellucotton, was used to treat wounds in place of scarce surgical cottons. At that time field nurses also discovered that cellucotton worked well as a disposable feminine napkin. The company later recognized the commercial potential of this application and in 1920 introduced its Kotex feminine napkin.

Four years later the company introduced another disposable tissue product, Kleenex, to replace the face towels then used for removing cold cream. A survey showed, however, that consumers preferred to use Kleenex as a disposable handkerchief, prompting the company to alter its marketing strategy entirely. Nationwide advertisements promoting Kleenex for use as a facial tissue began in 1930; sales doubled within a year. In 1928 the company was reincorporated as Kimberly-Clark Corporation and became a publicly traded firm. During World War II (1939–1945) Kimberly-Clark contributed to the war effort by making M-45 anti-aircraft gun mounts, fuses for heavy shells, and other military products.

Introduced in 1968, Kimberly-Clark's first foray into the disposable diaper market, Kimbies, was withdrawn from the market in the mid-1970s because of poor sales and leakage problems. Much more successful were Huggies, the premium diaper introduced by Kimberly-Clark in 1978. Featuring an hourglass shape, elastic at the legs, and refastenable tapes, Huggies were an instant hit and had captured 50 percent of the higher quality disposable diaper market by 1984.

In 1980 Kimberly-Clark launched its Depend line of adult incontinence products through an aggressive television advertising campaign. Just as it had decades before through its promotion of once unmentionable feminine hygiene products, Kimberly-Clark again took on a taboo subject. The company was once again successful. Depend quickly became the best-selling retail incontinence brand in the United States and Kimberly-Clark now had a line of products serving the needs of absorbing bodily fluids which stretched from cradle to grave.

In 1985 Kimberly-Clark relocated its headquarters from Wisconsin to Texas. The company found new product success again in 1989, when Huggies Pull-Ups disposable training pants were introduced. Pull-Ups helped propel Huggies into the number one position in the disposable diaper market. In 1995 Kimberly-Clark merged with Scott Paper Co. in a $9.4 billion deal that created a global consumer products company with annual revenue of more than $13 billion. The new Kimberly-Clark emerged from their union with Scott with a roster of leading consumer brands, including Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, Depend, Pull-Ups, and the Scott brand of bathroom tissue and paper towels.

FURTHER READING

Briggs, Jean A. "The Paper Chase." Forbes, November 10, 1980.

Forest, Stephanie Anderson, and Mark Maremont. "Kimberly-Clark's European Paper Chase." Business Week, March 16, 1992.

Glowacki, Jeremy J. "Kimberly-Clark Corp.: Accelerates Global Expansion with Scott Merger." Pulp and Paper, December, 1995.

Ingham, John N., ed. Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, vol. 2. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1983, s.v. "Kimberly, John Alfred."

Spector, Robert. Shared Values: A History of Kimberly-Clark. Lyme, CT: Greenwich Publishing, 1997.