Clorox Pronounced Kosher! - Rabbi Liber Cohen gave his seal of approval in 1930.

In addition to printed advertisements in women’s magazines like Good Housekeeping, The Clorox Company began targeting new consumers directly by reaching out to immigrants with handbills in the 1930s. These pamphlets for Clorox® liquid bleach were printed in several languages including French, Italian, Polish, Spanish and Hebrew and stressed the many uses of liquid bleach. The Hebrew version of the handbill from November 9, 1930 stated, “Clorox has been pronounced kosher by Rabbi Liber Cohen.” To this day, a rabbi visits Clorox® liquid bleach plants to confirm that they are kosher compliant.

Fahrenheit 409 - Although Formula 409® all-purpose spray cleaner is known for cleaning up tough messes throughout the home, who knew it could help save an entire library book collection?!

Back in the 1970s, a devastating fire destroyed more than 5,000 books and caused damage to the Main Public Library in Long Beach, California. With 200,000 books covered in grease and soot, community members quickly answered the call to action and helped clean the salvageable items. “Operation Booksave,” as it was called, implemented the restoration of the books, in addition to phonograph records, films and pictures from the library’s collection.

During Operation Booksave, however, the volunteer work came to an abrupt halt when the supply of book cleaning solution had been used up completely! The volunteers turned to Formula 409® all-purpose cleaner to save the day. Approximately 120 64-ounce bottles were used to restore the books and Formula 409 all-purpose cleaner successfully saved the day and thousands of library books.

Librarian, Mildred Snider exclaimed, “409! We couldn’t have done without it!”

Do you know of any unconventional uses for Formula 409 all-purpose cleaners?

*Products should always be used in accordance with the product label's usage instructions and precautionary warnings.

Though it shares common elements with labeling from later years — including our trademark diamond logo and “The White Line is the Clorox Line” slogan — this rare label tells its age with the mark of the first outside company to distribute commercial Clorox® bleach:

“L.A. WOLFF, Inc., Sole Distributors, San Francisco, Calif.”

In 1914, when The Clorox Company was still in its infancy, Wolff approached our board of directors with a proposition to purchase its entire stock of hypochlorite bleach at 40 cents a gallon. In return for exclusive distribution rights, they would bear the entire cost of labels, advertisements and handling, selling Clorox® bleach to local French laundries for 75 cents per gallon. Though the agreement lasted only one year, L.A. Wolff, Inc. helped develop the early market for Clorox® bleach in the Bay Area.

The Other N.R.A. - No, not the National Rifle Association. The "NRA Member" stamp on Clorox® bleach bottles in the 1930s signified The Clorox Company's participation in the New Deal.

The "NRA Member" stamp on Clorox® bleach bottles in the 1930s signified The Clorox Company's participation in the National Recovery Administration, one of President Roosevelt's "alphabet soup" of New Deal programs undertaken to help the nation recover from the Depression.

The NRA sought to stabilize the economy by ending cutthroat competition, overproduction, labor conflicts, and deflating prices. To do so, representatives of business, labor, and government established codes of "fair practices" that would set prices, production levels, minimum wages, and maximum hours within each industry. 

It was a voluntary program, and businesses that got on the bandwagon received a placard with a "blue eagle" on its face. Above the eagle was the inscription "NRA", and below the phrase "We Do Our Part." Citizens were encouraged to buy where the blue eagle was on display.

Oakland plant, 1933. Photo donated by the James C. Johnson Family.

Over 500 industries signed codes covering 22 million workers, and by the end of the 1933, the nation's ten largest industries were on board, as well as hundreds of smaller businesses. The NRA's success was short-lived however. In 1935, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously declared it unconstitutional, ruling that it infringed the separation of powers under the United States Constitution.