J.R.
(Joseph Ray) Watkins, the itinerant Watkins liniment salesman, got his
start in Stearns County. It is believed that he began manufacturing his
product in the basement of his home in Maine Prairie Township, using
herbs and roots he gathered from his farm. He peddled it among farmers
in the area using a wheelbarrow. As sales increased he was able to
purchase a horse and cart in St. Cloud for $500.
From its modest
start in Stearns County, the J.R. Watkins Co. grew into a million-dollar
business. The company sold the famous Watkins spices, extracts,
beverage mixes, baking products, personal care products, medical
remedies, cosmetics and perfumes, cleaning products, agricultural
products for both cattle and swine, and, of course, his red liniment.
Duane
Stanley, whose great-great-grandmother, Zelinda (Hagen) Wood, married
B. U. Watkins in 1871, wrote a short history of the relationship of J.
R. Watkins to his family and the area in 2005 for the Kimball Area
Historical Society. Called "Watkins Products, born on Maine Prairie,"
Stanley writes that J. R. Watkins is "arguably Maine Prairie's most
successful native son."
Although J.R. was born 7 miles north of
Cincinnati, Ohio, and his history usually begins in Plainview, in
southeastern Minnesota, his sister, Julia (Watkins) Frost wrote in her
family history, "Annals of Our Ancestors," that J. R. came to Maine
Prairie in 1862 at age 21.
Stanley writes, "While living in his
father's (B.U. Watkins) home on the west shore of Pearl Lake, J. R.
mixed his first batches of Watkins Red Liniment — the foundation of the
J. R. Watkins Medical Co. — in a barrel in the kitchen. Although it
hardly appeared so at the time, this was the first step toward success
and immense personal wealth."
He purchased his patent on the red
liniment in 1868 when he moved to Plainview. A small shed served as his
laboratory. People who do not know about his Stearns County connection
believe J. R. began his business in Plainview.
In those days,
traveling salesmen were an accepted method of bringing goods to the
people around the country. Watkins used that unique method of
salesmanship because it "allowed him to bypass the local pharmacists who
resisted 'patent medicines' that usurped their role in mixing medicines
directly for the customer," according to Stanley.
J.R. Watkins
was so confident in the benefits of his liniment that he introduced the
"Trial Mark" bottle in 1869. Through door-to-door sales, Watkins gave
customers a risk-free way to try his products by adding a molded "trial
mark" to each bottle, with a money-back guarantee. Customers who tried
his product but left enough in the bottle to stay above the mark could
get a full refund if they were not satisfied.
In
1885, Watkins relocated his headquarters to Winona because it was one
of the largest cities and a major transportation hub of railroad and
river traffic. It also had several sawmills and employed hundreds of men
who could benefit from using Watkins liniment on their sore muscles
after a hard day at the mills.
Between 1889 and 1914, Watkins
constructed six manufacturing buildings behind the Winona Administration
Building. In 1914, a prominent 10-story building, designed by George
Washington Maher to complement the look of the Administration Building,
was completed. Between 1937 and 1939, 250,000 visitors toured the
Watkins manufacturing plant.
In "Images of America," John Goplen
wrote: "The J.R. Watkins Company … grew from a one-man company into the
world's largest direct selling company, an international corporation
spanning North America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and
England. Today the company is still in business selling the liniment
that founder J. R. Watkins first bottled in 1868."
Goplen states
that "For the first 50 years of the company's life, rural sales
dominated the company's business. … The 'Watkins Men' not only sold
quality products; they often brought news and local gossip to the farm
families of rural America."
Watkins salesmen carried large black
leather products cases with the Watkins label in gold lettering. The
case opened up like a large tackle box with multiple shelves.
Watkins
also believed in advertising, so he built one of the largest printing
operations west of the Mississippi producing millions of pieces of
literature ranging from advertising and company newspapers to calendars,
cookbooks and almanacs advertising his products.
Watkins
manufactured products that were sought by and sold to rural and city
customers. By 1933, Watkins was the largest and oldest direct-selling
company in the world, in every state of the United States.
To fill
government contracts during World War II, Watkins produced dried eggs,
powdered juice packets, vitamin tablets, hospital germicide, DDT and
insecticide powder.
After WWII, the Watkins man was still the most
important factor in the successful selling of Watkins products. It
wasn't until the 1950s and 1960s that dramatic social change brought
the demise of the once-familiar Watkins door-to-door salesmen.
More
women were working outside the home. Watkins hired them to work in his
research facility. But companies such as Avon, grocery stores and
retail chain stores took customers away from the Watkins door-to-door
sales people.
Watkins expanded to selling an agri-products line.
His Watkins Research Farm was a national leader in feed research during
the 1950s.
Goplen writes that the "Watkins Agri-Division showed
strong sales during the late 1960s with many popular products such as
Watkins MIN-VITE pre-mix of minerals and vitamins for both hogs and
cattle. All products were tested at the Watkins Research Farm."
The
Watkins Research Farm played an important role in Watkins' history for
over 35 years, but by the end of 1971, Watkins decided to close the farm
and sell the animals, equipment and property.
The Watkins
company was an early pioneer of equal opportunities. Women and other
workforce minorities, as sales persons, brought Watkins products into
new households.
J.R. Watkins product labels continue to carry the founder's portrait even though J.R. died Dec. 21, 1911.
In
1978, the company filed for bankruptcy. In December of that year,
entrepreneur Irwin Jacobs bought the remains of the business. Jacobs
offered a new beginning for the company that has its roots in Stearns
County.
A few years ago I visited the J.R. Watkins Museum in
Winona. When I asked about Watkins' roots in Stearns County, I was told
it was common knowledge that the connection was there, but Watkins
himself never acknowledged that part of his life. They could not tell me
why.
I have a bottle of Watkins lemon extract in my cupboard today. This column is the opinion of Marilyn Salzl Brinkman. Write to her at Brinkman1943@gmail.com or St. Cloud Times, P.O. Box 768, St. Cloud, MN 56302.
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