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Old Medicine Man Founded Toiletine Co.

The Toiletine Company at 143 Hope Street got its start in 1885 when a fast-talking medicine man named Benjamin Franklin Miner set up shop in Hoosick Falls, N. Y. From then on, Toiletine was sold by the carloads by B. F. Miner who advertised his product as the best type of all-round cure-all on the market.

Miner moved his company to Montague about 1900 when that community was fast becoming an aggressive business and manufacturing center. B. F. operated his shop in a building since razed, near the Montague railroad station.

This New Yorker was a terrific salesman and with a horse and buggy, he peddled Toiletine and companion products far and wide throughout New England. Thus the business was built up by Miner who in 1910 sold out to William H. Ulrich who came here from Yonkers to retire but found time heavy on his hands and decided to get into business for himself. Ulrich built the present building on Hope Street and did a large amount of advertising to expand the sale of the product.

Charles F. Ulrich, son of the owner, joined the firm upon returning from military service in 1919 and is presently president and treasurer, succeeding his father who died in 1932. He sells Toiletine Lotion and Miner's flavoring extract in various parts of New England. Ulrich can handle the manufacture of the product by himself and likewise the sales end of the business which is suited for a one-man operation.

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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There is currently no available "Beginner" label. The following is the default level label: This 1953 newspaper article from the Greenfield Recorder-Gazette in Greenfield, Massachusetts, describes how the Toiletine Company of Montague, Massachusetts, started in 1885 when a "fast-talking medicine man" named Benjamin Franklin Miner set up shop in Hoosick Falls, New York, and moved it to Montague in 1900. Miner advertised his product as the "best type of all-round cure-all on the market." He marketed this and companion products (for example, shampoos, lotions, and flavor extracts) far and wide throughout New England in his horse and buggy. In 1910, William Ulrich bought the company and moved it to Greenfield, Massachusetts. The company disappeared in the early 1970's, probably due to the owner's failure to advertise in an attempt to keep the company small.

 

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"Old Medicine Man Founded Toiletine Co." article from Greenfield Recorder-Gazette newspaper

publisher   Greenfield Recorder-Gazette
date   Jun 9, 1953
location   Greenfield, Massachusetts
width   1.75"
height   6.25"
process/materials   printed paper, ink
item type   Periodicals/Newspaper
accession #   #L06.019


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See Also...

Shampoo and Lotion products made by The Toiletine Company

"Evarosa Remedial Tonic Label" from Toiletine Company in Greenfield

Cinnamon and Wintergreen Extracts made by The Toiletine Company


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