Corporate Timeline

1886 Samuel Curtis Johnson founded a parquet flooring company.

1888 Samuel Curtis responded to consumer inquiries on how to care for floors by developing and marketing Johnson’s Prepared Paste Wax, and sales outpaced those of parquet flooring. The company soon became known as “the wood finishing authority.”

1892 Herbert F. Johnson Sr. (Samuel’s son) joined SC Johnson and became a partner in the business

1900 The company began offering paid vacations for employees, establishing itself as a great place to work

1906 The corporate name was changed to S. C. Johnson and Son.

1914 The company launched operations in Britain

1916 H. F. Johnson laid a cornerstone for the Racine YMCA, setting the standard for community leadership

1917 H. F. Johnson helped found the local Community Fund which eventually evolved into the United Way.

1917 The company introduced profit sharing

1922 The company founded the Johnson Mutual Benefit Association (JMBA)

1927 H. F. Johnson, Sr. said, “The goodwill of people is the only enduring thing in any business...” during his profit sharing speech

1928 H. F. Johnson Jr. took over the company’s operations after his father passed.

1934 H. F. Johnson, Jr. introduced a self-polishing floor wax, Glo-Coat, which became a nationwide success

1935 H. F. Johnson, Jr. lead the Carnauba Expedition to Brazil

1936 H. F. Johnson Jr. partnered with Frank Lloyd Wright to begin construction of the Administration building.

1939 The Administration building opens.

1950 Acknowledging that clean air was a concern, the company installed catalytic converters in production facilities

1955 Under Samuel C. Johnson (great-grandson of the founder and H. F. Johnson Jr.’s son) chose to expand into different product lines. Raid® was introduced.

1959 The SC Johnson Fund was established to provide grants that support youth, family, community and environmental efforts

1963 H. F. Johnson Jr. founded the Johnson School in Fortaleza, Brazil

1968 The company opened the world-class entomology center in Racine, WI

1975 The company removed CFCs from all aerosol products worldwide three years before it was a US government mandate

1976 The Administration building and Research Tower were added to the National Register of Historic Places

1985 The company opened one of the first corporate childcare centers in the US

1990s The company focused on using fewer resources more efficiently, cutting over 420 million pounds of waste and saving $125 million

1992 The company acquires The Drackett Company and the Windex®, Vanish® and Drano® brands

1998 The company acquires Dowbrands: Scrubbing Bubbles®, Ziploc® and Saran™

1998 Sam, Curt and Fisk Johnson retraced the 1935 Carnauba Expedition to reaffirm the company’s commitment to sustainability and adventure

2001 The company develops and adopts Greenlist™, the environmental classification system to better evaluate raw materials based on their environmental impact

2002 The company becomes the first consumer packaged goods manufacturer to join the EPA’s Climate Leaders program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

2002 The company phased out the use of chlorine-based external packaging materials worldwide

2003 Ground breaking for a new cogeneration turbine to power the company’s largest manufacturing facility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

2003 The company acquires Bayer’s Household Insecticides business, including Baygon® insecticides and Autan® repellents, sold in the UK

2004 Company launches a malaria prevention and education program in South Africa

2004 Company helps develop the “Base of the Pyramid Protocol” in which communities and companies build economic, social and environmental value

2007 Groundbreaking for Project Honor, built to honor the memory of the landmark Carnauba expeditions and instill the spirit of adventure in employees and visitors alike