Herbert F. Johnson, Sr.: His Legacy Lives on in Our Principles

Think about Herbert F. Johnson, Sr and one word that comes to mind is "expansive." From his hearty laugh, to his love of people, to the ways he helped the company broaden its product line and reach, Herbert's enthusiasm and impact were boundless. He was the ultimate salesman – and just what the company needed in its second generation.

When Herbert joined his father’s company in 1892, the floor wax business was just getting started. A small two-floor shop in Racine, Wisconsin, produced Paste Wax for sale in the U.S. Midwest. But after Herbert’s father, Samuel, took out a small ad in The Saturday Evening Post, products started flying off the shelf. It was time, Herbert knew, to expand.

In 1906, Herbert became a partner, making S. C. Johnson & Son a family company in name as well as practice. Before long, the father-and-son business had grown to include new product lines from liquid wax, to electric floor polishers, to automotive products.

The company had 92 employees in 1910. The first product-filling machine was installed in 1912 and by 1913, Herbert had international growth in mind. Unlike many business owners at the time, he believed that if a product could succeed in America, it could succeed in other nations. There were, he reasoned, more people outside the U.S. than within it – and that meant a promising market opportunity.

Herbert was, at heart, a salesman. He himself made the multi-week voyage across the ocean to win the company’s first British sales – a story that lives on in company lore. As the story goes, armed with a can of Johnson’s Wax, and dressed in his trademark white flannel suit, Herbert visited hardware store after store.

In one of his more dramatic sales pitches, he offered the busy shopkeeper an irresistible opportunity. “This product will not only clean your floor,” he promised, “it’ll polish it so shiny that you could drag me across the floor and not see any dirt on the seat of my pants.”

The incredulous shopkeeper watched as Herbert rolled up his sleeves, polished the floor and then sat down to be dragged about. With the proof of Herbert’s clean backside, the deal was sealed. And by 1914, Herbert had founded the first international SC Johnson company in England.

Herbert didn’t stop there. He continued to travel, befriending potential customers near and far. He added Australia Johnson to the company map in 1917 – just two years after the purchase of the company’s first truck. In 1920, Canada became the company’s third subsidiary, and the tradition continued.

Today, SC Johnson sells products in virtually every country in the world.

Herbert’s greatest legacy was, perhaps, his remarkable ability to connect with people – to make them feel like part of a larger family with a larger purpose.

This helped inform the creation of the company’s profit sharing program in 1917, making it one of the first U.S. companies to institute the practice. Herbert believed that all employees should participate in the success of the business. That first year, 193 employees shared $31,250. Today, millions of dollars of profit sharing payments are distributed to SC Johnson people each year.

And, most memorably, in 1927, shortly before he died, Herbert gave a speech that would resonate through the company for generations to come. Saying “the goodwill of people is the only enduring thing,” he emphasized the unique philosophy that drives our company – that as a business, our most important substance is the work we do together to serve an idea, to change the world.

Herbert’s goodwill inspires us all.