Spic and Span is a brand of all-purpose household cleaner marketed by KIK Custom Products Inc. for home consumer use and by Procter & Gamble for professional (non-home-consumer) use.
History
On June 15, 1926, Whistle Bottling Company of Johnsonburg, Pennsylvania, registered "Spic and Span" trademark No. 214,076 — washing and cleaning compound in crystal form with incidental water-softening properties.
The modern cleaner was invented by housewives Elizabeth "Bet" MacDonald and Naomi Stenglein in Saginaw, Michigan in 1933. Their formula included equal parts of ground-up glue, sodium carbonate, and trisodium phosphate; though trisodium phosphate is no longer part of the modern formula out of a concern for environmental damage from phosphates making their way into waterways. Stenglein observed that testing in her house made it spotless, or "spick and span". They took the k off "spick" and started selling the product to local markets. From 1933 to 1944, both families helped run their "Spic and Span Products Company". On January 29, 1945, Procter & Gamble, a major international manufacturer of household and personal products based in Cincinnati, Ohio, bought Spic and Span for $1.9 million.[1] On August 30, 1949, Procter & Gamble registered the "Spic and Span" trademark (soluble cleaner, cleanser, and detergent).