Naugahyde

Naugahyde is an American brand of artificial leather made from a knitted fabric backing covered with an expanded polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, coating. The material was developed within the United States Rubber Company by Byron A. Hunter, a senior chemist, and its trademark was first used in 1936. The name refers to Naugatuck, Connecticut, the location where the material was initially produced, rather than to an animal or a geographic leather source. The brand became associated with practical, durable upholstery. Unlike natural leather, which is supplied as individual hides with irregular shapes and size limitations, Naugahyde can be manufactured and sold in long rolls. This makes it possible to cover large furniture surfaces with fewer seams. Its smooth coated surface can generally be maintained with a damp sponge or cloth, supporting use in settings where routine cleaning and consistent appearance are important. Typical applications have included furniture upholstery, automotive interiors, institutional seating, commercial furnishings, and other products requiring a leather-like surface. Naugahyde also became notable for its unusually memorable advertising. Campaigns during the 1960s and 1970s jokingly suggested that the material came from the hide of a fictional animal called a “Nauga.” The advertisements explained the imaginary animal’s supposed ability to shed its skin without being killed, turning a technical materials brand into a recognizable consumer-facing name. A horned, broad-smiling Nauga character was used in related merchandise, including the Nauga doll. The fictional origin story became an urban myth even though the product is synthetic and contains no animal hide. The material was also used by General Motors for vehicle upholstery over several decades. GM marketed related vinyl interiors under different names across its divisions, including Cordaveen and later Madrid-grain vinyl for Buick, Morocceen for Oldsmobile, and Morrokide for Pontiac. Chevrolet sales literature generally described comparable material more plainly as a vinyl interior rather than using a Naugahyde-derived brand name. Manufacturing and ownership have changed over the brand’s history. The product originated under the United States Rubber Company and subsequently became associated with Uniroyal and its corporate successors. The brand is now manufactured and sold by Uniroyal Engineered Products LLC, with production identified in Stoughton, Wisconsin. Publicly available reference material does not establish a separate corporate headquarters, a founding year for the brand owner, or a current executive roster. Naugahyde remains primarily a materials brand whose value rests on recognizable trade identity, cleanability, durability, roll-form production, and a long history in upholstery rather than on a broad portfolio of consumer products.

Naugahyde originated as a synthetic alternative to leather developed within the United States Rubber Company. Byron A. Hunter, identified in reference material as a senior chemist at the company, developed the material as a composite construction consisting of a knitted fabric backing and an expanded PVC coating. This construction gave the product a flexible textile foundation while providing a coated exterior with the appearance and maintenance characteristics associated with vinyl upholstery. The name Naugahyde was first used as a trademark in 1936. It was derived from Naugatuck, Connecticut, where the material was initially produced. The geographic name helped distinguish the product as a branded industrial material, while the trademark eventually became widely used in ordinary descriptions of artificial leather and vinyl upholstery. The product’s principal market was upholstery. Naugahyde could be produced in long rolls, allowing manufacturers and upholsterers to cover broad surfaces more efficiently than they could with natural hides. The material’s coated surface was also relatively easy to clean with a damp sponge or cloth. These attributes made it suitable for furniture, vehicle interiors, commercial seating, and institutional environments where durability, standardized dimensions, and ease of maintenance were important. Naugahyde developed a particularly strong association with the American automotive industry. General Motors used the material in a number of vehicles over several decades, although its divisions did not always present the material under the Naugahyde name. Buick used the terms Cordaveen and later Madrid-grain vinyl; Oldsmobile used Morocceen; and Pontiac used Morrokide. Chevrolet generally referred to comparable material as vinyl interior in its sales brochures. These naming practices show how a material brand could be incorporated into manufacturer-specific upholstery programs rather than appearing consistently as a consumer-visible component brand. The brand became unusually prominent through advertising in the 1960s and 1970s. Promotional material jokingly claimed that Naugahyde came from a fictional creature called a Nauga. The campaign’s joke was that Naugas could shed their skins without being slaughtered, addressing the ethical distinction between synthetic material and animal leather through absurd humor. A squat, horned Nauga with a large toothy grin became the campaign’s visual symbol. The story was sufficiently memorable that it developed into an urban myth, with some people mistakenly believing that Naugas were real animals. Nauga merchandise, especially the Nauga doll, extended the campaign beyond ordinary industrial-material advertising. Corporate control changed as the United States Rubber Company evolved and the business was later associated with Uniroyal and successor organizations. Reference material identifies Uniroyal Engineered Products LLC as the company that currently manufactures and sells Naugahyde. Production is identified in Stoughton, Wisconsin. Available sources do not provide a complete chronology of ownership transactions, executive appointments, or financial performance, so those aspects remain undocumented in this dossier. Naugahyde’s continuing identity rests on the combination of a long-established trademark, recognizable technical construction, and unusually durable advertising mythology. It is best understood as a product brand within the synthetic-materials sector, rather than as an independent consumer-goods corporation. Its historical importance comes from making artificial leather a familiar branded category in upholstery and automotive interiors while using humor to communicate the product’s non-animal origin.

• 1970

  Nauga campaign continues into the 1970s

  [1]Naugahydeen.wikipedia.org

  The humorous Nauga concept continued to support brand recognition and helped turn an upholstery material into a widely remembered advertising property.

• 1960

  Nauga advertising becomes prominent

  [1]Naugahydeen.wikipedia.org

  During the 1960s and continuing into the 1970s, advertising popularized the fictional Nauga animal and the claim that the material came from harmlessly shed Nauga skin.

• 1936

  Naugahyde trademark enters use

  [1]Naugahydeen.wikipedia.org

  The Naugahyde name was first used as a trademark for the artificial-leather material developed at the United States Rubber Company. The name references Naugatuck, Connecticut, where the product was initially made.

• Automotive upholstery adoption

  [1]Naugahydeen.wikipedia.org

  Over several decades, General Motors used the material in vehicle interiors, with different GM divisions applying their own descriptive or product names to related vinyl upholstery.

• Production identified in Stoughton, Wisconsin

  [1]Naugahydeen.wikipedia.org

  Modern reference material identifies Stoughton, Wisconsin, as the location where Naugahyde is manufactured.

A durable, cleanable, leather-look upholstery material positioned for practical furniture, automotive, commercial, and institutional applications.

• Artificial leather and coated textiles

  Naugahyde artificial leather

  The core Naugahyde product is a composite textile made with a knitted fabric backing and an expanded PVC coating. The coated surface provides a leather-like appearance and is designed for durability and straightforward cleaning. It is supplied in rolls, enabling upholstery producers to cover comparatively large surfaces with fewer seams than would be possible using individual natural hides. Applications have included furniture, automotive interiors, commercial seating, and institutional upholstery.

• Promotional merchandise

  Nauga doll

  The Nauga doll is a soft character product based on the horned, smiling creature used in Naugahyde’s humorous advertising. It reinforced the fictional story that the material came from animals able to shed their skins harmlessly. The doll became a recognizable piece of brand memorabilia and was reported as still being sold in January 2023.

• 1970Nauga character merchandise

  United States

  The Nauga character was extended beyond advertising through merchandise, including a squat, horned doll with a broad toothy grin.

  Outcome. The merchandise strengthened recall of Naugahyde as both a materials brand and a humorous advertising property.

  Source
• 1960Nauga animal campaign

  United States

  Naugahyde advertising humorously presented the material as the skin of a fictional animal called a Nauga. The story emphasized that Naugas could shed their hides without being killed, making the joke a memorable way to explain that the product was not conventional animal leather.

  Outcome. The campaign created a durable urban myth and gave the brand a distinctive popular-culture identity. The Nauga character and related doll remained associated with Naugahyde long after the original advertising period.

  Source

1. 1Naugahydeen.wikipedia.org