General History of Watkins Products.

Watkins was founded in 1868. That’s 139 years ago. In 1868,
the Civil War had just ended and was a recent memory to everyone
at the time. Andrew Johnson was President of the United
States taking over from Abraham Lincoln who was recently
assassinated. A few things that did not exist yet
include the telephone, the light bulb, airplanes, and the
Suez and Panama Canals. There were just 37 states in the
union and they were all in the same time zone since there
was only one time zone. General George Custer and
Geronimo were still alive and well. And J.R. Watkins was
living in Plainview, Minnesota and had a dream, a recipe,
and a kitchen where he created Watkins Red Liniment.
His Watkins Red Liniment launched a company that has
created careers for hundreds of thousands of Watkins men
and women over the years. In 1869, J.R. Watkins established
America’s first Money-Back Guarantee. He put a
Trial-Mark on the Liniment Bottles and told customers
that they could use the product down to that line and if
they didn’t like it, he’d give them their money back. By
1915 Watkins was the largest direct selling company in
the world and had the majority of the spice and extract
market for decades.

Do you remember how wonderful your Grandmother’s
cooking was? And your Great Grandmother’s cooking
also? The traditional home-cooked meal by our ancestors
were almost always cooked with Watkins Products, almost
exclusively. That, and a pinch of love is what made
those old-time traditional home-cooked meals so delicious
and wonderful! Our Watkins products are what almost
everyone used up until the 1950’s. When people think
fondly back at all those wonderful meals, Grandma’s
wonderful cookies, Great Aunt Mabel’s amazing roast -
They are thinking fondly of how wonderful Watkins products are!