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When your nose starts running, do you think, “I need to get some facial tissues,” or (more likely) “I need to get some Kleenex”? Even if you’re purchasing a generic brand, the Kleenex name has become a “genericized trademark,” meaning most people automatically associate it with the product it produces. Even the Merriam-Webster and Oxford dictionaries make note of this today.However, things weren’t always that way. Kleenex has had a long and interesting history since its birth in the 1920s. The brand was the brainchild of paper manufacture Kimberly-Clark, which at the time had just developed crepe wadding for its feminine hygiene product, Kotex. However, this product didn’t take off as quickly as Kimberly-Clark hoped, so the company began looking for other products to use their material in. After changing the blend and type of paper pulp, K-C scientists created the softer Kleenex tissue.Kleenex was first marketed as a cold cream/makeup remover and, like Kotex, targeted at women. The first ad appeared in the Ladies Home Journal in 1925, calling it “the new secret of keeping a pretty skin as used by famous movie stars.” Other women’s journals, including McCall’s, Good Housekeeping, Vogue, Redbook, Harper’s Bazaar, and Cosmopolitan, also began running the ads, and in 1927, a steady stream of Hollywood beauties were touting the product.The modern use of Kleenex started when a Kimberly-Clark researcher began using the tissues to alleviate his hay fever symptoms. He recognized that the tissue could be marketed to both men and women as a replacement for handkerchiefs. The new advertising campaign started in 1930, and sales doubled in the first year. The new marketing slogan became “Don’t Carry a Cold in Your Pocket.”During World War II, Kleenex material was used for sterile dressing by field doctors. At the same time, Kleenex began focusing on promoting its brand with innovative graphic designs and endorsements. In 1954, a book of magic tricks featuring the character Little Lulu described tricks you could do with a Kleenex. In the 1970s, the company introduced its Boutiques line, promoting Kleenex as a way of improving home dcor with specially-designed boxes.Kleenex was the first facial tissue to be marketed in the West, and although it inspired a score of imitators, it is still the best known. Today, the Kleenex brand also produces bathroom tissue, paper towels, and diapers.