COLGATE
THE ORIGINS OF COLGATE
The Colgate brand was created by William Colgate in 1806 in New York City and started out as a candle, soap, and starch business. The first Colgate advertisement was released in 1817, promoting their small line of products. Following the death of William Colgate in 1857, his son, Samuel Colgate, took over and expanded the product line in 1866 to include perfumes, fragrances, and scented soaps. In 1873, Colgate expanded into the oral care business by introducing one of America's first mass-produced dental creams, sold in small glass jars.
A CENTURY OF
DENTAL INNOVATION
In 1896, Colgate improved their dental cream packaging to a collapsible metal squeeze tube that was much more hygienic than a shared bottle that required users to repeatedly dip their toothbrush in. They later included a flat "ribbon" nozzle that flattened the paste to lay smoothly on a toothbrush. Later in 1898, Colgate & Company merged with the B.J. Johnson Soap Company, who were most popular for its Palmolive soap. The company was then renamed the Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company in 1928. The leading toothpaste at the time was Crest due to its fluoride formula, so Colgate began including sodium monofluorophosphate into its existing formulas, starting a lasting rivalry. The Colgate-Palmolive company also produced a wide variety of staple products like the Irish Spring soap, Palmolive dishwashing liquid, Ajax cleaning powder, Caprice hair care, and Hill's diet dog food. They have also acquired multiple other companies like SoftSoap, Murphy Oil Soap, and the Mennen company, making them a multi-billion-dollar company. In 2025, Colgate-Palmolive generated an estimated $20.38 billion in annual revenue and remains one of the most recognizable names in oral care.
