Arm & Hammer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arm & Hammer is a registered trademark of Church and Dwight, an American manufacturer of household products. The logo of this brand is a muscular arm holding a hammer. Originally associated only with baking soda, beginning in the 1970s the company began to expand the brand to other products using baking soda as a deodorizing ingredient, including: toothpaste, laundry detergent, underarm deodorant, and cat litter. The Arm & Hammer brand is one of the longest-running and most recognized U.S. trademarks. It is not true that the brand has its origin in the name of former Occidental Petroleum chairman Armand Hammer; it far predates him, although in the 1980s Hammer acquired a considerable amount of Church and Dwight stock, apparently finding humor in the coincidence. At the time of his death, he was serving on Church and Dwight's Board of directors.
[edit] Company concept
The Arm and Hammer is also the symbol of the Socialist Labor Party of America (SLP). Originally a stylized representation of the Greek god of fire and forge, Hephaestos (Roman Vulcan), the muscular male arm with hammer in fist was used prior to the American Civil War as a symbol of the labor movement.
Prior to the Russian Revolution, Dr. Julius Hammer was a prominent member of the SLP. In 1898 Julius named his newborn son after his favorite political logo. (As a young man Armand Hammer was himself associated with American leftist parties and the USSR.) The story that he told about being named for a hero in an Alexandre Dumas, fils novel was apocryphal.
Industrial strength bicarbonate cleaning is labeled under Arm & Hammer's subsidiary division in companies.
