A Brief History of Lip Balm

Most of us don’t think too much about lip balm. It pops into our brains when we have dry or chapped lips. Usually, when we buy it, it’s an afterthought or an impulse purchase. Almost all of us have it, but we never stop to consider it. Today, we’re giving a long overdue shout-out to lip balm where we’ll talk a little about its origins.

Popular culture was first introduced to lip balm by pharmacist Charles Browne Fleet in Lynchburg, Virginia. He began selling and marketing it in the 1880’s. It looked very different from the efficient plastic tube we know today. In fact, the first lip balms that Fleet made looked like small wick-free candles wrapped in tinfoil. Sales were initially slow, and Fleet ended up selling the recipe to John Morton, another Lynchburg resident. His was paid a mere five dollars. Morton and his wife began manufacturing Chapstick, first in their home, and then in a factory before the business took off. The ingredients were mixed and melted, and then brass tubes were used to mold the sticks.

However, Lydia Maria Child, the author of the book The American Frugal Housewife, wrote about the restorative properties of lip balms over 40 years before Fleet began selling his. She wrote that, “Those who are troubled with cracked lips have found this remedy successful when others have failed. It is one of those sorts of cures which are very likely to be laughed at, but I know of its having produced very beneficial results.”