Reckitt's Blue
622 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn
-taken March, 1997

Currently being built against.
Was re-obscured as of 4/2004.

"The Purest and Best." Ad circa 1890.

Ultramarine.
A perfect expression for what I felt the magical moment I first glimpsed this magnificent relic of the late-nineteenth century- an azure monument to a pioneering advertising and global marketing campaign.

Reckitt's Blue- a laundry whitener- was one of the first widely marketed laundry products manufactured by Reckitt & Sons, which was established in 1840 in Hull, England by a Quaker named Isaac Reckitt.

This laundry starch company began producing laundry blue in 1852 by using a combination of a synthetic ultramarine and sodium bicarbonate. The advent of using this synthetic made the product affordable to the masses since the active ingredient was previously made by grinding the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli.

The naturally occurring blue pigment found in lapis was first discovered to be sodium aluminosulfosilicate in 1824 by the French chemist, Jean-Baptiste Guimet. Guimet realized he could synthesize ultramarine by combining china clay, soda ash, and trace sulfur.

Originally, the synthetic was imported from France or Germany, but it was later manufactured in Hull by Reckitt's sons after Isaac's death in 1862. After its introduction to the nascent global market, Reckitt's Blue soon outsold their original laundry starch and stove blacking products.

Stove blacking was produced from lead and used as a hearth polish. Reckitt & Sons also produced other liquid metal polishes (Brasso) and boot polishes. Reckitt's Blue is no longer manufactured in the U.S.

01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
>> BACK TO INTRODUCTION >>


The conglomerate Reckitt & Colman, Inc., the maker of French's Mustard and Lysol has recently merged to become Reckitt Benckiser. See their website for more history!