Cobalt Blue glass Vicks VapoRub Jars (1911- 1983)
This product, a mentholated salve, was invented by pharmacist Lunsford Richardson (1854-1919, born in Selma, North Carolina), and was first sold in about 1894 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Some sources say 1891). In the earlier years, it was known as Vick’s Croup and Pneumonia Salve. The ointment contained camphor, menthol, eucalyptus and other ingredients in a base of petroleum jelly. The exact ingredient list has changed a little bit over the years.
The salve has seen a great variety of uses (especially in recent years, as articles on the internet attest) but originally was sold as a remedy to help relieve coughing and lung congestion arising from the common cold, flu, pneumonia and other upper respiratory system ailments. The salve was usually rubbed on the chest and throat areas of the body, especially right before bedtime, and the vapors were inhaled and thus believed to help with the symptoms of those ailments.
The ointment saw very heavy sales during the (so-called) Spanish Flu worldwide pandemic of 1918-1920. During that time, many medicinal products including Vicks VapoRub were popular and were purchased in large quantities by the general public in an effort to help fight the ravages of the flu and its complications.
Here’s an excellent article with lots of detailed background information about Vicks VapoRub and Lunsford Richardson: https://www.ourstate.com/lunsford-richardson/
The earliest jars were probably “generic” clear glass salve or pomade style jars with no markings embossed in the glass, so they are difficult or impossible to identify without an original label still affixed. According to the Proctor & Gamble site, the product was not marketed under the name “Vicks VapoRub” until 1911.
https://vicks.com/en-us/vicks-history
The cobalt blue color was probably chosen as the standard glass color for the Vicks VapoRub product jars beginning in 1911 or soon afterward, but I don’t have documentary evidence to show exactly when this became the default color for the jars.
The product was sold by the Vick Chemical Company (now known as Richardson-Vick, a subsidiary of Proctor & Gamble). Some more background info on Richardson and his company can be found here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunsford_Richardson
These are very common jars, loved by collectors of cobalt blue glass for their brilliant color. They are one of the most frequently encountered glass items found in trash dumps that date from the 20th century. Of course, most dug jars will no longer have a paper label intact, since the labels have decomposed over the years while the jar was buried underground. The tin lid may or may not be intact, and is often heavily rusted.
Because of the popularity and resulting heavy sales of the product over many years, there are still quite a few older jars in good condition with the original labels found at estate sales, personal property auctions and on online sites, as many householders tended to store such items for long periods in their medicine cabinets and cupboards. The VapoRub product has been said to stay effective for decades as the active ingredients change very little, if at all, over long periods of time.
Many, if not most of the Vicks VapoRub jars were produced by Maryland Glass Corporation of Baltimore, Maryland, but apparently, virtually none of the jars were marked with the glassmaker’s identification.
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(Since Vicks VapoRub has been sold in dozens of countries outside the United States, some glass jars were also manufactured by other glass companies located outside the US – I’ve seen jars made by Australian Glass Manufacturers Company (G/M inside larger “A” mark), and another one bearing a “P F inside a circle” — probably a mark used by an unidentified glassmaker in India).
JAR SIZES
There are at least four basic sizes of vintage glass Vicks VapoRub jars: The smallest size typically measures between 2.25 and 2.5 inches in height and usually held 1 and 3/8th ounces to 1.5 ounces; the next size measures about 3 & 1/8th to 3.25 inches in height and typically held 3.1 ounces; the third size measures around 4 to 4.25 inches in height and held 5.8 or 6.5 ounces, and the very largest size measures about 4 and 1/2 inches in height and held 9 ounces of product.
The smallest size is, by far, the most frequently seen, and may have been the only jar size sold at least for the first few years of production. The larger size jars seem to date mostly from the later years.
JAR BASE TYPES
There are four base types seen on the great majority of Vicks jars sold within the United States:
TYPE 1: Two concentric triangles (Double Triangle). This was the first type of base marking that was used for Vicks VapoRub. It seems to have been used from 1911 into the mid-late 1930s, and possibly into the very early 1940s. The exact dates for the phasing out of this base type and the introduction of the next one are not certain. Some of the jars with this base type marking also carry mold numbers or other code number markings. Some bear ONLY the double triangle. In some cases the triangle is quite large and extends over most of the base surface (possibly older variations of this type?). On other examples, the triangle is smaller.
TYPE 2: This type features a “VVV” logo – three interconnected letter “V’s”, with a horizontal line above and below the V’s and placed inside a circle, along with the words “Vicks” and “VapoRub” placed above and below the circle. This base type jar is usually found with a red graphics lid although some are found with the later aqua design type lids. Many of these evidently date from the early through mid-1940s, some may date into the 1950s. Many of the jars with this base type are found in a lighter, “washed out” shade of blue. There may have been molds for this and the next type (base type 3) being used at the same time at the glass factory. At this late date, it is very difficult to know exactly when any particular jar was made since they don’t bear date codes. It seems likely there could have been some “overlap” with more than one base type being made simultaneously.
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TYPE 3: These jars are embossed with one triangle in the center of the base along with the words “Vicks / VapoRub” placed above and below the triangle. These seem to date from the late 1940s and into the early to mid-1960s. This type of base is often seen on the larger sized jars. A mold number (usually of two digits) is typically present, especially on the larger size jars.
TYPE 4: The fourth and last base variant carries only the word “VAPORUB” in a curved orientation, along with a mold number, typically two digits such as “52” “63” “66”, etc. These jars probably date from the early to mid-1960s and up to the phasing out of glass jars which occurred in 1983.
Vicks VapoRub was packaged in glass jars until 1983 in the US – in that year, glass was phased out and plastic jars were phased in on store shelves (that info supplied to me by the Proctor & Gamble archives department – special thanks to senior archivist Greg McCoy).
One note on a possible clue to dating jars that still have the paper label affixed: If the jar label includes a zip code, it would have to date from 1963 or later. Zip codes were introduced by the US Postal Service in July of 1963.
Glass Bottle Marks Website Home Page
Please click here to go to “Page one” of the alphabetical listings of marks, emblems and logos seen on glass bottles, jars, insulators and tableware:
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