Delete and Undelete
Four friends passed away last year and I deleted them from my Christmas list, but not from my address book. Every once in a while, I’ll come across a name and remember something we did together or some engaging or deep conversation we had. I remember Lamar telling me about the history of petroleum jelly. He said that oil riggers used the substance that was left on the rigs to treat their cuts and burns and the wounds seemed to heal faster. He said that he used petroleum jelly for nosebleeds.
Now ten years after his passing, I came across his name and remembered our conversation about petroleum jelly. Sure enough, I found an article that explained how this product came into being. A chemist named Robert Chesebrough was fascinated with the paraffin-like substance left on oil rigs and observed the riggers using the product on their cuts and burns. Chesebrough took some of the product home, worked on the process of making petroleum jelly, adopted the trade name Vaseline, and in a short time it became a marketing success. Petroleum jelly was used in WWI by soldiers to treat cuts and burns and since then, the product has earned a place in households around the world.
There are dozens of uses for petroleum jelly. I use it when the heels of my feet become cracked. I simply apply the product on my feet and wear socks for the night. By morning, the cracks are much improved. I, for one, am grateful for Robert Chesebrough’s invention. His empirical observations led him to refine the manufacturing process for petroleum jelly, obtain a patent, and doggedly promote his product when there was initially little interest.