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Blendax GmbH, founded in 1932 in
Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
, was a German manufacturer of personal hygiene products and
toothpaste Toothpaste is a paste or gel dentifrice that is used with a toothbrush to clean and maintain the aesthetics of Human tooth, teeth. Toothpaste is used to promote oral hygiene: it is an abrasive that aids in removing dental plaque and food from th ...
between 1936 and 2002. With an annual production of 43 million tubes of toothpaste, it was at one time Europe's largest toothpaste producer. The company's best known brand, introduced in 1951, was called ''blend-a-med.'' Since 1987, the company has belonged to
Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...
.


Founding

The
wordmark A wordmark or word mark is a text-only statement of the name of a product, service, company, organization, or institution which is used for purposes of identification and branding. A wordmark can be an actual word (e.g., Apple), a made-up term ...
"Blendax" for toothpaste was registered in Germany on 4 January 1910, and the Blendax factory was founded in 1932 by the brothers Rudolf und Hermann Schneider in Mainz; production started in 1936. The goal was to produce a brand of toothpaste that would be affordable by everyone. By the end of the 1930s, Blendax had become Europe's largest producer of toothpaste with 43 million tubes per year. The product portfolio was expanded to include other personal hygiene products like
shampoo Shampoo () is a hair care product, typically in the form of a viscous liquid, that is formulated to be used for cleaning (scalp) hair. Less commonly, it is available in solid bar format. (" Dry shampoo" is a separate product.) Shampoo is use ...
,
soap Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...
, skin cream and
Mouthwash Mouthwash, mouth rinse, oral rinse, or mouth bath is a liquid which is held in the mouth passively or swirled around the mouth by contraction of the perioral muscles and/or movement of the head, and may be gargled, where the head is tilted back ...
.


Destruction and rebuilding

The main and original factory in Mainz on the
Ingelheimer Aue Thee Ingelheimer Aue is a previous Rhine island, located on the left bank of the river by the city of Mainz, between 500 and 503,5 km from the river mouth. It forms the northernmost point of the city division Mainz-Neustadt and is used for co ...
(an island in the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
) was almost completely destroyed during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The undamaged branch in
Gera Gera () is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of ...
was appropriated after the war. At first it was known as VEB Blendax, later as VEB Gerana and after German reunification, as
Gerana Cosmetic Gerana, sometimes also called Oenoe, is a queen of the Pygmy folk in Greek mythology, who incurred the wrath of the goddess Hera and was subsequently turned into a bird bearing her name, the crane. This aetiological tale explains the ancient ri ...
GmbH, before finally being closed in 2007 as a result of bankruptcy. The original buildings in Gera by the city moat are still extant. The Mainz work was rebuilt in 1946, with toothpaste production resuming in 1949. In 1956, the production was expanded to include shampoo and bath foam. A special toothpaste for
milk teeth Milk Teeth (often stylised as MILK TEETH) were a British punk rock band from Stroud, Gloucestershire, which formed in May 2013. The band officially announced their breakup on Facebook and Twitter on 4 September 2020. History Formation and earl ...
was introduced in 1956 under the name ''Blendi'', and in 1957 the production of
toothbrush A toothbrush is a special type of brush used to clean the Human tooth, teeth, gingiva, gums, and tongue. It consists of a head of tightly clustered bristles, atop of which toothpaste can be applied, mounted on a handle (grip), handle which facil ...
es was started. In the 1970s, the toothpaste
Strahler 70 Strahler is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Arthur Newell Strahler (1918–2002), American geoscience professor * Mike Strahler (1947–2016), American baseball player * Adolf Straehler (1829–1897), sometimes Adolf Strähler ...
was introduced.


Blend-a-med

In 1949 the Mainz
pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...
Hertha Hafer Hertha may refer to: Sports clubs *Hertha BSC, a German football club *Hertha Zehlendorf, a German football club *CFC Hertha 06, a German sports club *ASV Hertha Wien, a defunct Austrian German football club *FC Hertha Wiesbach, a German football ...
offered Blendax her original toothpaste recipe, and In 1951 they started production of ''blend-a-med'', Germany's first medicated toothpaste, at first only available from pharmacies and dentists. As a result of this new product, a research and development division was founded in the same year under the name ''blend-a-med Forschung'', with the goal to develop products for the prevention of dental and oral diseases.


Well-known products

Dental care * blend-a-med * blend-a-med Formel Z * Blendax Antibelag * Blendi * Formel M * Strahler 70, Strahler 75 and Strahler 80 * Blendax Fluor Super Haircare * Shamtu * Tosan Skincare * Kamill * Credo * Cliff * Do7


Takeover

In 1987 the family business was taken over by the American company
Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...
. At first the takeover led to a strengthening of the site, as P&G moved their British toothpaste production to Mainz in 1989, making the site their main European dental hygiene centre. In 1993, however, the production of skincare products in Mainz was stopped. The production of toothpaste and toothbrushes was continued until 2002, when it was moved to the previous Richardson Wicks site in nearby
Groß-Gerau Groß-Gerau () is the district seat of the Groß-Gerau district, lying in the southern Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region in Hesse, Germany, and serving as a hub for the surrounding area. In 1994, the town hosted the 34th Hessentag state festival. Geo ...
.


External links

* * {{citation, editor-surname1=Rudolph Augstein, periodical=Der Spiegel, title=Hoch gepokert. Der Konsumgüter-Multi Procter & Gamble hat es geschafft: Blendax wird amerikanisch., issue=33, publisher=Spiegel-Verlag, publication-place=Hamburg, date= 1987, language=German, url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-13524208.html


References

Companies based in Mainz Procter & Gamble Dental companies Companies of Germany