Mum was the first brand of commercial deodorant. Containing a zinc compound as its active ingredient, it was developed in Philadelphia in 1888.[1] According to the manufacturer's web-site, "The MUM brand owes its name to a nurse of the inventor, who was nicknamed "Mum".[2]. Another source claims that the brand was named after the term "mum" from the phrase "Mum's the word", meaning to keep silent.[1] Mum was originally sold as a cream in a jar and applied with the fingertips. The small company was bought by Bristol-Myers in 1931.
A former version of "MUM" deodorant (discontinued)
In the late 1940s, an employee (Helen Diserens) developed an applicator based on the newly invented ball-point pen.[1] In 1952, the company began marketing the product under the name Ban Roll-On.[1] In 1958, the product was launched in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations as Mum Rollette.[1]
The product was briefly withdrawn from the market in the United States,[when?][why?][1] but is again widely available.[3]
^ abcdefJoey Green (2004) Joey Green's Incredible Country Store: Potions, Notions, and Elixirs of the Past--And How to Make Them Today, Rodale Press ISBN1-57954-848-2
