The Accidental Invention of Vaseline and Petroleum Jelly's Curious Start

In 1859, a 22-year-old chemist named Robert Chesebrough visited Titusville, Pennsylvania to check out a sticky black goop that clogged up the oil wells popping up across the area. Locals had nicknamed it “rod wax” because it messed with the drilling rods and generally got in the way. What really caught Chesebrough’s eye, though, was how the oil workers smeared the substance on their cuts and burns. They swore it sped up healing.

Chesebrough brought samples back to his Brooklyn lab and started experimenting. After refining and purifying the stuff through repeated distillation, he ended up with a clear, odorless, jelly-like material. This was a far cry from the thick sludge found at the wells, and it outlasted the animal and vegetable fats commonly used in ointments then. He named it “petroleum jelly.”

Chesebrough wasn’t shy about his invention. He would stroll into pharmacies, slice or burn himself in front of whoever was watching, then dab on his jelly. On occasion, he’d even eat a bit to prove how pure it was, although no one praised the taste. Still, his stunts paid off. By 1872, he’d secured a patent, called his product “Vaseline,” and found himself at the center of a burgeoning craze. People reached for it as an all-purpose remedy, from chapped lips to saddle sores.

His belief in petroleum jelly bordered on obsession. Chesebrough reportedly ate a spoonful every day into his nineties, claiming it was the secret to his health. The science behind this routine is questionable, but petroleum jelly has remained generally safe, with uses that keep multiplying. Soldiers carried it in World War I for wounds. Athletes smeared it on skin prone to sweat and friction.

Not bad for something that started as a nuisance beside oil pumps, a throwaway turned into a worldwide staple, all because a curious chemist took a chance on rod wax and public demonstrations.