Relief Since 1903

Absorbine Jr. has been used for over 120 years to provide relief from aches, pains, arthritis, sore muscles, and athlete’s foot. 

The brand was developed in 1903 by Wilbur Fenelon Young, inspired by the success of his original horse liniment, Absorbine Veterinary Liniment. He and his wife, Mary Ida, had created it in 1892 to treat horses' muscle pain and stiffness. The product gained popularity among farmers who began using it on themselves for aches and pains. The Youngs' son, Junior, played a role in the development of the human version, leading to the product being named, hence, Absorbine Jr.

The product was marketed as an external analgesic and antiseptic, and its use expanded to treat conditions like "athlete’s foot," a term credited to the W.F. Young, Inc. company in the 1940s. After divesting its human healthcare division in 2013, DSE Healthcare absorbed the Absorbine Jr. brand. With the transition, W.F. Young, Inc. focused on producing Absorbine for equine use and expanded into pet care in 2015. The company continues to be owned and managed by the fourth and fifth generations of the Young family.

Synopsis: Thrust Into Television

Many movie character actors found steady work and arguably more exposure with the advent of television. 

PETER BROCCO (1903-1992) was an American film, television, and stage actor. He has over 300 credits during his sixty-year career. Typically uncredited in his pre-television roles, it was in this medium that he became a frequent actor in Westerns, dramas, and comedies. 

Brocco kept busy from the late 1930s through the 1980s with various ethnic and supporting roles as a clerk, a shop owner, a bartender, a doctor, or a villain. There was always a spot in films where he could fill a scripted character. His supporting role in Spartacus (1960) is of note, as is One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) as the wheelchair-bound patient.

But Brocco was most visible on the more intimate small screen, like displaying a comedic talent portraying Peter the Waiter for eight episodes of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1955–1956). He was cast in criminal roles for The Adventures of Superman, as an Organian council member in a Star Trek episode. He appeared three times in the police drama, Adam-12, and three times in The Rockford Files. For the television miniseries, The Winds of War (1983), he played the father of Ali MacGraw's character. He kept working until 1991, a little over a year before his death.

A Leap-Year Bonus

REEL CHARACTER SERIES

Clinton Sundberg (1903-1987) was an American character actor of stage and supporting roles in film. He was most visible from the mid-forties through the mid-fifties before turning primarily to television appearances throughout the Sixties. The soft-spoken, raspy tenor portrayed various desk clerks, waiters, butlers, and menservants with subtle comedic results, often with decidedly snippy or sarcastic opinions. On the small screen, he got bigger, with assertive roles in the likes of doctors or professors.

In his humorous initial scenes, Sundberg is shown with Gary Cooper in the film, Good Sam (1948).

Broadcast Pioneers

Westbrook Van Voorhis (1903-1968) was a radio broadcaster and narrator for television programs and movies. He is perhaps best known for his work on the Blue Network's "March of Time" radio and newsreel series. His trademark was his powerfully strong voice which led to his becoming known as the "Voice of Doom" depending on the news' subject. His oft-parodied booming catchphrase, "Time...marches on!" was another trademark.

Van Voorhis became a radio broadcaster late in the 1920s, working for station WOR and the CBS and NBC networks. Based on Van Voorhis' "March of Time" radio news series from 1931 to 1945, it became a fifteen to thirty-minute newsreel series that aired prior to the theater's main feature to keep American audiences abreast of select news stories. Sponsored by Time Inc., the series ran from 1935 to 1951. He narrated each episode of the 1954–1956 NBC series Justice, and the narration for the 1957 television series Panic!. 

Van Voorhis was originally scheduled to be the announcer for The Twilight Zone television show but only narrated the television pilot, "Where is Everybody?." His narration was however revoiced before broadcasting by the show's creator and writer, Rod Serling. 

Formal Wear Icon

What became known as After Six, the formal wear brand was originally named S. Rudofker’s Sons in 1903 by Sam Rudofker. In 1923 it began its long history of formal innovation when sons Morris and Max introduced the “Rudo Tux”, the first ready-to-wear tuxedo. A 1930s story has the After Six name emerging during a late-running brainstorming session. Max suddenly exclaimed, “Oh no, I’ve got to get home for dinner. It’s after six!” It is in reference to the tradition of wearing formal wear only after 6:00 p.m. An excellent history of the company's current status and a look at how the logo changed over the decades here.

When Niagara Did Not Fall

 

On this date in 1903, Niagara Falls ran dry. Telegraphing from Niagara Falls, a correspondent stated that pedestrians crossed over the riverbed, where human feet had never been before. Men, women, and children romped about, unconcerned that a break of the ice jam near Goat Island might submerge them at any moment. Many momentoes were taken from spots not likely to be visible again. The ice jam had diverted the water to the Canadian Horseshoe Falls and almost dried up the American rapids. Residents gathered to witness a sight that they never imagined possible. The water still ran close to the mainland, but practically the entire rocky riverbed was bare.

Note: The above photo was taken in 1903 showing the fall's normal flow of water.

Stopping An Enormous School Bus

 

A bus full of children as signals flash for an approaching train. The 1959 illustration was for the Standard Pressed Steel Company, founded in 1903 by Howard T. Hallowell and Harald F. Gade, a Norwegian engineer. Headquartered today in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, and known as SPS Technologies, Inc., it is a leading international company producing both stock and specialty fasteners and fastening systems. For airplanes, helicopters, and satellites, SPS designs and manufactures instrument and distribution panels, armament controls, turbine lockplates, and other items. They manufacture components for the automotive, aerospace, industrial sectors, and according to the illustration, oversized school buses stopped way too close to the tracks. 

Bullish and Bearish

 

On this day in 1903, the first Teddy Bear went on sale in America, named after President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt, and made by Russian immigrants Morris and Rose Michtom. A year earlier, the teddy bear name was spawned by a political cartoon in The Washington Post. Morris saw the drawing and was inspired to create a teddy bear. He created a tiny soft bear cub and sent one to Roosevelt and received permission to use his nickname. The Michtom's then placed one in the shop window with a sign "Teddy's Bear." The cuddly toy was an immediate success, celebrated in story, song, and film. Michtom went on to found the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company, the largest doll-making manufacturer at the time in the United States.