Pfizer
Today one of the biggest companies in the world (revenue last year was over $100 billion), Pfizer got its start in Brooklyn in 1849. Charles Pfizer and his cousin Charles F. Erhart began Charles Pfizer & Company by compounding chemicals on Bartlett Street in what is now Williamsburg. Amazingly, a manufacturing plant hung on in Brooklyn until 2009, even as the company’s reach became world-wide.
Bazooka Chewing Gum
This familiar brand has been around since 1947 and at one time boasted half of the market share in gum. It’s still going strong today, although no longer owned by its founding family, the Shorins (brothers Arthur, Abram, Ira, and Philip founded it, along with their father Joseph). After 6 years of gum sales, things really accelerated with the addition of Bazooka Joe comics in 1953. Bazooka Gum was part of The Topps Company, Inc., which is also known for dominating the baseball card industry for decades. Although headquartered in Manhattan now, Bazooka Gum started out in Brooklyn, with offices and manufacturing taking place in what is today Industry City.
The Brillo Pad
The origin story on the Brillo Pad dates back to the early 20th century and a pair of brothers-in-law. One was a jeweler and one sold cookware, and together they came up with a solution for blackened pots and pans. Combining German steel wool, soap, and the polishing compound jewelers’ rouge, they were ready to hit the market. Too poor to pay for patent services, they brought in a lawyer as a third partner and lost their names to history. But the product lives on: 225 million pads are produced every year.
Source: “Made In NYC,” by Ethan Wolff, March 2024, City Guide New York
Contributed by Bobbie Roggemann