Any family business might hope that its name would become a widely recognized trademark. For John Smith’s sons, William and Andrew, that hope became reality in a very literal way.
The Smith family business began years before the issue of trademarks ever came up. John Smith started it when he opened a small restaurant in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, hard by the Hudson River. Winters in Poughkeepsie were rugged, with heavy snowfalls and frigid winds swirling off the river. Generations of Poughkeepsie citizens have sought what comfort against the cold they could find. During the 19th century, that comfort often came from the bracing product of a Mr. Vassar, whose name was affixed both to the bottles of beer that he brewed and, later, to the prestigious women’s college.
Restaurateur John Smith thought he had found another antidote to winter’s discomforts—an antidote which might provide a handsome second stream of income to the family business. His opportunity came when a diner at Smith’s restaurant happened to be selling various nostrums to fight colds. The salesman, Sly Hawkins, claimed the formula he possessed was the perfect over-the-counter medicine to fight the effects of coughs, sore throats, whatever. He sold the recipe to Smith for a ludicrously small sum.
Smith began at once to manufacture the formula in the restaurant’s cellar kitchen, producing the stuff in gooey, five-pound batches. By this time his two sons had joined the business, and together they advertised the finished concoction as “good for the cure of cough, colds, hoarseness, sore throats, whooping coughs, asthma, etc. etc.”
The company soon dropped all claims except that the product helped coughs and sore throats. Distributed under the name, “John Smith and Sons,” the product steadily, if not spectacularly, became better known and more successful.
It attracted many imitators who tried to cash in on the popularity of the Smith product by thinking up names that were look-alikes to the original: “Schmid’s,” “original Smith’s,” “improved Smith’s,” and so on.
It was obvious that the Smiths were vulnerable because of their commonplace name, so they cast about for ways to make their product’s appearance distinctive. Finally, they hit upon the idea of putting a partial family photograph on each package, reasoning that competitors might be able to duplicate their name but not their faces.
To underscore their determination, the Smiths spelled out the word “trademark” below the family portraits. William’s picture appeared right above the word “trade,” and Andrew’s above the word “mark.” From that point on, the two brothers were universally known as “Trade” and “Mark.” And their new names allowed for a number of humorous variations: Because Mark could usually be counted on to advance a small sum to a friend in need, he became known as “Easy Mark.”
Under Trade and Mark’s management, the family business prospered. But as with all family businesses, the problem of management succession arose. To which member of the rising generation should the business be trusted? Would that person prove capable? The answer to the first question was easy. Mark had never married, and Trade had but one son, named Arthur. But the answer to the second question was more difficult, for Arthur let it be widely known that he considered the family business boring.
Nor did Arthur’s instincts for business seem particularly sharp. He once brought in a consultant to help determine the best markets for the product. In doing his analysis, the consultant asked Arthur, “Where do your biggest orders come from?” Arthur replied, “Why, the postman brings them.”
Smith Brothers Cough Drops survived and prospered despite Arthur. But although the bearded faces of Trade and Mark still give the package its distinctive identity, the business is now owned by another family company, F&F Laboratories in Chicago, which bought it about 15 years ago from the Warner-Lambert Co.
Robert N. Steck is a Washington, D.C. based speech writer and communications specialist. Reprinted with permission from D&B Reports, May/June 1990.