From the December Our State Magazine by Jimmy Tomlin.
You know the smell. You know the goop. Personally, I like hetting my fingers in it about as much as I enjoy getting them into suntan lotion. And you know its effective. That would be Vicks VapoRub. Your mom made you feel better with it. I haven't used it in years, but know about it.
But, very few know anything at all about its inventor, pharmacist Lunsford Richardson of North Carolina.
His salve helped the world breathe easier during the influenza pandemic of 1918 and during countless colds and flus during childhood.
So, then, why did his name not become famous? Mostly because it wouldn't fit on the jar, according to one story. Originally he planned to call it Richardson's Croup and Pneumonia Care Salve. Way too long for the squat jars he was putting it in. He changed it to honor his brother-in-law, Dr. Joshua Vick. (Never heard of him either, other, of course, than the Vick name.)
He was born in Johnston County, NC, in 1854 and loved chemistry. In 1880, he moved to Selma to work with Joshua Vick and began handling the pharmacy duties and began to experiment with recipes which would eventually become Vicks VapoRub. In 1890, he moved to Greensboro and that is when everything took off.
"Rub It In, Rub It In" Billy "Crash" Craddock. --Cooter
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