Why Chapstick and not Lip Balm?
The original product was never entitled lip balm, Dr. Charles Browne Fleet called it Chapstick from the start. When his product became popular, other brands came out, which resulted in the need for a generic term, the term lip balm was then born. Most people refer to any lip balm as Chapstick, which has always been the original product name.
How It All Started
Chapstick was invented by Dr. Charles Browne Fleet, who originally named it lip balm. It was invented in the early 1880s in Lynchburg, Virginia. His product appeared to be a wickless candle wrapped in tin foil, and was sold locally, but did not have much success. A man named John Morton bought the rights to the product, and paid a mere five dollars, in 1912. John's wife melted the pink wax mixture, cooled it, and then cut the newly formed lip balm into sticks. In the early 1930s, Frank Wright, Jr., was paid $15 to design the CHET ChapStick logo. The same logo is still in use today.
