The Centaur Company
| Industry | Pharmeceutical |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1871 |
| Founder | Charles Henry Fletcher |
| Products | Fletcher's Castoria, Centaur Liniment |
The Centaur Company, founded in 1871, owned and marketed proprietary medicines, notably, the stimulant laxative Fletcher's Castoria and the ointment Centaur Liniment. The company is historically significant in that it was a driving force during the early development of mass marketing and advertising.
In 1871, The Centaur Company was formed by Charles Henry Fletcher at 80 Varick Street, New York City to purchase the rights to and manufacture the laxative Pitcher's Castoria, renamed Fletcher's Castoria after the founder. Together with Demas Barnes and Joseph B. Rose who had purchased the formula for Centaur Liniment that same year, manufacturing began.
In 1923 Sterling Drug purchased a 1/4 interest in The Centaur Company and eventually purchased the entire company.
In 1934, the Centaur Company Division of Sterling Products (later called Sterling Drug) purchased Z.B.T. products from the Crystal Corporation.
In 1984, Sterling Drug sold Centaur's raison d'être product, Fletcher's Castoria, to Mentholatum Co Inc.
The Centaur Company also owned the marketing rights to Dr. William B. Caldwell's "Syrup Pepsin", manufactured in Monticello, Illinois, until the factory closed in 1985.
In the 1870s, The Centaur Company began doing significant advertising to create its brands, with a primary emphasis on Castoria. Between 1870 and World War II "Children cry for Chas. H. Fletcher's Castoria" was one of the best known advertising slogans. At the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883, Chas. H. Fletcher painted advertisements on virtually every blank wall in sight; they are quite visible in images of the opening of the bridge. Castoria ads from the 1870s through 1920s are still visible today on the buildings of New York.
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