The company began the first paper mill in Wisconsin. Its initial product was newsprint made from linen and cotton rags. Within six years, the company expanded by acquiring a majority interest in the nearby Atlas paper mill, which converted ground pulpwood into manila wrapping paper.
For the first forty years after founding, Kimberly-Clark continued to raise capital, build new paper mills, and expand into newsprint for newspapers, glossy coated stock for magazines, quality book paper, and the thin cheap paper for color rotogravure presses which made the color sections in Sunday newspapers.
The business was incorporated in 1880 as Kimberly & Clark Company, with John Kimberly as president. In 1889, the company constructed a large pulp- and paper-making complex on the Fox River.
In 1914 the company developed cellu-cotton, a cotton substitute used by the United States Army as surgical cotton during World War I. Army nurses used cellu-cotton pads as disposable sanitary napkins, and six years later the company introduced Kotex, the first disposable feminine hygiene product, Kleenex.
A new premium-priced diaper in an hourglass shape with refastenable tapes was introduced in 1978 under the name Huggies. By 1984, Huggies had captured 50 percent of the higher quality disposable diaper market.
Kimberly-Clark Corporation - Multinational personal care corporation
