The Origins of Chapstick

Millions of people around the world suffer from chapped lips, and Chapstick is what many use to lubricate their lips, to soften and moisturize the skin, and to prevent the painful cracking that accompanies dry lips.

But did you know the history of Chapstick and where the product Chapstick came from?

I didn’t either, until today, when I heard a true story about the invention of Chapstick.

Yes it’s a true story, “Friends, would I lie to you?”

Well maybe a little, exaggeration and speculation is my game, but come with me on a trip through time, back to the days of the old Wild West, where the origins of Chapstick began.

Imagine the scene, if you will…. a small town in the old Wild West… a handful of wooden buildings… the Jail… the Stagecoach office… the General Store… and of course the Hotel and Saloon… everything covered in dust… the obligatory tumbleweed blowing across the dry and dusty main street…

The old cowhand came riding into town on a hot, dry, dusty day.

The local sheriff watched from his chair in front of the saloon as the Cowboy wearily dismounted and tied his horse to the rail a few feet in front of the sheriff.

“Howdy, stranger…”

“Howdy, Sheriff…”

The cowboy then moved slowly to the back of his horse, lifted its tail, and placed a big kiss were the sun don’t shine. He dropped the horse’s tail, stepped up on the walk, and aimed towards the swinging doors of the saloon.

“Hold on, Mister…”

“Sheriff?”

“Did I just see what I think I just saw?”

“Reckon you did, Sheriff… I got me some powerful chapped lips…”

“And that cures them?”

“Nope, but it keeps me from lickin’ em!

And the Sheriff thought to himself, a light bulb came on inside his head (even though the light bulb was yet to be invented), and he dreamed of inventing a machine which would one day be installed in every saloon in the west.

The Sheriff thought for a while, then swaggered across the road to the bank, where he explained his plan to the local banker, a plan for a machine that would help cure people from licking their chapped lips.

And so the “Hos-Tail No-Licker” came into being, complete with a tail made of real horse hair, which the customer would lift, before licking what looked like a horses backside, which smelled like… well I am sure you can guess.

Unfortunately the invention was a failure, since the smell just added to the already bad smells in the men’s bathroom, but it had given the banker an idea nevertheless.

The banker contacted a close friend, Dr. C. D. Fleet who was a physician from Lynchburg in Virginia. The good doctor invented a lip balm, calling it Chapstick in the early 1880s. Fleet made the first Chapstick himself, and it resembled a small wickless candle wrapped in tin foil.

As you may have guessed by now, much of this story is BS, or a load of horsecrap, but it’s not all a pack of lies. The last part is actually true, as you can see if you click here to read the true story of the history of Chapstick.