1946 Squibb Angle Pre-dates the Reach Toothbrush By 40 Years
This advertisement for the Squibb Angle toothbrush pre-dates the Reach toothbrush by forty years.
It reads:
“I can actually get at my back teeth now” is the surprised comment of many users. “I would never go back to my old-style brush.” A practicing dentist designed this brush with its patented “mouth-mirror” angle and the small head to reach “forgotten” places. The angle helps you clean every surface, every crevice. By the way, children can use this brush with ease, and do a good job too. Six colors. Your choice of hard or medium bristles.
Squibb A name you can trust
This angled toothbrush looked just like the Reach toothbrush that Johnson & Johnson promoted in the early 1980’s. Here’s a commercial for it:
I wonder what happened between 1946 and 1986. When the Reach toothbrush came out, we all thought that it was an innovation. I remember being so impressed by the “new” shape for a toothbrush and wanted one immediately. Why didn’t the Squibb brush catch on and stick around?
Squibb is still a huge biopharmaceutical company, so it’s not like they don’t own the patents anymore. Considering the patent-troll-crazed society that we live in today, it’s shocking to me that Squibb didn’t sue Johnson & Johnson into oblivion back in 1986.
Ad via: Found in Mom’s Basement: 1946 ad for angled toothbrush from Squibb