# Johnson's Car Nu **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 13, 2018, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303 "2018-09-13T21:56:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303/1 "2018-09-13T21:56:23Z")
We’re having home repairs done. One of the workmen found [this bottle of Johnson’s Car Nu](https://imgur.com/a/acDYyKE) ‘in a corner’. Since it was ‘in a corner’, and since they’ve taken the siding off of the house, I assume it was inside of a wall; although it could have been under the house somewhere. (If it was simply under the house, I expect it would have been found on any of the several occasions someone was under there.) Can anyone give me an idea as to how old this artefact is? ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303/2 "2018-09-13T22:10:30Z")
I would guess the 1940s - perhaps during the war since it is a glass bottle - all the ads from a google search show steel cans. I would contact S.C. Johnson and ask them. Might be unique enough that they would want it. [https://contact.scjbrands.com/en-us](https://contact.scjbrands.com/en-us) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303/3 "2018-09-13T22:21:22Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > I would guess the 1940s… The original part of the house was built in 1934. I’m almost positive the part where it was found is an addition. > [@jasg](#): > > [Contact Us | SC Johnson](https://contact.scjbrands.com/en-us) Thanks. I filled out their form. I hope they don’t balk at the message having a url. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303/4 "2018-09-13T22:26:40Z")
Johnson’s Car Nu is advertised constantly on the “Fibber McGee and Molly” episodes I’ve listened to (1940-1942), along with Johnson’s Glo-Coat. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303/5 "2018-09-13T22:39:03Z")
Mrs. L.A. looked at the bottle and noticed Copyright 1940. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303/6 "2018-09-13T22:44:07Z")
Just for grins [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/y4Gla9APxB4/maxresdefault.jpg "1955 Johnson Wac Carnu Commercial -featuring a Studebaker") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4Gla9APxB4) > **[NOS Johnson's Carnu Auto Wax tin with 1930's automotive graph -...](https://www.barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Details/NOS-Johnsons-Carnu-Auto-Wax-tin-with-1930s-automotive-graphic-186341)** > > Sold\* at Reno Tahoe 2015 - Lot #6193 NOS Johnson's Carnu Auto Wax tin with 1930's automotive graphic. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303/7 "2018-09-13T22:49:52Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Mrs. L.A. looked at the bottle and noticed Copyright 1940. I’m 40% sure that I heard an ad on “Fibber McGee” where they said that Car Nu was a new product. Those aren’t great odds, though. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303/8 "2018-09-13T23:31:41Z")
I’ve confirmed that the bottle was found in an exterior wall. I’m pretty sure the laundry room and bathroom are an addition, but I don’t know when they were built. Mrs. L.A. smelled the contents of the bottle and said, ‘I think it’s still good!’ I said I should play a joke and put a new label on it that says ‘hot sauce’. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303/9 "2018-09-13T23:34:31Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Mrs. L.A. smelled the contents of the bottle and said, ‘I think it’s still good!’ I said I should play a joke and put a new label on it that says ‘hot sauce’. 😛 Definitely you should try it on your car and have before and after photos ready to post (and maybe to send to Johnson Wax - they might be able to use them in an ad campaign and hire you to be their spokesman). ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303/10 "2018-09-13T23:37:28Z")
I wonder if ‘Car Nu’ is wordplay for both ‘Car New’ and carnuba wax. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303/11 "2018-09-13T23:44:49Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > I wonder if ‘Car Nu’ is wordplay for both ‘Car New’ and carnuba wax. Possibly. It also looks like it’s ‘Carnu’ instead of ‘Car Nu’. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303/12 "2018-09-14T11:27:59Z")
Is that cap plastic? CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303/13 "2018-09-14T11:43:32Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > Just for grins > > [https://youtu.be/y4Gla9APxB4](https://youtu.be/y4Gla9APxB4) I used to drive past the buildings shown in the first few seconds of that video. They still look [exactly the same](https://goo.gl/maps/isUzqrZSHmw). All those buildings were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303/14 "2018-09-14T13:34:40Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Is that cap plastic? Yes, it’s plastic and it has raised writing on it. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303/15 "2018-09-14T16:12:19Z")
Have you shaken it up or whatever to verify there’s nothing else in there like coins? Seems odd to stash something like that unless it also had something in it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303/16 "2018-09-14T16:20:50Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Have you shaken it up or whatever to verify there’s nothing else in there like coins? > > Seems odd to stash something like that unless it also had something in it. Only the wax. I suspect that a previous owner found the bottle when they bought the house, and decided to wall it up as a ‘time capsule’ when they added the laundry room and bathroom. (I’m guessing that in 1934 there was no bathroom, and that this is a later addition.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303/17 "2018-09-19T15:31:11Z")
I’ve received a response from SC Johnson: > [@](#): > > I’m happy to confirm the glass bottle is Johnson’s Carnu, a cleaning and polishing product for cars. SC Johnson introduced it in 1938 and continued to sell it into the 1980’s. From the picture you shared, we would estimate the bottle to be from around 1940. Well… we knew it was no earlier than 1940 from the copyright. The plastic cap that **crowmanyclouds** noticed seems anachronistic. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303/18 "2018-09-19T16:58:23Z")
Cool accessory for your MG. Now, go wax your Johnson. ---
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303/19 "2018-09-19T17:19:50Z")
We saw what you did there - go forth and sin no more. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303/20 "2018-09-19T18:15:26Z")
> [@Philliam](#): > > We saw what you did there - go forth and sin no more. 😃 Go forth and shine more. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnsons-car-nu/821303.md?page=2)