I hope I can shed a little light on the subject. My Grandfather L.R. Quintero was actually one of the people that worked on producing the first version of the swap, he and a man by the name of Leo Gerstenzang , I don’t know if they were called design teams back then but it might help you to understand the history. Gramps died a few months before the swabs went into production so Leo got all the glory. Like I said Grandpa passed away long before the swabs were ever called Q-tips but his son My father worked for Chesebrough (as do several of my brothers and cousins). My Father was some managerial muckity muck, at about the time the company was talking about changing the name from Baby Gay swabs, he was sure he could convince the marketing people of a new name. He said that he had a few really good reasons. The first was that all the guys making them at the plant already had a name for them. Another reason was that the Q could stand for Quality. Finally that by changing the name the company would pay indirect homage to one of the creators of the product and a family that had worked for the Chesebrough family almost since the beginning(My Gramps in case you have figured it out) . He suggested the name Q-Tip. They do in fact look like a Q if you use your imagination but this was entirely coincidental. The Marketing Guys bought it. Thus the name Q-Tip. So the Q really stands For quality and Quintero.
I have heard the story a million times and had to tell it a few times myself. We had blown up copies of the original design sketches and patents hanging in my fathers office in our house growing up. He was very proud of his father so every guest was forced to hear the story in its. I hope this sheds a little more light on the subject. If you have any questions I would be happy to answer them.
I can’t believe it but this guy actually seems to know what he is talking about. Although I dont remeber anyone named Gerstenzang I do know the name Quintero. My grandmother was a Secretary at the Chesebrough Plant. My dad always used to laugh when we bought Q-tips. He would say we’re you going to put those gays? Trying to reference the old name for those things. I know that it is really not that funny but he got a kick out of it. Anyway, he told me that the Q stood for the guy who made them. And I think Quintero was the name of the guy. All the other stuff about the way it looks and being called quality tips he never said anything about but it sounds like it makes sense.
Do we actually have second-hand verification for a second-hand explanation? And has it really taken us this long to get a person with the user name of ChuckQ or ChuckU, with or without the Farley? But how do you forget a name like Gerstenzang?
ChuckQ. Great story, but just one of those family history urban legends.
Fact: Leo Gerstenzang formed the Leo Gerstenzang Company in 1924. It sold Children’s clothes. By 1926, they were manufacturing “Baby Gays.” Leo had a daughter born in 1923. Her name was Elizabeth. In 1925, L. & A. Gerstenzang formed the Betty Gay Manufacturing Co..
Fact: There were advertisements in US newspapers in 1926, selling “Q’ Tips”
Chesebrough and Chesebrough-Ponds had nothing to do with Q-Tips before they bought the Q-Tip Corporation in 1962. Amazingly, Leo Gerstenzang had just died in 1961, and was the owner of the Corporation until then.
So, unless your grandfather died before Leo “stole” his idea in 1926, then your dad’s story doesn’t make sense.
I’m still working on the striking coincidence that two people with old connections to Chesebrough-Ponds would show up within a couple hours of each other to comment on a column from 1986 but am willing to let it pass if we get them to both pay their membership dues. Anyway, weirder things have happened.
