Fascinating
facts about the invention
of the Kitty Litter by Ed
Lowe in 1947. |
KITTY
LITTER |
|
| Ed Lowe was born July 10, 1920 in St. Paul, Minnesota to Lulu and
Henry E. Lowe. His family later moved near Cassopolis, Michigan, where Ed spent his youth
before serving in the U.S. Navy from 1941 to 1945.After his Navy duty, Ed joined his
father's company in Cassopolis, which sold industrial absorbents, including sawdust and an
absorbent clay called Fuller's Earth. One day in 1947, Ed was approached by a neighbor who
was tired of using ashes in her cat's box and dealing with sooty paw prints. |
 |
She asked for some sand, and Ed suggested clay
instead. Soon the neighbor would use nothing else, noting that the clay was much more
absorbent than sand and didn't track all over the house. Ed had a hunch that other cat
owners would love his new cat box filler, too, so he filled 10 brown bags with clay, wrote
the name "Kitty Litter" on them, and called on the local pet store. With sand
available for next-to-nothing, the shop owner doubted anyone would pay 65 cents for a
five-pound bag of Kitty Litter Brand. "So give it away," Ed told him. Soon
customers were asking for more–and were quite willing to pay for it. The rest, as
they say, is history. |
| Ed started visiting cat shows, where
he cleaned hundreds of cat boxes each day in exchange for a booth to display his new
product. Crossing the country and visiting local pet shops, Ed continued to sell Kitty
Litter Brand from the back of his 1943 Chevy Coupe. Cat owners all over America soon fell
in love with this product's odor control and absorbency. |
 |
In 1964, Lowe created Tidy Cat®
brand and it was sold in grocery stores. Ed's devotion to customer service and
satisfaction has never changed since that day in 1947, when he offered help to a neighbor.
Every bag of Ed's cat box filler contained a personal money-back promise of
satisfaction. He firmly believed that's the only way to do business. |
| In 1990, prior to the divestiture of
its clay mining and consumer product businesses, Edward Lowe Industries, Inc. was the
nation's largest producer of cat box filler with retail sales of more than $210 million
annually. His product, once sold in simple brown paper bags, had improved too–thanks
to Ed's innovative approach to business. Kitty Litter Brand, which was 99 percent dust
free, was sanitized with Healthguard and provided a better environment for cats and their
owners by controlling growth of odor-causing bacteria. Quality
has always been a priority with Ed, and his products set the standards for the industry.
Edward Lowe Industries was the only company of its kind with complete innovation and
product development centers. Company scientists at a modern Research and Development
Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, continually worked to upgrade existing products and
spawn new ones. There was even a "cattery" at Big Rock Valley which was home to
120 felines who "worked" to assist in the development of new products. The
Cattery also boasted a fully staffed cat care clinic, as well as an animal behavior
facility which permitted 24-hour television monitoring of resident cats. |
TO
LEARN MORE
INVENTOR PROFILE:
Edward Lowe
Biography from
The Great Idea Finder
Chemistry History from The Great Idea
Finder
ON THE BOOKSHELF:
Hail
Entrepreneur! : A Salute to an Endangered Species
by Edward Lowe / ASIN: 0805936599 / This title is out of print.
The man who discovered the golden cat : the life story of Ed Lowe
by Edward Lowe / ASIN: 0961884800 / This title is out of print.
ON THE WEB:
Kitty Litter / Tidy Cats History
In 1964, Lowe created Tidy Cat® brand and it was sold opnly in grocery stores. Kitty
Litter Brand continued to be sold only in pet supply stores.
(URL: www.tidycat.com/)
Edward Lowe
Biography
Even among the burgeoning lists of highly successful entrepreneurs, Edward Lowe
occupies a special place. From the official Edward Lowe Foundation Web site.
(URL: www.edwardlowe.org/history.shtml)
Tidy Cat Becomes Tidy Cats Brand
The official Web site of Purina, owner of Tidy Cats Brand.
(URL: www.purina.com)
DID YOU KNOW?:
- In 1964, Lowe created Tidy Cat®
brand and it was sold in grocery stores.
- Tidy Cats Brand is now owned by the Purina company.
|
| Reference
Sources in BOLD Type |
This
page revised March, 2995. |
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