Cherry Blossom has, for over a century, been a market leading brand of shoe and boot polishes. Some of its most successful advertising involved kittens.
After engaging a chemist to devise a formula, Dan & Charles Mason who had been running a soap company since 1878 launched Cherry Blossom Boot Polish in 1906 at a penny a tin. The venture was so successful that, in 1913, soap production was transferred to Yalding in Kent and the Chiswick Polish Co Ltd was formed using the Burlington Lane, Chiswick factory.
In 1930 the Chiswick Polish Company amalgamated with the Nugget Polish Company followed in 1938 by the acquisition of William Wrens polish business. In 1954 Chiswick Products Ltd (as it was then known) merged into the newly formed Reckitt & Colman Holdings Ltd and, in 1972, manufacturing was moved from Chiswick to Reckitts facility in Hull. Cherry Blossom as a brand is still going strong today now under the ownership of Grangers International of Alfreton, Derbyshire.
The super image of the kittens snoozing in the highly polished boots originates from the 1930s and, along with other cat images, was used in the companys advertising for many years. The advertising slogan is also taken from the original advertisement.
The Cherry Blossom Kittens are produced by Millennium Collectables Ltd with the kind permission of Grangers International Ltd..