Entrepreneur. He received recognition as the second generation of a profitable New Jersey based business empire, Mennen Company, and eventually became the president of the company for sixty years. He is credited with making the family business into a giant corporation. Born the son of the German immigrant, Gerhard Mennen, his father founded the Mennen Company, which pioneered the marketing of men's shaving and personal care products. The "Mennen's" trademark was first used on a can of talcum powder in July of 1889. His father died suddenly in 1902 and afterward, his mother managed the business. After receiving his degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University in 1908, he returned to his family's business and eventually became the company's president in 1916 after his mother's death. During World War I, his company produced an antidote to mustard gas poisoning, which was sold to the federal government. Following the war and through the Great Depression, he relocated the company, had advanced advertising, and started international exporting. Starting in World War I through World War II, his company produced footpowder for the military. The company was relocated in 1953 from Newark to Morristown. He is credited with inventing a shelf-stable shaving cream dispensed from a disposable tube, which was a change from using a bar of soap in a mug with a brush. Besides in New Jersey, their products were being produced in France. With the company becoming one of America's most profitable companies, the Mennen family was affluent. He purchased the 1,000-acre Hideaway Farm and became well-known as a horse breeder and rider. He married three times. His first wife was Irene Schenk, who died at age 31, less than two months after the birth of their fourth child in 1918. He married Lillian Knoepke two years later. In 1945, he married the twice-widowed Maude Robbins. In 1932, he and his sister donated funds to Cornell University to build a dormitory, Mennen Hall, and later, he donated a collection of rare books to the library. Although the Mennen Company was managed for several generations by the family, the company was eventually sold to Colgate-Palmolive Company in 1992, with no family members being involved with the business. By the 21st century, the name Mennen is being terminated as part of the product's name.