Our mentholated salve, known in the old days as 'Tholene' and later as 'Smith's Mentholated Salve' was first prepared in the late 1800s by G.F. Smith, around the same time he was perfecting Rosebud Salve. This mentholated salve is a cooling salve designed not so much as a cosmetic aid but rather to help soothe minor skin irritations, especially those associated with colds, allergies, minor burns, and insects stings. G.F.'s youngest daughter, Millie, always said that her father insisted this was the best of his products and offered unbeatable relief for the sore-red-dry-itchy nose caused by a cold. The tin design is a little bit of a mystery. No one alive in the family in the 2000's can remember a design prior to the 'original' tin, but there must have been as this 'original' tin was a 1960's style. In 2008, cousin Linda found a rejected template of the tin's very first design and used it as a inspiration to create a new, yet older, version of the tin that debuted in late 2008/early 2009. We all agree that the new 'old' tin is a vast improvement, don't you think? The new tin went first to the European distributors, as many of them had never seen the product at all.