These brands are no Harley-Davidson, or Kohl’s.
But you may’ve seen these products in the grocery store aisle, at family gatherings, or on downtown streets – especially if you’re from the Badger State.
Here are six Wisconsin-based brands that create specialized products – from lip balm to sewage-based fertilizer – for the rest of the nation and beyond.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is highlighting some of the state’s iconic brands as part of the USA 250 project that looked at 50 national brands that helped shape our country.
As part of that effort, we’re spotlighting some other local companies.
Carmex
The Carmex lip balm brand, now sold in 65 countries, started in a home kitchen in Wauwatosa in 1937. After nearly 40 years of hand-pouring its lip balm into jars of its iconic yellow shade, Carmex maker Carma Laboratories Inc. introduced the popular squeezable tube in the 1980s.
Now in its third generation of family ownership, Carma Labs continues to operate from its Franklin headquarters, employing more than 300 people.
Cousins Subs
Cousins Subs began in 1972 when former lithographer Bill Specht was craving East Coast submarine sandwiches in Milwaukee after moving from New Jersey. Specht co-founded the company with James Sheppard, who was – you guessed it – his cousin. The brand’s name showed their “focus on family,” he said in a 2015 interview.
While Specht said the brand’s initial customers were primarily former East Coasters like himself, Cousins is now a fixture of Milwaukee and Wisconsin, selling items such as cheese curds. The brand has also struck sponsorships with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Badgers, Milwaukee Bucks and Green Bay Packers. Menomonee Falls-based Cousins Subs operates over 90 locations across Wisconsin and Indiana.
InSinkErator
After architect John Hammes invented the first garbage disposal in his Racine basement, he co-founded InSinkErator with his sons in 1938. The company’s website now boasts that it is “the world’s largest manufacturer of garbage disposals and instant hot water dispensers for home and commercial use.”
Headquartered in Mount Pleasant, InSinkErator now sells products in nearly 80 countries across the globe.
Jockey International
Jockey International is best known for its underwear and is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. While the brand was originally named Coopers Inc., it renamed itself Jockey International following the success of Jockey, its signature “Y-front” brief that the company claimed offers jockstrap-like support.
Based in Kenosha, the brand once advertised by baseball legend Babe Ruth now offers a line of undergarments that uses NASA technology to regulate temperature and reduce sweating.
Jolly Good
Since 1966, Jolly Good soda had been a fixture of family gatherings and picnics in Wisconsin – until it was discontinued in 2007 due to market competition.
But the company relaunched in 2013, doubling down on its nostalgic value and still boasting iconic flavors like cream and cherry. Since then, Jolly Good has received rekindled love from Wisconsinites through its factory in Random Lake, some 20 miles outside of Sheboygan. In 2024, it was even voted by Wisconsinites as the Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin.
Milorganite
Every year, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District creates more than 40,000 tons of this fertilizer using wastewater.
But it’s not sewage that’s directly turned into Milorganite fertilizer – it’s the microbes inserted into the wastewater and consume its nutrients that sink to the bottom and are kiln-dried into small pellets of fertilizer. The brand, which is a portmanteau of “Milwaukee Organic Nitrogen,” is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 6 iconic Wisconsin brands you likely use, from lip balm to fertilizer
Reporting by Jaeha Jang, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jaeha Jang, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
