The Fuller Brush company is a well-respected business with nearly a century of quality service. This page will contain as much history about Fuller Brush and it's founder, Alfred C. Fuller, as I can compile.
Alfred C. Fuller was born in Nova Scotia, the eleventh of twelve children to Leander J. and Phoebe J. (Collins) Fuller, on January 13, 1885. His work ethic was instilled as a young boy, when he was paid a penny per quart to pick berries a few miles from his home. Through that, he learned the value of truly earning what you are paid, something that would stay with him as he developed his humble empire.
In 1903 he moved to Boston, Massachusetts where he lived with a sister. He held several jobs, including selling brushes for another man. He quickly noticed how the business could be improved, simply by listening to what the customer wanted. His boss would have no part of this improvement project, leaving him only one option. On January 1, 1906, using a $375.00 investment, Alfred, started the Fuller Brush Company in Hartford, Connecticut.
Young Fuller had a simple vision statement. He only wanted to make the best products of their kind in the world. He achieved this by keeping his sights on three simple rules
- Make it work
- Make it last
- Guarantee it, no matter what
This business approach worked, as the new company made $8500 in its first year. In 1909, Fuller realized he could no longer be a one man operation. A four-line "help wanted" ad drew thousands of responses and shortly thereafter, he had a team of 270 Fuller Brush men working all over the country. By 1919, the company's sales grew to over $1million a year. As his company grew, Fuller served as president, until 1943 when he became Chairman of the Board of Directors. The concept of the Fuller Brush man became a cultural icon, seen in cartoons and even immortalized in a movie starring Red Skelton. The business stayed in the family until it was acquired by Consolidated Foods in 1969 for $53million.
Somewhere during those busy successful days, Alfred Fuller found time for a personal life. I cannot find information on his first wife, but Fuller eventually took Mary Primrose Pelton, also from the same area of Nova Scotia as was he, as his second wife. From what I have learned, she was some years his junior, as she lived part time in the beautiful summer home he purchased from her grandparents in her later years.
Alfred C. Fuller died in December, 1973, leaving behind a company that is still as focused on quality now as it was when he was here to oversee it. Mary Primrose (Pelton) Fuller continued to spend summers in the Yarmouth home and the rest of the year in the United States.
Consolidated Foods sold Fuller to CPAC in 1994. Fuller has been profitable every year since. In addition to the company that continues to uphold a century-old standard for quality, Fuller's legacy includes the Hartt School, which is part of the University of Hartford. Alfred helped establish scholarships and his philanthropy allowed for the building of the Alfred C. Fuller Music Center. She served the University as a life regent until her death at age 94 in 1997, leaving a bequest of almost $20million to the school.