LYNDON - From 1899 to 2016, the Northeast Kingdom company Bag Balm has quite the success story.
According to Bag Balm’s website, “In 1899, rumors flew around the Northeast Kingdom about a miraculous potion for chafed and cracked cow udders concocted by a pharmacist in Wells River. So one fateful morning in 1900, a Lyndonville farmer named John L. Norris saddled his best horse and rode 30 long miles to find out what the fuss was about,” and that’s where the story begins. Other purposes of Bag Balm include using it on dry skin for yourself, putting it on a new tattoo or even padding the paws of your dog which made the product a hit across country.
Sales Manager Jillian emery said, “It’s really one of those fun unique products where it originated on the farm and people saw the effects it had on their own skin.”
Bag Balm is located right in Lyndonville and the company still only has eight employees. Production Manager Mark Perkins said, “They’re pushing the product now. It used to be word of mouth and that worked good, but now they want to expand the business.” This chapter marks the part when the company hits the shelves of one of the country’s largest merchants— Walmart.
“A lot of people that come in to see the place can’t believe it’s done in such a small building,” Perkins continued. Although the workers are taking on a heavy load, Perkins said that they have no plans of expanding the company at the moment. If anything they will add a second shift if demand increases.
Bag Balm is also available online at CVS, Amazon, Walgreens and Target.