Who or What is Watkins?

Watkins ProductsWatkins Incorporated was founded by Joseph R. Watkins in 1868 in the basement of his home in Plainview, Minnesota.  The first product he produced from his home was Dr. Ward’s Liniment.  Mr. Watkins was so confident that consumers would like Dr. Ward’s Liniment that he introduced the first ever moneyback guarantee and the now famous “Trial Mark” bottle.   Those two revolutionary marketing tactics continue to be popular to this very day.

Seventeen years later, in 1885, Mr. Watkins’ production of liniment outstripped the capacity of his home and the small town of Plainview, leading Mr. Watkins to make the decision to move his bustling company to the town of Winona, Minnesota — a Mississippi River port town known for its vast lumber business.  In fact, Winona was so popular in its heyday that it had five railroads traveling through it.

Upon arriving in Winona, Mr. Watkins incorporated his thriving business under the name J.R. Watkins Medical Company and expanded its product line to include vanilla, black pepper, cinnamon, Petro-Carbo Salve and Cathartic pills.

In the 1890′s Watkins began what would later become a major expansion program, first opening an office in San Francisco during the 1890′s.  By 1913 the successful company opened its first international office in Winnepeg, Canada and never looked back — expanding to 135 offices in the 1940′s across the U.S., Canada, Australia,  New Zealand, England and South Africa.

These days international offices are confined to Canada and China, but the company has grown by leaps and bounds and has over 50,000 associates selling 350 different personal home products for Watkins – many considered the best of their kind in the world.

Watkins Associates Portal Launches!

WatPros.com, a new web portal designed to educate and train new Watkins Associates belonging to the Whitley downline of the Summit Group of associates has launched to the delight of work-at-home moms, work from home entrepreneurs, stay-at-home Dads, etc.  Representing Watkins Incorporated, a Wisconsin company founded in 1868 that now boasts a product line 350 products strong, WatPros.com is a member of the Summit Group of Watkins Associates and offers a wealth of training and educational resources for all associates that sign up here.

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