1942 he suffered from what he called the “grandaddy of all sunburns”.
1947 He began his search for a natural cure for sunburn. Talked to everyone under the sun!
He learned of a medicine man in South Florida using a plant for burns and open-air surgeries.
We learned Aloe had been around for centuries. Doctors had found aloe helped with X Ray treatments, but had conflicting results. We learned that a major company had spent over $66,000 tried to stabilize the aloe with no success and gave it up.
He spent 3 years working with a chemist and finally learned how to stabilize the fresh aloe gel.
In 1956 a doctor used the aloe gel for a man burned with hot pitch on only parts of his wounds. Those parts healed faster with none of the usual scarring. Doctors and hospitals began recommending his product.
1956 he stabilized the aloe in ointment form and pioneered Clinical Studies proving his aloe ointment (55% aloe) stops skin damage within 30 minutes of application.
His Aloe Ointment went on to win approval by the Food and Drug Administration. A chemist worked on stabilizing the gel from oxidizing without diminishing its healing effects.
Women began saying lines and wrinkles were softening and disappearing and he formulated the first aloe vera skincare for daily use. Grace Kelly was one of his most loyal customers.
Written up in medical journals, newspapers, etc. he couldn’t keep up with the demand. He searched for world for more aloe, but never found other aloe with the same properties, even though many of them looked the same! This explained why, throughout the years, various researchers had such conflicting results.
He thought aloe they found in Mexico was going to be the answer, but when they tested it, they found it had virtually no healing properties. He realized all aloe is NOT the same, and that the growth of his company was going to be controlled by how quickly he could grow more aloe vera.
Later, his aloe fields were plowed under for commercial development, because he had over-extended investors and lost control.