A brand of facial tissue which became so popular that it also became a slang term for facial tissue, eventually becoming the more common term. This occurred in a similar fashion as Q-tips replaced the term cotton swab or Jello replaced the term gelatin.

Kimberly-Clark developed Cellucotton as a cotton substitute in 1914. Looking for a post-WWI use for the product, they decided to go high glamour with Kleenex Kerchiefs, the Sanitary Cold Cream Remover. They had Hollywood stars like Helen Hayes and Ronald Coleman advertising the scientific and glamorous way to remove rouge and lipstick. After five years, the company noticed mail from consumers praising the Kerchiefs as disposable handkerchiefs. Women kept complaining that their husbands were blowing their noses in their cold cream removers.

In 1930 the company test-marketed the two uses for the product in Peoria, Illinois. The handkerchiefs won.

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