Rit Dye

In the early 1900's, Charles C. Huffman began experimenting with making fabric dyes for home use. He set up a laboratory in a vacant Chicago store and began with a five-gallon blue enamel pot. He started the Sunbeam Chemical Company to produce and market his home dyes and registered it two years later. World War I soon hit, and Americans were cut off from their usual source of German dyes, so Huffman's product found a ready market.

In 1916, Huffman named his dye "RIT" after Louis Rittenhouse, a friend who had helped finance the new company. The dye sold in either cake or flake form for ten cents a box. "Never say dye..say RIT!" became its slogan in 1917. Ownership has changed hands several times over the years, but the dye has stayed on the market continuously.

The product quickly became available in many retail markets, and people found a number of uses for it. I remember my mother dyeing white fabric to make quilt backings and dyeing faded clothing or ones that needed to be darker for work clothes. There's also various craft applications, like tie-dyeing.

There have been other brands of home dyes, but they've not been as readily available. RIT has become the standard or name in home dyes. It's still available today.

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