soybean crushing mills, and produced a variety of products ranging from dog treats to sponges made from a soybean plastic. By 1940, Robert Allen Boyer, head of Ford's industrial soy applications research, had developed a synthetic wool made from soybeans, and as Ford was importing 125,000 short tons of wool annually from Australia and Argentina, and World War II threatened that supply, Ford pressed forward with promotion of the fiber. Soon, the sidewall upholstery in Ford autos was a 25% soy wool 75% sheep's wool blend - but when Ford was unable to convince the armed forces to use soy wool for uniforms, he sold his fabrication process and machinery to Drackett in November, 1943. Boyer was part of the deal; he became director of research at Drackett. Drackett couldn't make soy wool commercially feasible, either. In 1947, Boyer wrote an article for the Soybean Digest titled "A Modern Shirt from Ancient Soybean," summarizing this work. Boyer wanted to develop food products made from soybeans. Drackett was only interested in industrial products. In 1949, Drackett sold their soybean operations, and Boyer left the company. Bristol-Myers In 1965, the Drackett family sold the business to Bristol-Myers. Bristol-Myers at that time included a variety of high-margin businesses such as Playtex and Clairol, and Drackett's business of narrow margins on inexpensive products was not a good fit. After years of trying to find someone who could buy the entire company, the company was sold to S. C. Johnson & Son in 1992. As expected, the Federal Trade Commission had anti-trust concerns and ordered Johnson not only to divest itself of the Behold and Endust furniture care products and the Renuzit air freshener products within 12 months, but to seek prior approval for a decade before acquiring another furniture care or air freshener company. They placed the furniture brands with Sara Lee and the air freshener with Dial, and were released early from the prior approval requirement. Johnson has since jettisoned some other lines, such as Twinkle metal polish and O'Cedar handle goods. Drackett's Professional Products Division, established in 1968 to market to commercial and institutional users, was retained as a separate operating unit in Cincinnati. In 2002, Johnson bought DiverseyLever. Their professional brands division and Drackett's were folded together to form JohnsonDiversey Consumer Branded Professional Products. External links Windex Sources "Philip W. Drackett: Earned profits, plaudits" By Barry M. Horstman, Cincinnati Post, May