Robert Chesebrough Vaseline. In 1875, he founded the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company that in 1955 became Chesebrough-Ponds, a leading manufacturer of personal-care products. Chesebrough patented the process of making petroleum jelly (U.S. Patent 127,568) in 1872. By 1874, stores were selling over 1400 jars of Vaseline a day. Chesebrough's success stemmed from firm belief in his product. Before he began selling petroleum jelly, he tested it on his own cuts and burns. Chesebrough was still unable to sell any to drug stores until he travelled around New York demonstrating his miracle product. In front of an audience, he would burn his skin with
Grass jelly water. Jelly produced in this way has been described as having a leafy neutral or plain flavor. In Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, grass jelly was traditionally served with sugar syrup. Now it is often served mixed with other ingredients, such as mango, sago, watermelon, cantaloupe, and other fresh or canned fruit, and condensed or evaporated milk. Although this dish is sometimes called "liangfen" ("leung fan") in Chinese, it should not be confused with the Chinese starch jelly "liangfen", which is an entirely different dish. Grass jelly is known as "cincau" in Indonesian (it means green grass in Chinese).