While a number of older leather preserving products existed (including the Irish brand "Punch", which was first made in 1851, and the German brand, "Erdal", which went on sale in 1901), Kiwi's invention in 1906 made it the first shoe polish to resemble the modern varieties, aimed primarily at inducing shine. Ramsay and fellow Scottish expatriate Hamilton McKellar began making boot polish in a small factory in 1904 in Melbourne, Australia. They developed and improved their new formula and Ramsay launched the product in 1906 and began marketing it in Melbourne. Ramsay loaded boxes of the polish on his horse and cart and sold it to farmers to protect their boots.