Rusty Jones was founded by Michael Mater, originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He moved to Chicago around 1965 and founded Matex Corporation around 1970. Matex, the parent company of Rusty Jones, was a modified version of Michael's last name, Mater. Mater was born in 1940 and died in 2002 at the age of 62. The name Thixo-Tex was derived from the thixotropic properties of the rustproofing chemical that was applied to the cars. Thixotropic means a viscous fluid that will flow to self-heal small abrasions. The reason for the change in the product name from Thixo-Tex to Rusty Jones was no one could remember the name "Thixo-Tex". Matex Corporation was a privately held corporation with the corporate headquarters located at 6200 North Hiawatha Ave., Chicago.