Charles Haskell Revson was born on October 11, 1906 in Somerville, Massachussets, the second of three children of Jeanette Weiss and Samuel Morris Revson. His father was a cigar roller for the R. G. Sullivan Company in Manchester, New Hampshire, where Charles and his two brothers were raised.
Revson graduated from Manchester High School in 1923.
Revson's first job was as a salesman for the Pickwick Dress Company in New York City, owned by a cousin. His early interest in materials and colors derived from this experience. He was fired in 1930, however, because he had overstocked a pattern he favored.
Revson then went to Chicago, where he sold sales-motivation materials. Sales were not good, and within nine months he was back in New York City. He moved in with his family in Manhattan, as he was employed by the Elka Company, located in Newark, New Jersey, as a salesman of nail polish for the greater New York area.
His brother Joseph, who had been working for the General Motors plant in Tarrytown, New York, also went to work for Elka. Both men used office space in a cousin's lamp factory at 38 West Twenty-first Street in Manhattan. When they wanted to expand their territory beyond the New York City area and Elka refused, Revson decided they would start their own business.
He had consulted with beauty parlor operators about the performance of the nail enamel produced by Elka, and by applying polish to his own nails, he had learned which texture, colors, and luster were desirable.
In March 1932, Revson founded Revlon with his brother Joseph and Charles Lachman, who was affiliated with Dresden Chemical Company, a company in New Rochelle, New York, that made polish for other firms to sell. The three men pooled their savings, $300, and Lachman secured a credit line with Dresden for their nail enamel. The company name was formed from "Revson" and the L in Lachman (the first name proposed, Revlac, was not deemed euphonious). The business was sustained during the first year by borrowing money at 2 percent interest per month from loan sharks. Dr. Taylor Sherwood, a chemist for Dresden, manufactured the enamel to Revson's specifications: opaque, lustrous, and nonstreaking. The first major sales order was for $400, from Marshall Field's beauty salon in 1934, when the business was conducted from a room that cost $25 per month, at 15 West Forty-fourth Street in Manhattan.
Charles was the salesman, and Joseph took charge of the office and finances. Except for the initial investment and his connection to Dresden Chemical, Lachman had no active role in the company. Despite the Great Depression, the business grew because beauty salons were its major clients.
In 1936, Revlon moved to 125 West Forty-fifth Street, occupying half a floor. The next year sales expanded to department and drug stores, and the firm required five floors. In 1938, the business relocated to 525 West Fifty-second Street, where the operation was automated.
In 1939, when lipstick was added to the product line, sales doubled and the phrase "matching lips and fingertips" established the trend of coordinating polishes and lipsticks. Magazines, in color for the first time, enabled promotion of new and more varied colors. Revson recognized the need to use catchy names and sexy images to promote sales. By 1941, Revlon was selling to 100, 000 beauty salons.
Charles was the primary salesman, the developer of new ideas for products, and the approver of all advertising. The "Fire and Ice" advertising campaign in 1951 furthered Revlon's position in the cosmetics field. It featured a seductive model and the caption, "Are you made for Fire and Ice?" But the real takeoff for Revlon was the sponsorship of the television quiz show "The $64, 000 Question, " approved by Charles in 1955. He presented the first check to the winner.
Sales quickly increased by 54 percent, and the Revlon image was not adversely affected by the later revelation that the show was rigged. The success enabled Charles to take the company public that year at $12 per share, and in three months it rose to $30. Joseph left the company before the public offering because he was against such a move. Charles also wanted his partners to assign him exclusive voting rights. Joseph refused and was bought out for $2. 5 million.
Charles Revson, another brother, Martin, and Charles Lachman sold 101, 833 shares as part of the initial offering. Martin resigned in 1958, and sued Charles for fraud, misrepresentation, and breach of agreement on the stock sale. The suit was settled out of court for $300, 000, about half of what Martin sought.
He introduced the notion of product obsolescence to Revlon's marketing strategy by featuring seasonal colors.
During World War II, Revson was exempted from military service because he established Vorset Corporation in Oxford, New Jersey, which assembled first-aid kits and produced dye markers for the navy and hand grenades for the army. These government contracts were obtained by the firm's security officer, Mickey Soroko.
The government connections enabled Revson to develop Revlon during the war years. In fact, further expansion caused Revlon to move to the Squibb Building, 745 Fifth Avenue. Revson introduced different lines, such as Ultima II, Marcella Borghese, and Moon Drops, to appeal to different markets. His model for this approach was General Motors, which was organized by divisions. In 1966, Revson diversified Revlon by acquiring a profitable pharmaceutical company, paying $67. 5 million in stock for the United States Vitamin and Pharmaceutical Corporation (USV).
In 1971, an agreement with Ciba-Geigy gave USV marketing rights, patents, and trademarks for four widely used drugs and marketing rights to thirteen others. By 1975, 23 percent of Revlon sales and 28 percent of its profits were from health products. By 1974, Revlon was manufacturing over 3, 500 items and selling them in 85 countries. Sales totaled $605 million, with net earnings of $49. 8 million. Revlon's five-year ownership of Evan-Picone, however, was not successful; it resulted in a loss of $1. 75 million at its sale in 1966.
Despite some setbacks, Revson took a business worth $4, 000 in 1932 to $605 million in 1974, when he named his successor, Michael G. Bergerac. At his death, Revson's interest in Revlon was only 10 percent because his lavish life-style had caused him to sell his shares from time to time. They were worth about $95 million, and his estate was valued at $100 million. This included his yacht, the Ultima II, third largest in the world at the time; his Park Avenue triplex penthouse, formerly owned by Helena Rubinstein; and a country estate at Premium Point, New York.
The pinnacle of Revlon's success was signaled by the firm's move to the top floor of the General Motors Building, placing Revlon symbolically above its competitors, Helena Rubinstein on the thirty-second floor, and Estée Lauder on the thirty-seventh.
Revson died in New York City.
Although Revson was soft-spoken and often inarticulate at meetings, he was very tough and even crude with his personnel.
According to one executive he called a meeting at 6 P. M. on the Friday of the July 4 weekend, then showed up at 8 P. M. , late as usual, to discuss the problem of personnel turnover. His desire for perfection caused Revson to institute quality control and product recall some thirty years before they became common practices.
Revson was married three times. He first married Ida Tompkins, a showgirl, in 1930; they were divorced within the year. On October 26, 1940, he married Johanna Catharina Christina de Knecht, known as Ancky, a model. They had three children and were divorced in 1960. He married Lyn Fisher Sheresky in February 1964; they were divorced in 1974.
He also had an affair with actress/singer Eartha Kitt.
