American Polywater Corporation

In 1973, Nelson Jonnes, a Minnesota research chemist with more than a dozen patents under his belt, threw together some slippery ingredients in his basement and began selling it as a SCUBA diving-suit lubricant. It was well received, but the potential income from that alone could not support his family of six.

With a quick change of marketing focus in 1974, the fledgling company began selling the same technology to the telecom and power utility markets in the form of a unique, water-based cable pulling lubricant. It revolutionized the industry, which until then had used mud, wax, and grease. Polywater® Cable Pulling Lubricants have been the leaders ever since.