Overview
This book gives the stories behind, or origins of, more than 3,500 commercial names. Many of them are American or British but some are French, German, Italian or Japanese.
From A & C Black (publishers) to Zyklon (insecticide), entries cover two types of subjects: company names and the names of products and services. The companies have names derived from their founders or benefactors, such as Dell computers and Lamborghini automobiles; or from placenames, such as Land O'Lakes dairy products and Halex table tennis balls; or from a "story," such as Ratrac snow tractors or Hang Ten surfwear.
The entries for product names explain the origin of brand names, like Dannon yogurt and Laservision video system; trademarks, such as Harp beer and Holeproof hosiery; patented products like Demerol; and hard-to-categorize commercial names like the Dancercize program.