Charles Pfizer

Charles Pfizer was born in Ludwigsburg as Karl Pfizer on March 22 in 1824. He was a chemist.

Charles Pfizer and his cousins Charles Erhart formed Pfizer in 1849 after they arrived in Brooklyn from Germany. Charles Pfizer and Co was established in Brooklyn in 1849 to meet the need for processing chemicals, such as tartaric acid, used in foods and pharmaceuticals as well as in chemical manufacturing.

At first the venture was a small chemical manufacturer but it achieved early success after developing a way to improve the palatability of treatment for parasitic worms.

Charles Pfizer

Erhart, a confectioner, blended butter tasting santonin with almond-toffee flavoring shaping it into a candy cone for palatability and ‘new santonin’ became a success for the company.

The quality of Pfizer products became synonymous with excellence. The company moved in 1857 to the Wall Street area of Manhattan, where it also used one of the first city telephones.

Charles Pfizer passed away on October 19 in 1906 after two weeks of fall down stairs in which he broke an arm and was otherwise badly injured.
Charles Pfizer