Arm & Hammer

Arm & Hammer is a registered trademark of Church and Dwight, an American manufacturer of household products. The logo of this brand is a muscular arm holding a hammer. Originally associated only with baking soda, beginning in the 1970s the company began to expand the brand to other products using baking soda as a deodorizing ingredient, including: toothpaste, laundry detergent, underarm deodorant, and cat litter. The Arm & Hammer brand is one of the longest-running and most recognized U.S. trademarks.

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The Arm & Hammer logo dates back to the 1860s. James A. Church ran a spice business known as Vulcan Spice Mills. According to the company, the Arm and Hammer logo represents Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalworking.

It is often claimed, incorrectly, that the brand name originated with or is related to tycoon Armand Hammer, who owned a considerable amount of Church and Dwight stock in 1980s and served on its Board of Directors. In fact, Hammer only bought a portion of the company as a joke.

The Arm and Hammer is also the symbol of the Socialist Labor Party of America (SLP). Originally a stylized representation of the Greek god of fire and forge, Hephaestos (Roman Vulcan), the muscular male arm with hammer in fist was used prior to the American Civil War as a symbol of the labor movement.

Industrial-strength bicarbonate cleaning products are labeled under an Arm & Hammer subsidiary division, ARMEX.