Johnson Products Company (Afro Sheen / Ultra Sheen)

CTL-E-1297 · Business · other · 1954-1993 (independent Black ownership); sold 1993; repurchased by Black investors 2009; 1954-2009+ (sold to Ivax 1993; P&G 2003/04; returned to Black ownership March 2009)

PROVISIONAL evidence grade of this record

Founded 1954 by George and Joan Johnson with a $250 loan, Johnson Products became the first Black-owned company listed on the American Stock Exchange (Ultra Sheen, Afro Sheen), sponsored Soul Train, and showed that Black Chicago firms could manufacture, distribute, and own brands nationally.

Notes

Merged into canonical KG 2026-10-03 from LIFE-001, ECON-001; source entity IDs: CTL-DR-ECON-001:ECON-034, CTL-DR-LIFE-001:CTL-LIFE-E-033; source research type(s): business, institution.

Sources

Black Enterprise; BET.com (2009)
Wikipedia 'Johnson Products Company'; TikTok/YouTube summaries
Wikipedia
Face2Face Africa
Wikipedia; Black Enterprise
BET.com (2009); Black Enterprise (2009); cosmeticsbusiness.com
AP (Hamilton County Herald); v103
v103
Wikipedia, "Johnson Products Company"
Associated Press obituary of George E. Johnson Sr. (July 2026); Wikipedia
V103 iHeart, "Black People Magic Remembers George E. Johnson" (2026-07-18); AP

Record CTL-E-1297 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: PROVISIONAL · 11 sources · CTL research: LIFE-001, ECON-001.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

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Cite as: CultureTechLens, “Johnson Products Company (Afro Sheen / Ultra Sheen) (CTL-E-1297),” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, October 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1297/

Chicago: CultureTechLens. “Johnson Products Company (Afro Sheen / Ultra Sheen) (CTL-E-1297).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1297/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). Johnson Products Company (Afro Sheen / Ultra Sheen) (CTL-E-1297) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1297/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “Johnson Products Company (Afro Sheen / Ultra Sheen) (CTL-E-1297).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1297/

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