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We currently have a large shipment of Ogallala Bay Rum on it's way to us from the USA. In our excitement, we decided to interview John and thought some of you might like to read the result 
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Ogallala Bay Rum has been produced for over 5 years and is now more popular than ever. The traditional barbershop fragrance is used by thousands of men around the world every single day. Badgerandhone.com recently had the pleasure to speak with John Marquis, founder of the Ogallala Bay Rum Company:
Hi John, thanks for taking the time to speak with Badgerandhone.com. Bay Rum has been around for a very long time. Could you tell us what inspired you to start your own brand; 'Ogallala Bay Rum'?
“Well, I didn't start out to do it on purpose. I have always loved the scent of bay rum. Over the years it just seemed to get harder and harder to find. I kept hearing about this one brand that was supposed to be very good (no names mentioned) and so I asked for it for Christmas in 2005 and I got a bottle! Excitedly, I opened it up and took a whiff and thought "gee, I think even I could do better than that"!
So, on a lark, I started working on a version in the basement of our home. After about 130 try’s, the result became our Ogallala Bay Rum Cologne! I knew I liked it and just kind of wondered if anyone else would. I started selling it on eBay and kept getting repeat customers who had very nice things to say about it so decided I must be on to something! One thing led to another and before I knew it, we had added a number of variations and other products and launched our own website and the business continued to grow. Then a rather sizable catalogue company picked up our cologne and we began shipping to them by the pallet. Obviously by then we had moved the operation out of the basement of the house and into another facility!â€Â
Not all of our readers will be familiar with Bay Rum. Could you give us a quick overview?
“I don't claim to be an absolute authority on the subject but I do know that the versions I became hooked on were the ones that were common in the US in the 50's and 60's. Many had been around for decades before that and certainly bay rum was around in the "old west" days. No doubt those versions were concocted by the local barber or drug store owner using bay oil from the West Indies, where it originated. Our version carries on that tradition.
Ogallala was indeed an old cow town that was the end of the Texas Trail cattle drives in the 1870s and 1880s. While our particular version may not be exact, I'd bet it was pretty close to what was on the shelf at an old Ogallala barbershop when the cowboys hit town.â€Â
What makes Ogallala Bay Rum different from the other Bay Rum’s out there?
For one thing, ours is more witch hazel based as opposed to alcohol based. There is some alcohol in it but it's less than 5 percent while some are well over 60 percent. Witch hazel is much, much kinder to the skin than alcohol.
What is your most popular item in the Ogallala Bay Rum product range?
The Ogallala Bay Rum Cologne is still the biggest seller especially for first time buyers. But the others all certainly have their loyal followers as well. Certainly the shaving soaps and bath soaps have kept us very busy too!
Ogallala Bay Rum is now distributed around the world. How does it feel to know that every day, men around the world are enjoying your products?
It is quite amazing to me really! I started out just trying to come up with something I would like. Then I realized it might provide a nice little supplement to my retirement someday since people seemed to be coming back for more. After selling products in all 50 US states by the end of 2006, our first year of operation, I realized this was going to be bigger than I thought! Obviously it became a full time commitment and my previous career of a full time radio broadcaster for over 30 years came to a close. We have now sold in over 40 countries, are in three national catalogues and it looks like we'll be in more catalogues by the end of the year. We also now have a distributor in Canada, one in Australia, and we are extremely proud to have Badger & Hone as our exclusive European Distributor!
What's in line for Ogallala Bay Rum in the future? Can we look forward to any new products?
There are actually at least three more products that are already in the works but I can't quite let the cat out of the bag on those yet! There are a number of others that have been suggested as well but there are only so many hours in the day so some may take a while to roll out but I suspect the product line will continue to grow!
Ogallala Bay Rum is available exclusively from http://www.badgerandhone.com
Copyright © Badger & Hone Ltd 2011
--------------------------------------------------
Ogallala Bay Rum has been produced for over 5 years and is now more popular than ever. The traditional barbershop fragrance is used by thousands of men around the world every single day. Badgerandhone.com recently had the pleasure to speak with John Marquis, founder of the Ogallala Bay Rum Company:
Hi John, thanks for taking the time to speak with Badgerandhone.com. Bay Rum has been around for a very long time. Could you tell us what inspired you to start your own brand; 'Ogallala Bay Rum'?
“Well, I didn't start out to do it on purpose. I have always loved the scent of bay rum. Over the years it just seemed to get harder and harder to find. I kept hearing about this one brand that was supposed to be very good (no names mentioned) and so I asked for it for Christmas in 2005 and I got a bottle! Excitedly, I opened it up and took a whiff and thought "gee, I think even I could do better than that"!
So, on a lark, I started working on a version in the basement of our home. After about 130 try’s, the result became our Ogallala Bay Rum Cologne! I knew I liked it and just kind of wondered if anyone else would. I started selling it on eBay and kept getting repeat customers who had very nice things to say about it so decided I must be on to something! One thing led to another and before I knew it, we had added a number of variations and other products and launched our own website and the business continued to grow. Then a rather sizable catalogue company picked up our cologne and we began shipping to them by the pallet. Obviously by then we had moved the operation out of the basement of the house and into another facility!â€Â
Not all of our readers will be familiar with Bay Rum. Could you give us a quick overview?
“I don't claim to be an absolute authority on the subject but I do know that the versions I became hooked on were the ones that were common in the US in the 50's and 60's. Many had been around for decades before that and certainly bay rum was around in the "old west" days. No doubt those versions were concocted by the local barber or drug store owner using bay oil from the West Indies, where it originated. Our version carries on that tradition.
Ogallala was indeed an old cow town that was the end of the Texas Trail cattle drives in the 1870s and 1880s. While our particular version may not be exact, I'd bet it was pretty close to what was on the shelf at an old Ogallala barbershop when the cowboys hit town.â€Â
What makes Ogallala Bay Rum different from the other Bay Rum’s out there?
For one thing, ours is more witch hazel based as opposed to alcohol based. There is some alcohol in it but it's less than 5 percent while some are well over 60 percent. Witch hazel is much, much kinder to the skin than alcohol.
What is your most popular item in the Ogallala Bay Rum product range?
The Ogallala Bay Rum Cologne is still the biggest seller especially for first time buyers. But the others all certainly have their loyal followers as well. Certainly the shaving soaps and bath soaps have kept us very busy too!
Ogallala Bay Rum is now distributed around the world. How does it feel to know that every day, men around the world are enjoying your products?
It is quite amazing to me really! I started out just trying to come up with something I would like. Then I realized it might provide a nice little supplement to my retirement someday since people seemed to be coming back for more. After selling products in all 50 US states by the end of 2006, our first year of operation, I realized this was going to be bigger than I thought! Obviously it became a full time commitment and my previous career of a full time radio broadcaster for over 30 years came to a close. We have now sold in over 40 countries, are in three national catalogues and it looks like we'll be in more catalogues by the end of the year. We also now have a distributor in Canada, one in Australia, and we are extremely proud to have Badger & Hone as our exclusive European Distributor!
What's in line for Ogallala Bay Rum in the future? Can we look forward to any new products?
There are actually at least three more products that are already in the works but I can't quite let the cat out of the bag on those yet! There are a number of others that have been suggested as well but there are only so many hours in the day so some may take a while to roll out but I suspect the product line will continue to grow!
Ogallala Bay Rum is available exclusively from http://www.badgerandhone.com
Copyright © Badger & Hone Ltd 2011
