Factory All Access Pass: Lab Coats, Hair Nets & Zero Glamour
A group of colleagues and I recently visited one of the oldest nonprescription drug manufacturers in America. We were greeted by CEO Nathan McFee, who clearly is invested in the legacy and growth of the company. I immediately knew this wasn’t going to be a usual visit.
The brand’s history, its loyal customer base, and its story worth telling were all familiar to me. But watching the production process made everything feel different.
Before we stepped onto the production floor, we were asked to put on white lab coats and hair nets, standard procedure to ensure product integrity. I felt very cool in my lab coat. The hair net? Let's just say it was more 'mad scientist' than 'chic entrepreneur'.
The Rhythm of the Floor
Production has its own rhythm. It is orderly, focused, and precise. The bottles lined up on the conveyor reminded me of little toy soldiers, standing at perfect attention, row after row. Each label was applied with such care and precision that I stopped to watch.
It sounds like a small thing.
It isn’t.
That label is the face of a product that’s been trusted for generations, and you can feel that the people on the floor know it.
Each red box represents not just inventory, but a promise that, after over 150 years in business, the company is still showing up for the people who depend on its products. Staring at those boxes, I realized this wasn't just a manufacturing process; it was a legacy being packed for shipment.
Every bottle and box felt like a small act of commitment to the customer, to the formula, to over 150 years of earned trust.
This was not a museum or a brand living only in old advertisements and faded memories. It was a vibrant, fully operating manufacturing facility where heritage and innovation shared the same production floor. The history is real, but so is the technology.
Seeing a product with 200 years of momentum being produced with modern standards was a reminder that the reputation is about the current needs of people today.
The People Behind the Brand
I had the opportunity to meet members of the S.S.S. Company team, and their commitment was impossible to miss. They were proud to be part of a company with such a long legacy, but they were not stuck in the past.
They were excited about where the company is going. They talked about customers with genuine interest and care. They understood that behind every order is a person who chose this brand, often because it has been part of their family’s wellness story for generations.
Historical Documents Saved A Legacy Story
After seeing production, we were introduced to another side of the company: its history. I was not prepared. And honestly, I was overwhelmed.
We’re talking thousands of documents, strategic plans, advertising materials, and correspondence stretching back over 100 years. As I leafed through pages that predated my grandparents, I felt the kind of awe that only history can produce. This company didn’t just survive. It stayed present. It kept receipts, literally and figuratively, of every era that shaped its journey.
As someone who works in marketing, I found that part fascinating. Old advertising has a way of revealing what a company believes about itself and what it wants customers to understand. The language may change. The design may change. The channels definitely change. But the heart of the story is often still there.
A Full-Circle Moment
Then came the surprise that stopped me in my tracks. Among the historical materials was a full case study about S.S.S. Company written by Professor Ken Bernhardt, a respected marketing professor from Georgia State, and a person I’ve known for many years.
The case was included in his marketing class. Ken is the kind of academic whose work is internationally respected. Knowing he had studied this company closely and presented it to his students was a full-circle moment that made the visit even more meaningful.
Here I was, walking through a company I was getting to know in real time, only to discover that its story had already been studied and taught as part of marketing history. The marketer in me loved that. The storyteller in me loved it even more.
Decades of Customer Promises In A Red Box
The interesting aspect about the S.S.S. Company isn't just its history. It is the energy you see in the documents of century-old handwritten plans and customer testimonials that are just steps away from the high-tech production line.
Legacy brands can sometimes get trapped by their own past. They can become so focused on what they were that they lose sight of what they can still become. During my visit, I saw a company working to carry its history forward, bottle by bottle, red box by red box, customer by customer.
S.S.S. Company has been making wellness products since 1867. That’s not just a tagline. After spending a day inside their world, I can tell you: it’s a way of life.
It takes a willingness to honor the past without becoming frozen in it. In the case of S.S.S. Tonic, it takes rows of bottles, standing like toy soldiers, ready to continue a story that began long before any of us walked onto that factory floor.
The visit reminded me that S.S.S. Company is more than a factory in Atlanta; it is a thread in the history of Atlanta and in the fabric of many families' wellness journeys.
Does your family have a story involving the Tonic? I’d love to hear how the red box has been a part of your history, too.
- Toby Bloomberg, Social Media Marketing Strategist
Learn more about S.S.S. Tonic and other wellness products here. And if you haven’t tried S.S.S. Tonic, it might be time.
Disclosure from Toby: "I currently work with SSS Company in a consulting capacity. The opinions and impressions shared here are totally mine."