Kiwi (shoe polish)

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Alternative meanings of Kiwi at Kiwi (disambiguation)

Kiwi is the brand name of a shoe polish, first made in Australia in 1906 and as of 2005 sold in almost 180 countries. Owned by the Sara Lee Corporation since 1984, it is the dominant shoe polish in some countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, where it has about two-thirds of the market.

This shoe polish was developed by Australia-based Scottish-born inventor William Ramsay, who named it Kiwi as a homage to his wife, Annie Elizabeth Meek Ramsay, a New Zealander, otherwise known as a Kiwi. Its success in Australia expanded overseas when it was adopted by both the British and American armies in World War I.