Before Dr. Bronner's was founded in 1948, the original family brand was lost to the Nazis during the Second World War. After both of his parents were murdered in concentration camps, Emanuel Bronner started the brand in the U.S. with the idea of spreading positivity and spiritual messages.

Before starting his company, Bronner gave lectures on equality on the steps of the University of Chicago. He continued this practice after starting Dr. Bronner's, but as he realized passersby took his free soap samples without listening to his Moral ABCs, he began printing them directly on the label.

Bronner arrived in the U.S. in 1929 and began to spread his "peace plan," but after learning his parents had been murdered, he became increasingly obsessed with his lectures, which worried his sister. She had him involuntarily committed to a mental hospital, but he escaped and hitchhiked to Los Angeles in the late 1940s.

Emanuel Bronner died in 1997, but his company remains family-owned and operated, with two of his grandsons being CEO and president. To carry Bronner's legacy, the brand remains committed to ethical sourcing and donates most of its profits to charities.