S.O.S brand scrub pads stands for “Save
Our Saucepans”. The name was originally thought up by the wife of
the creator of the S.O.S pad, Ed Cox.
In 1917, Cox was an aluminum pot salesman and when he introduced
himself to potential new customers, he would give them a little
steel wool pad that he had encrusted with soap as a gift.
Eventually, these pads became more popular than the pans he was
trying to sell so he began selling the pads.
The last period in “S.O.S” was left off because “S.O.S.” could not
be trademarked due to the SOS distress signal often being written as
“S.O.S.”.