Kleenex began during the First World War when the Cellucotton company developed a crepe paper gas mask filter.

A further modification of the original crepe paper made it thinner and softer, and the resultant 1924 product was called "Kleenex" and marketed as a cold cream remover.

This was the first marketing of a disposable, paper-based, facial tissue in the Western world, and was sold as a substitute for face towels or cotton wool.

[citation needed] In 1925, the first Kleenex tissue ad was used in magazines showing "the new secret of keeping a pretty skin as used by famous movie stars".

The administrator declined the idea but then committed a small amount of ad space to mention of using Kleenex tissue as a handkerchief.