It is the registered trade mark of British Polythene Limited in numerous countries throughout the world.
Large (100 × 20 ft) sheets of Visqueen are used during floods to protect levees from wave wash erosion.
Visqueen was first produced circa 1950 by the Visking Corporation, a company founded in the 1920s by Erwin O. Freund for the purpose of making casings for meat products.
An antitrust ruling forced the sale of the polyethylene business of Visking to Ethyl Corporation in 1963.
[6] The song "Macho City" by the Steve Miller Band (1981) contains the lyric: "Politicians and lawyers/all know what it means/They'll be keeping it all legal/with political Visqueen".