Up until the 1850s, mineral oil was considered a nuisance, seeping into wells or other forms of drinking water. Its main use was as an insect repellent or for homemade medicinal remedies. Mainstream commercialization of mineral oil came about because of James Curtis Booth of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. He performed some simple chemical analysis of “rock oil” and discovered that it could be distilled for lighting oil and other uses similar to whale blubber.
