When Pearl Higginbotham set out to make and sell whirlpool baths, she wanted to provide a quality product.
Higginbotham, who built a company and a network of friends, employees and customers, died of cancer at her Edina home on Dec. 5. She was 84.
Nearly 50 years ago, she was a single parent of four and selling Jacuzzi equipment door to door.
She founded Pearl Baths, a line of whirlpool tubs, in 1978. By the time she retired in the mid-1990s, she had made plenty of money, but that was not her goal, said a former president of the firm, Jim Grogan.
"She worried about quality and about the people that worked for her, and to make enough money so the place ran," Grogan said.
"Sometimes I just have to pinch myself to believe it's all true," Higginbotham said in a Sept. 20, 1989, Star Tribune article.
She was 55 when she began to make baths, and she found the road to success was rough. The fledgling firm came up with a tub with true whirlpool action (as opposed to jetted tubs often called whirlpools). When she believed it was presentable, she took the model to the Minnesota State Fair in 1979.
She sold quite a few, but when it came time to deliver them, she found flaws. So she called the buyers and said she'd return their money. After another year, Higginbotham was happy with the product.
