The system which works with best results for women who pride themselves on daintiness and charm of person is bath first, and the use of their favorite deodorant afterwards, and the deodorant used again in a few hours.
Believe it or not, it's been about 21 hours now since I applied my deodorant --- and I'm still odor- and perspiration-free! No small feat in the Southwest in August. I even left my air-conditioned office for a walk at noon. I wouldn't say I'm feeling fresh as a daisy, but I still felt quite fresh when I left the house this morning. Now I'm just neutral. Maybe there's something to this nightly application of deodorant after all.
Commercially prepared deodorants were nothing new in the 1940s - Mum was patented in 1888 - but what hadn't been invented yet was the deodorant stick. (Ban Roll-On was the first in 1952.) Whether you bought deodorant in a cream, paste, liquid, or powder form, it always had to be applied by hand.
I suspect that use of deodorant wasn't yet as universal as it is today. Women from rural areas, for instance, or from families hard hit by the Depression --- they were probably more likely to think that soap and water should be more than enough to keep oneself clean and fresh. Vintage ads for the stuff are absolutely savage and must have gone a long way toward the addition of a deodorant to many a medicine cabinet. If you didn't use deodorant, you were surely destined for spinsterdom and friendlessness:
You chased him behind that paper, Cookie.
Some things you just can't mask, Pigeon!
Hips aren't your big problem, Honey!
Even Venus couldn't get away with that.
And there must have plenty of women trying to cover body odor with perfume, because the ads sound all kinds of alarms against that practice:
Don't be that kind of a Cover Girl!
10 comments:
Yes, some women used perfume. Ooo.
Grandma said that they used talcum powder or cornstarch.
Ahh, Jitterbug! I've got about ten minutes before I have to take my kids out to a playdate, but I had to leave a comment on this post.
Here's an extract from a late 1940s UK article on "freshness".
"You'll need an underarm deodrant, of course. Properly used the liquid kind will last three days. Rinsed off when not quite dry, or applied hastily, it will be quite useless.
See that your skin is freshly washed, rinsed and thoroughly dried before you apply your deodrant. Dab it on freely, lie down with arms raised, and remain quite still until thoroughly dry. Even the slightest perspiration during the drying period will make it ineffective. Finish with a through rinsing and drying and plenty of dusting powder."
The 1920's were big on halitosis. Lots of Listerine ads railing about halitosis.
They're really pretty amusing now.
Packrat, I wonder if that's why some deodorants are scented like baby powder. If that particular scent was used to market the product to people who'd always used baby powder as an antiperspirant.
Dulce, what an elaborate routine! Thanks for sharing this. That liquid deodorant must have had some mighty powerful agents in it.
Latter-Day, teeth whitening must be our thing...
Of Course I wear deodrant to work etc. but If I have the day off or am just around the house I do not wear it. Chemicals on the body are not good for you. You have lymph nodes under your armpits. Deodrants with aluminum have been linked to alzhiemers .Your body is made to sweat. Healthy lymph nodes are important one of the first things they test for cancer.
old saying ...
horses sweat, men perspire,
... women glisten
I love this post! So cute. I can only imagine what some of those ads must have been like. Maybe they ought to bring some of them back--too many times I've been near a person who doesn't use deoderant!
Mrs Tailleur, I may be an ostrich with her head in the sand here, but I try really hard NOT to think about the whole heavy metals/alzheimer's thing. Cuz it just stinks. But so do I without a good stick of deodorant. I can't even stand myself without it! :(
What I ought to do is investigate some of the more natural options and see if I can't find something that pulls its weight.
Homemade Deodorant:
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup baking soda
Blend. Stir in 5-6 tablespoons of coconut oil. Add any essential oils for scent, if desired. Store the cream in a jar.
**
I've been using this for a few months now and it works great for both odor and wetness. Cheap, too. I've also sold five jars in the last week.
Wow! A recipe for deodorant?!? Very neat. I'll have to lay in some jars.
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