Let's face it. As much as I enjoy my nightly baths, there are times of the week and times of the month when an invigorating morning shower hits the spot. On Saturday and Sunday mornings - when I sweat hard during a 65-minute walk at the park - I need a shower to feel fresh and dry for the rest of the day. And when Aunt Flo pays a call, I couldn't do without a shower before heading out in the morning to face the world. The rest of the time, I'm perfectly cool with a nightly bath. I've come to prefer 'em. I love that squeaky clean feeling when I crawl under the covers at night --- and there's something about all that hot water that puts my head in just the right space for dreamland.
Folks in the '40s were just coming themselves to appreciate the virtues of a great shower, and showers were becoming popular enough additions to postwar American bathrooms that Good Housekeeping dedicated an article to washing your hair in the shower in its March 1947 issue. I'll bet they've got some advice that might be helpful to me:
Why not wash your hair in the shower? Once you get the hang of it, you will never go back to shampooing in a bowl. Try it this way. Before you strip, have everything you need at hand - cream shampoo or a cup into which you have measured enough liquid shampoo for two sudsings, a small brush, a towel placed where you can reach it with your eyes shut. Wet your hair thoroughly; then keep away from the spray when rubbing suds into the hair. To rinse, face the spray or turn your back, as you like. Either way, shut your eyes, and as the water begins to run clear, turn so that a strong spray can be concentrated on every part of your head. Your hair will be more thoroughly rinsed with less trouble than ever before; you'll step out clean from top to toe; and you won't have to mop the bathroom floor.
Good Housekeeping seems sold on showers! At least when it comes to washing hair. Isn't it funny how something which seems so natural to we shower-takers today had to be broken down step by step like this. Even the process of rinsing the hair. Well, I suppose washing my hair in the bathroom sink would seem just as unnatural to me. Here are some additional tips included in the article. Thank goodness I don't have to worry about dandruff!
- Whether you shampoo in a bowl or in a shower, always brush your hair thoroughly before you start, in order to loosen any clinging dandruff.
- Be sure to suds every part of the scalp and hair. Uneven cleansing is often the cause of drab locks.
- Use a hand brush or small hairbrush to rub suds around the hairline, behind the ears, and on any spot where dandruff is likely to be troublesome.
- Rinse until the water runs clear. Without perfect rinsing, it is impossible to have glossy, springy hair. Use a hand spray if you don't shampoo in a shower.
- In hard water, use a soapless shampoo or a soap shampoo specially made to rinse out in hard water. Or follow soap rinsing with a lemon or color rinse, to remove curd.
7 comments:
Betty Grable?
Five points! That's our girl. ;)
She had the best legs!
Isn't it funny that I cannot imagine washing my hair in a bowl though I have seen photos and film of it done? Haha
lpm
Her legs are sensational! I love Betty's figure because she's slim, but not a stick. She's got some flesh on her bones, you know?
When I was a kid, we only had a bathtub - so I got used to washing my hair in the tub. Which is a feat.
I am still trying to guess what the thing in the background is . I think it's a sunlamp to tan your legs (nylon shortage) but it looks like something my doctor would have had in an office. any ideas?
I can't tell from the description with the photo, but I think you're right on the button with your guess of a sun lamp.
I know it is a little late to post, but just was introduced to your cool blog today. Even though I am in my 40s now, I remember as a young girl my sisters and I had to do whole hair-wash routine fully dressed (maybe with top taken off, with undershirt exposed), with a towel wrapped around the shoulders and leaning over the tap end of the tub. My mother often washed her hair in this manner, and I am fairly sure that her mother did as well. If we washed hair as part of a bath routine, it was done after the bathing, and with a separate container (like a pitcher or plastic ice-cream container) for fresh water for rinsing. The key was to minimize contact of shampoo on the skin, which was presented as potentially dangerous and to be avoided. Very funny thinking now with advent of body washes (nothing more than "shampoo"?).
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