1930's and 1940's Household Products

[emigran]

Lizzie. I'm still thinking about that fabulous photo...Holey Moley.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Somebody gave me that washing machine in 1988 -- they were cleaning out the cellar of a house they'd just bought, and they had that machine and an electric ironing mangle and didn't know what to do with them. I did know what to do with them.

It's an Easy model 50-D built in November 1934. I had a company in New York state re-rubber the wringer rolls a couple years ago, and I squirt a few drops of Texaco Home Lubricant into the oil hole on the wringer gear box every six months, but that's all the maintenance it needs.

 

[2jakes]

Lizzie. I'm still thinking about that fabulous photo...Holey Moley.

Agree.
I have no doubts that she made it herself !

It’s the red buttons that makes it, along with that adorable face !

 

[vitanola]

Bucky, Bucky Beaver... New Ipana Toothpaste... I remember the singing commercials...with scurrying beaver and the two giant front teeth!!!

I have always associated Ipana with peppy though evanescent dance tunes.

"IPANA, for the smile of beauty, SAL HEPATICA for the smile of health!"

 

[LizzieMaine]

I recently came across several unsold-store-stock jars of Noxzema cream from the mid-forties, and it's interesting to compare the label with that of the current version of the product. According to the label 1940s Noxzema contained carbolic acid (less than 1/2 percent), menthol, camphor, oil of clove, oil of eucalyptus, and lime water. The current label lists water, stearic acid, linseed oil, soybean oil, eucalyptus globulous leaf oil, gelatin, perfume, and a long list of chemical preservatives.

Now, the labeling requirements of the 1940s were far less strict than those of today, so we don't necessarily know what kind of preservatives were used in the wartime version. The contents of the 1940s jars have mummified into a shrunken, oxidized brown waxy substance with a faint Noxzema smell, but no cosmetic preservative can be expected to last over 70 years.

The presence of carbolic acid in the original formula is interesting -- that was the same antibacterial agent used in Lysol, Zonite, Lifebuoy soap, and similar household antiseptic products, and presumably this is the ingredient that justified the use of "medicated" on the label. It does not appear in the modern cream, which also makes no "medicated" claim. There is no camphor, clove oil or menthol in the modern version, which may explain the addition of "perfume" to retain the distinctive Noxzema odor. It may look and smell like the original product, but regardless of the word "Original" on the modern label, it is not that.

 

[BlueTrain]

We used to use to clean windows with something called Glass Wax, if I'm remembering correctly, when I was little. And I think it's still available but apparently not heavily advertised. It came in a can and was pink. You cleaned (one wouldn't say washed, exactly) the windows with it and let it dry, then rubbed off the residue with a clean rag, rather like Brasso. It did work, though I have no idea if it was the best way to clean your windows. Using newspapers to clean your windows is an awful idea.

Advertising for ordinary home products has changed in the last 75 years. Television just inhales money and general interest magazines aren't what they used to be. So the more every day kinds of things are not advertised they way they were at one time.

 

[PeterGunnLives]

Surprised no one mentioned
Bon Ami.. cleanser with the little chick on the red an yellow container...

had to edit there ewas only one chick not three...

I buy this from Target to use at home. I don't know if it's the original formula, though.

 

[St. Louis]

It's still possible to buy carbolic soap at so-called "international" supermarkets & grocery stores. It has a nice clean smell, but because it's dyed red, it tends to leave a visible trail on my old tub. Maybe that was the point? It's easy to see where the soap residue is when you scrub the tub after a bath. Does anyone know whether carbolic soap was always dyed red?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Most were either red or a deep coral (Lifebuoy.)

Carbolic and other "health soaps" were condemned en masse by Consumers Union Reports in March 1939 for false marketing claims and/or the inclusion of dangerous substances. The carbolic content in all brands that claimed it was at an insufficient level to offer any significant disinfectant action, and any greater level of carbolic would have been dangerous to the skin. Lifebuoy, in particular, was called out for particular censure for its use of cresylic acid, a substance "which, dermatologists believe, should not be used on the skin except when prescribed by a doctor." These soaps offered no greater benefit than ordinary white toilet soap despite the additional cost, and did nothing to prevent "B. O." beyond that of ordinary soap and water.

According to CU, the best buy for any toilet soap in March of 1939 was Colgate's "Colossal" brand, a big, bland cake of plain, pure white soap with no particular scent, which could be had for three cents a cake or nine cents a pound. The worst buy in the "good quality" category was Yardley's English Lavender, which sold for 35 cents a cake -- or $1.97 a pound, despite not getting you any cleaner than Colossal would.

 

[scotrace]

I've been using Pear's Soap for several years. It has a great scent and is relatively cheap compared to other out of the ordinary brands. And it was among the earliest widely advertised products in the 19th century.
To get it, I have to go to the nearest Bed, Bath and Beyond, which is thirty miles away. So i usually make do with Ivory, or when I'm in the mood, Kirk's Castile.
When I run out of liquid dish soap, I just swish a bar of Ivory in the water, as Lizzie has suggested here. Works fine. The newer Oxy dishwashing liquids seem to be really good at keeping the dishcloth from smelling mildewed for an extended period.

 

[Benzadmiral]

We used to use to clean windows with something called Glass Wax, if I'm remembering correctly, when I was little. And I think it's still available but apparently not heavily advertised. It came in a can and was pink. You cleaned (one wouldn't say washed, exactly) the windows with it and let it dry, then rubbed off the residue with a clean rag, rather like Brasso. It did work, though I have no idea if it was the best way to clean your windows. Using newspapers to clean your windows is an awful idea.

Advertising for ordinary home products has changed in the last 75 years. Television just inhales money and general interest magazines aren't what they used to be. So the more every day kinds of things are not advertised they way they were at one time.

In the '90s I used to use Glass Wax on the windows of my cars. The can was pink, but the fluid inside was a kind of watery tan, if I recall aright. I think I bought a can at a local hardware store in the last 10 years.