Have you ever used Golden Era toiletries?

[PrettySquareGal]

Sometimes I come across an old perfume set, soap, bath gel, shaving cream and the like and figure it must have gone bad from being so old...

Have you ever used any old toiletries? Were they still "good"?

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Colognes and such tend to get stale after only a few years or so it seems. So I throw 'em out. I don't imagine any sort of cream or concoction would survive and still be in a usable state.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Update

Hmmm,...just went and cracked open an old bottle of Lagerfeld,...about 7 years old or so I think, still smells pretty okay.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I have a couple of 1940s-vintage bottles of Woodbury's Hand Lotion that are still fully usable -- no sign of evaporation or oil separation or any kind of breakdown. On the other hand, I have a 1930's-vintage tube of Ipana toothpaste that has hardened into a firm, cement-like mass, so I think a lot depends on the product and how it's stored!

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I have a couple of 1940s-vintage bottles of Woodbury's Hand Lotion that are still fully usable -- no sign of evaporation or oil separation or any kind of breakdown. On the other hand, I have a 1930's-vintage tube of Ipana toothpaste that has hardened into a firm, cement-like mass, so I think a lot depends on the product and how it's stored!

I'm intrigued. I may need to buy a bottle!

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Hmmm,...just went and cracked open an old bottle of Lagerfeld,...about 7 years old or so I think, still smells pretty okay.

7 years isn't old.

 

[Lady Day]

Have you ever used Golden Era toiletries?



I dont think I would trust the shelf life on those things.I did find some 40 year old make up in a compact I got... lol
Im glad for expiration dates in this day and age.

LD

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

I'm intrigued. I may need to buy a bottle!

I meant seven years in cat years.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Have you ever used Golden Era toiletries?



I dont think I would trust the shelf life on those things.I did find some 40 year old make up in a compact I got... lol
Im glad for expiration dates in this day and age.

LD

Say, maybe things were made to never expire! They *did* use some crazy chemicals the FDA has since banned! lol

 

[scotrace]

Have you ever used any old toiletries?

Yup. On that there Kween Mary ship last yar. Flusher wuz a leeddle stifff....

 

[BegintheBeguine]

They don't make red like that anymore

I remember reading a caveat last year about a Lounger who got a nasty rash from using elderly toiletries. However, I use lipsticks from the 50s and 60s. I started collecting makeup when I was a youngster.
Now if I can just find an old can of Metrecal I'd be all set.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

I probably wouldn't use anything that old, but I do use an old-fashioned production: Grandpa's Pinetar Soap, been around for eons. I swear by it.

karol

 

[Starius]

Have you ever used any old toiletries? Were they still "good"?

If by toiletries you also consider leaves and corn cobs for.... toilet paper... then yes, yes I have. And no, "good" is not the word I would use to describe the experience!

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Oh, boy, I'd forgotten about that. My grandfather had an outdoor toilet and kept old newspapers out there. Not the most pleasant stuff to use.

My mother tells me when she was young some gals used torn up rags for their monthly menstrual visits. The rags would be boiled and used over and over again.

Also, to make curls in her hair, she would tie her hair up in small rags, then use a curling iron. She still uses a curling iron.

karol

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Cartersville, GA

If by toiletries you also consider leaves and corn cobs for.... toilet paper... then yes, yes I have. And no, "good" is not the word I would use to describe the experience!

Yeah, but have those cobs been sitting around for 60 years? That is the question.
Print matter in the outhouse: for reading and utilizing. This is why we had a double, so that rarely would anyone hear "Hurry up in there!"

 

[cookie]

Trumpers

Whe I used after shave I liked this stuff I used to buy in the famous store in Curzon Street London and later at Gowings in Sydney.

A famous Chilean eau de toilette is called Flano (Flanyo) and if you ever get to buy it - you will like it - like Sth American Old Spice.

 

[dhermann1]

When I was a kid we used good old Brylcream (a little dab'll do ya) and Wild Root Creme Oil, Charlie (remember Fearless Fosdick?). Lizzie, is that Ipana in a lead tube? Seems a long time since the tubes switched to plastic, but I believe they used to be plain old lead. Ugh! My mother always used to buy Sweetheart soap, mainly because the cake lasted longer ("hard milled" as I recall). My girlfriend's dad still uses Mennen Skin Bracer. And I recall ages ago using Old Spice After Shave. Colgate tooth paste was called Colgate Dental Creme, with Gardol! It creates an invisible protective shield! (NOT flouride.) And for a little kid's chapped lips, there's still nothing better than Pond's Cold Creme. Vaseline Petroleum Jelly and Vick's Vapo Rub are as vintage as you can get, but still popular and effective.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yep, I think it's a lead tube -- mmmm, good brushin'. At least it's not Pebeco toothpaste, which contained enough of a poisonous compound that you could die from swallowing enough of it. (Where was the FDA when you needed it?)

Vapo-Rub, though, that's a lovely thing -- a very comforting smell to go to bed to. And what ever happened to painting cuts with iodine?

 

[K.D. Lightner]

There are quite a few products still here today that were around during the 40's when I was a wee thing. If you were to look at my medicine cabinet today, you would certainly think Golden Era. An inventory would reveal:

Vics Vapor-rub
Ben-gay
Grandpa's Pine Tar Soap
Merthiolate tincture
Witch Hazel
Calamine lotion
Hydrogen peroxide
Bayer aspirin
Iodine
Vasoline
Baking Soda
Baby powder
Rubbing alcohol
Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo (purple, however, not around back then)

Plus lots of herbal items that were probably used in the Golden Era at least in rural areas. The only modern items: Tylenol and Nature's Gate anise flavor toothpaste.

karol

 

[PrettySquareGal]

My mother always used to buy Sweetheart soap, mainly because the cake lasted longer ("hard milled" as I recall).

I love Sweetheart soap, it smells so nice! The Vermont Country store sells it.