Dandruff
I couldn’t resist posting this quote from a 1928 Listerine advertisement.*
Children usually come home from school with a case of dandruff that may lead to baldness.… Examine scalps often, and at the first sign of dandruff, douse on Listerine full strength. Keep it up systematically for several days. To your delight, you will find that dandruff has disappeared and that little scalps are clean, sweet and healthy.…
So, dandruff causes baldness? This is news to me. Is it temporary baldness? Or, are they referring to baldness later in life?
And is this Listerine (”The safe antiseptic”) the same original formula we use as mouthwash nowadays or has the product changed at all? Could we apply a quick rinse in the shower for healthy scalps? (Not that I’m worried about dandruff, but if it makes the hair shiny….)
Another ad from about a year later says:
Full strength Listerine is so safe it can be used in any body cavity, yet so powerful it kills even the stubborn B. Typhosus (typhoid) and M. Aureus (pus) germs in 15 seconds.
Good to know. However, that “body cavity” bit gave me pause.
*I found the ads in the May ‘28 and July ‘29 issues of Needlecraft Magazine.
general | 16 stitches
