Cosmetics

July 24

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , ,

What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago today?

New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury (July 24, 1775).

“For the LADIES. MRS. GIBSON’s CURIOUS COMPOUND.”

Cosmetics advertisements occasionally appeared in newspapers during the era of the American Revolution, such as one about “MRS. GIBSON’s CURIOUS COMPOUND” in the July 24, 1775, edition of the New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury.  The headline, “For the LADIES,” made clear the target audience.  The copy explained that the product “will in half a minute take out hair by the roots, which grows too long or irregular on the forehead and temples, on the arms, or between the eyebrows, and forms them into a curious arch.”  Even more appealing, it did so “without hurting the finest skin of ladies or children.”  Indeed, Mrs. Gibson’s Curious Compound was so gentle and “so very innocent, that it is used [on] infants under six months old.”

Yet the pitch did not end there.  According to the advertisement, the product “also takes off hair, which grows on ladies cheeks, on the chin, and round the mouth, which must be owned to be a great blemish to the fair-sex.”  Lest any female readers to feel too confident about their appearance, the advertisement asserted that “all women have hair grow on their cheeks, chin, and round the mouth.”  That was not a matter of conjecture but something they could prove with their own eyes: “if they will be pleased to consult their looking glass, they will find it a truth.”  The marketing for Mrs. Gibson’s Curious Compound relied on making women feel anxiety about their bodies, not unlike the marketing undertaken by staymakers who addressed “Ladies who are uneasy in their shapes.”

In addition to her hair removal compound, Mrs. Gibson produced an “innocent LIQUID, which change[s] red or grey hair to a beautiful brown or jet black.”  Safety once again played a role in promoting the product.  The advertisement claimed it was “as harmless as oil or water” and could even be “used [on] infants without the least fear of danger.”  The marketing for Mrs. Gibson’s products seemed to have a formula.  After a description of the purpose of Mrs. Gibson’s Liquid and a note about safety, the copy attempted to incite feelings of discomfort and self-consciousness among readers.  “[T]his invention will be found to be of great use,” the advertisement declared, “as many people are grey before they arrive at Twenty, and consequently wear the badge of age when but in their bloom.”  Yet young ladies did not need to appear prematurely old, nor did older ladies need to look their age if they applied Mrs. Gibson’s Liquid to their hair.

Where could women acquire Mrs. Gibson’s Curious Compound and Mrs. Gibson’s Liquid?  Hugh Gaine sold both products, along with “printed directions,” at the printing office where he published the New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury.  The printer also supplemented his income by marketing Keyser’s Famous Pills once again.  Both advertisements appeared in the final column of the first page of his newspaper.  Printers often stocked, marketed, and sold patent medicines as an additional revenue stream, but they did not promote cosmetics nearly as often.  The printed directions, however, made Mrs. Gibson’s products easy to sell since nobody in the printing office needed to have any direct knowledge of them, just as printed directions made it unnecessary to know much about patent medicines sold in printing offices.

June 27

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Post-Boy (June 27, 1774).

“Purified Almond Soap, … Violet shaving Powder, … Lip-Salve of Tea Blossoms.”

An advertisement for “CARPENTER’s PERFUME SHOP” in the June 27 edition of the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Post-Boy revealed that the establishment stocked a variety of cosmetics in addition to perfumes.  Carpenter divided the inventory into several categories – “WASH BALLS,” “New invented and improved SOAPS,” “POWDERS,” “PERFUMED WATERS,” “OILS,” and “ESSENCES” – to aid readers in navigating everything available at the shop.  In addition, the proprietor provided short descriptions about the use and purpose of some of the products, hoping to convince consumers to give them a try.  Those included “The True Italian Hair Water, which changes red or grey Hair to a fine black or brown,” “Royal Liquid to prevent the Hair from coming Grey, or falling off,” and “A Composition to take off superfluous Hair from the Forehead, Cheeks and Eye-brows, it takes it away instantly.”  In the most extensive product description, Carpenter marketed “Cream of Roses” for many purposes: “it prevents Tanning, it smooths, whitens and clears the Skin from Heat, Redness or Pimples, and will be of great Use to Children after the Measles or Small-Pox; Gentlemen that are tender or difficult to shave by using it afterwards, will take off the Smarting and prevent Choping for the future.”  In addition to that product, Carpenter stocked other items that catered to male shoppers, such as “Violet shaving Powder, adapted for the Army and Navy,” “Razor Straps of different sorts,” and “Shaving Boxes and Brushes, filled with sweet Soap.”  The “PERFUME SHOP” was not an establishment exclusively for women.

Neither was the shop where Carpenter and Winter “carry on Hair-dressing and Wig-making.”  In a continuation of the advertisement, they promised that “Gentlemen and Ladies will be waited on at the shortest Notice.”  Those availed themselves of Carpenter and Winter’s services could depend on having their hair done “with the greatest Taste and Elegance.”  The partners assured prospective clients that they had “laid in every Implement and Material necessary,” just as the “PERFUME SHOP” was fully stocked with everything from “Purified Almond Soap” and “Lavender Water” to “Lip-Salve of Tea Blossoms” and “Soft Pomatum of all Sorts.”  Carpenter and Winter acquired their supplies “from the best Hands in England.”  They made a point of highlighting “a very valuable Stock of the best Hairs” that one of the partners “culled out of a great Variety.”  The hairdressers aimed to demonstrate an attention to detail that began long before clients entered their shop and continued throughout their visit so they emerged with hair and wigs that testified to their own “Taste and Elegance.”  No doubt they also encouraged clients to purchase some of the items available at the “PERFUME SHOP,” just as modern hairdressers sell a variety of products to clients to maintain their styles and to tend to other aspects of hygiene and beauty.  Many eighteenth-century advertisements for consumer goods and services emphasized fashion, yet an emerging beauty industry was also on the scene to promote related products to both men and women as part of the total package.

October 4

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

New-York Journal (October 4, 1770).

“They render the skin delicately white and soft.”

Amid advertisements for textiles and housewares. James Thompson marketed cosmetics in the New-York Journal in September and October 1770.  He informed readers that he had recently acquired a “Parcel of the Queen’s pearl wash balls” that would “render the skin delicately white and soft.”  For only three shillings, consumers could use this balm for “removing sun burning, freckles, roughness of the skin, and pimples.”  Thompson also presented this product as a restorative for their skin after contracting smallpox, recommending that they dissolve the “Queen’s pearl wash balls” in milk for maximum effectiveness.  Upon applying the mixture to the face, neck, arms, and hands, they would discover that it “heals the skin, takes off the redness, and prevents it from being pitted or marked.”  Thompson also declared that the product was “well known and esteemed by the nobility and gentry in Europe, particularly in England and France.”  He encouraged consumers to associate celebrities and cosmetics in the eighteenth century, anticipating the famous spokespeople, predominantly women, who would promote cosmetic lines and brands in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Thompson also stocked “La Cieur’s celebrated ointment for thickening and preserving the hair.”  He received his inventory “from the original warehouse.”  This ointment both “prevents the hair from falling off” and “when rubbed on bald places, with certainty promotes its growth.  In marketing the “Queen’s pearl wash balls” and “La Cieur’s celebrated ointment,” Thompson encouraged colonists to experience anxiety about their appearance and make purchases to alleviate them.  Richard Norris, a staymaker, adopted a similar strategy in his advertisements that ran for months in the New-York Journal.  He addressed “Ladies uneasy in their shapes,” especially “young ladies and growing misses.”  Thompson did not target female consumers exclusively, though women may have been his primary audience.  Norris, on the other hand, specifically sought to stoke anxiety among female consumers and promised them relief from their apprehensions about their appearance.  Such trends continue today, with marketers playing on the apprehensions of all consumers but targeting women much more intensively when it comes to cosmetics and other products intended to enhance their appearance and “correct” any shortcomings.