Follies of the Madmen #384

How the heck did that tub get out there, and how's that naked gal going to get home?

And without plumbing, will she fill it, pail by pail, with seawater?

Inquiring minds want to know!

Original ad here.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Sep 18, 2018 - Comments (5)
Category: Business, Advertising, Nature, Baths, Showers and Other Cleansing Methods, 1950s

iPhone-holding shower curtain

For those who can't bear to be without their phone for even a few minutes.

It has 17 pockets. So you could have a wall of phones in your shower, if you wanted.

Available from Amazon for $24.95.

Posted By: Alex - Tue Jun 19, 2018 - Comments (3)
Category: Technology, Baths, Showers and Other Cleansing Methods

Touch of Yogurt Shampoo

Test-marketed in 1979 and soon abandoned. I think the decision to promote it alongside yogurt makers and yogurt cookbooks couldn't have helped, because it made you wonder, am I supposed to eat it or put it in my hair?

More info here.

Springfield News Leader - Sep 19, 1979

St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Mar 26, 1980

Posted By: Alex - Sun Mar 11, 2018 - Comments (2)
Category: Food, Baths, Showers and Other Cleansing Methods, 1970s, Hair and Hairstyling

Follies of the Madmen #347

Wait for the radioactive soap traces.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 15, 2018 - Comments (5)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Baths, Showers and Other Cleansing Methods, 1950s

Tirza’s Wine Bath

The original Tirza was not always available, and so Mary Hood often substituted.



Source.



Source.



Source.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Dec 19, 2017 - Comments (5)
Category: Entertainment, Innuendo, Double Entendres, Symbolism, Nudge-Nudge-Wink-Wink and Subliminal Messages, Public Indecency, Sex Symbols, Baths, Showers and Other Cleansing Methods, 1940s

Hair Care During Nuclear Attack

Prompted by the recent threats from North Korea, Guam's Office of Civil Defense recently issued guidelines on what people should do in the event of a nuclear emergency. It included the advice that you should wash your hair with shampoo or soap. However, you shouldn't use conditioner "because it will bind radioactive material to your hair."

Interesting and potentially useful to know.

More info: Guam Civil Defense Fact Sheet, npr.org

Posted By: Alex - Wed Aug 16, 2017 - Comments (5)
Category: Atomic Power and Other Nuclear Matters, Baths, Showers and Other Cleansing Methods, Hair and Hairstyling

Numbered Towels for Hygiene

Somehow this reminds me of the set of seven panties with the days of the week embroidered on them.

I could not find such a product still commercially available, but I did find a DIY version.



Original ad here.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - Comments (1)
Category: Domestic, Hygiene, Baths, Showers and Other Cleansing Methods, 1960s

Death by Deodorant

Paige Daughtry, 12, is the most recent young person to die from overuse of deodorant. She reportedly used Right Guard deodorant like "it was going out of fashion." She was liberally spraying herself with the stuff in her parent's rented caravan, while the family was on holiday. She sprayed so much that it caused her to pass out, and she couldn't be revived.

As bizarre as it may sound to die from overuse of deodorant, this isn't the first time it's happened. If I had a kid, I don't think I'd let them use the spray stuff. It's toxic. I'd tell them to use solid deodorant, because that kind can't kill you.

Some of the other cases:

1998: 16-year-old Jonathan Capewell from Oldham. He was "a normal, healthy teenager who was not indulging in any form of substance abuse. He was simply overcome by excessive use of anti-perspirants."

2008: 12-year-old Daniel Hurley was "always putting gel on his hair and spraying deodorant." He was found collapsed in a bathroom after having sprayed "copious" amounts of Lynx Vice spray.

2015: 16-year-old Thomas Townsend of Kent was found collapsed, surrounded by 42 cans of deodorant. His mother said, "He would not take showers but would stand there with a deodorant and spray half the can on him."

Posted By: Alex - Thu Mar 30, 2017 - Comments (6)
Category: Death, Hygiene, Baths, Showers and Other Cleansing Methods

Shave the Corpse

Another phrase that would be a great name for a band.

According to the Charles Addams blog, this ad was originally published in January 1912 in Casket and Sunnyside ("The foremost journal of the funeral profession since 1871").

Posted By: Alex - Thu Jul 07, 2016 - Comments (4)
Category: Death, Baths, Showers and Other Cleansing Methods, 1910s

Follies of the Madmen #277

Consider the iconography: woman who forgot to rinse off all the soap bubbles from her bath provokes love and/or lust among male subway riders.

Original ad here.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 17, 2016 - Comments (8)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Hygiene, Baths, Showers and Other Cleansing Methods, 1950s, Men, Women