"Sheer" Hair Remover, 1928-1935
THF802140 / "Sheer" Hair Remover, 1928-1935 / view
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Artifact Overview
In the 1910s and 1920s, as new women's fashions revealed more of the legs and underarms, body hair removal rose in popularity. Commercial depilatory creams were advertised for the first time in 1915. Some of these creams contained harmful chemicals; Sheer Pharmacal Corporation manufactured Sheer depilatory cream, which included Mercurochrome, a now-banned antiseptic made with mercury.
Artifact Details
Artifact
Hair remover
Date Made
1928-1935
Creators
Place of Creation
Location
at Henry Ford Museum in Your Place in Time
Object ID
93.0.25.55.1.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Material
Metal
Plastic
Color
Yellow (Color)
Cream (Color)
Black (Color)
Orange (Color)
Silver (Color)
Brown
Inscriptions
on front of tube:
Sheer / hair Remover
Keywords |
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Related Artifacts
Artifact"Sheer" Hair Remover Packaging, 1928-1935
In the 1910s and 1920s, as new women's fashions revealed more of the legs and underarms, body hair removal rose in popularity. Commercial depilatory creams were advertised for the first time in 1915. Some of these creams contained harmful chemicals; Sheer Pharmacal Corporation manufactured Sheer depilatory cream, which included Mercurochrome, a now-banned antiseptic made with mercury.
Artifact"Present Modes Demand This Harmless Preparation," circa 1925
This trade catalog advertised Sheer depilatory cream. Body hair removal rose in popularity in the 1910s and 1920s as changing fashions showed off women’s underarms and legs. Hair removal advertisements commonly featured women displaying their smoothed skin while wearing stylish clothes, linking the practice to being fashionable. This brochure also provided instructions to demonstrate Sheer’s relative ease of use.