"Sheer" Hair Remover Packaging, 1928-1935
THF802134 / "Sheer" Hair Remover Packaging, 1928-1935
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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
Packaging
Date Made
1928-1935
Place of Creation
Creator Notes
Packaging made by Leonard & Wilson for Sheer Pharmacal Corporation, St. Louis, Missouri.
Location
at Henry Ford Museum in Your Place in Time
Object ID
93.0.25.55.1.2
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Material
Cardboard
Color
White (Color)
Black (Color)
Yellow (Color)
Orange (Color)
Pink (Color)
Dimensions
Height: 6.75 in
Length: 1.75 in
Inscriptions
on front and back:
Sheer hair Remover / Delicately fragrant / No Irritation
on side:
Sheer / Answering A Long Felt Want [...]
on side:
Sheer / Now THE GREATEST OF THEM ALL [...]
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Related Artifacts
Artifact"Sheer" Hair Remover, 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.