I'd been picking up a different type of shaving cream, rather then the canned stuff, recently, that being a type called "Creamo". When I picked it up the other day, however, I noticed how expensive it is (it claims to last longer than a can. . .maybe it does) so I reverted to the canned stuff, picking up a can of Barbasol. . . which I noted after I got it home is celebrating it's 100th year this year. That is, Barbasol dates back to 1919.
I'm not sure of the actual introduction date of Barbasol, but it was in fact some time this year. When it was first introduced it was in a tube, not a can, and the original product is apparently pretty close to something Barbasol still makes, that being Barbasol Non Aerosol Therapeutic Shave Cream. The goal was to introduce something less irritating than a shaving soap that has to be worked into a lather. Most men today have never done that, although I know for a fact that if you run out of shaving cream, and must shave, you can work regular soap into a lather and use it, although it's not that close of a shave, in my experience.
At least one friend of mine who grew tired of paying for all the stuff you have to in order to shave every day has resorted to simply making shaving soap out of soap chips, the old, old way to do this. He also shaves with a strait razor, which is an art in my opinion.
Anyhow, it's interesting to me that this commercial product, so routine now in its evolved form, was introduced in 1919. Why would that be?
Well, there might be a lot of reasons, or none at all, but I suspect that it had something to do with World War One.
Prior to World War One beards were fairly common, although most men were shaving. Heavy mustaches seem to have nearly been a manly rule prior to the Great War. But even as late as 1916 American soldiers were allowed to have beards.
Col. Tommy Tompkins in 1919, violating the no beard regulation. Well, he was a Colonel.
The Great War changed all that.
During the war the Germans introduced poisonous gas, and in turn, that caused the introduction of the gas mask. And wearing gas masks necessitates shaving.
German artillerymen firing what must be gas shells, as they're wearing gas masks.
And as these things seem to go, once a bunch of men are brought into the Army and taught to do things one way, including even such things as personal hygiene, they not only tend to keep doing it, it spread out to society at large. The inability to shave, as a practical matter, during the Civil War seems to have brought on a bearded age that followed it for decades. The Great War ended beards and even mustaches, to a fair degree, for decades as well. World War Two brought in crew cuts for a good twenty years or so.
So, Barbasol coming out in 1919. . . I suspect that reflected one of those changes brought about by World War One.
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