ANCIENT TOILET ARTICLES.
Hairpins. The double hairpin, as we know it, dates from the fifteenth century. Before that hair needles made of fish bones or the bones of small animals, were used until ivory pins with carved heads, silver, bronze, and horn pins were introduced by arbiters of fashion in ancient Rom© and Greece. »! * * Combs and Powder. Wooden combs were used in ancient Egypt with teeth on both sides, and the centre inlaid. Brushes came later, and were not considered indispensable until the Middle Ages. Powder and paint were used' by primitive women; prehistoric dames used a certain kind of dye to redden their cheeks, and another to blacken their eyebrows.
Soap. The use of toilet soap did not become general until 1790. In an old book on good manners, dating from the reign of Charles I. of England, a chapter appears on the luxury, of cleanliness, which was beginning to spread. It stated the fashion of washing the hands every day, and' the face almost as often, was becoming general.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TO19191122.2.64
Bibliographic details
Observer, Volume XL, Issue 12, 22 November 1919, Page 29
Word Count
171ANCIENT TOILET ARTICLES. Observer, Volume XL, Issue 12, 22 November 1919, Page 29
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