In a 1922 discussion of appropriate femininity, the author noted that “perspiration... steals away that natural freshness and fragrance” and “robs a young woman or girl of charm and daintiness.” Women navigated a complex system of etiquette in the early twentieth century in order to not only be perceived as beautiful, but also as feminine. Newly available deodorants and perspiration preventatives offered women a way to smell appropriately feminine, but like many new products there were a few concerns and questions.
During the first half of the twentieth century deodorant consumers—predominately female—received mixed messages about the safety and efficacy of deodorants and antiperspirants. Many women worried about using a product that stopped the body from sweating. This paper discusses the origin and growth of the deodorant industry in the United States and how companies combined messages about appropriate femininity with medical knowledge—or the perception of medical knowledge to encourage consumers to purchase their product over a competitor’s. Deodorant makers warned their consumers that stopping perspiration was harmful. While the producers of perspiration preventatives hired medical doctors to assure their users that halting sweat was not just safe, but healthy. This battle for consumer loyalty did not just play out in advertisements, but also in the pages of medical and pharmaceutical journals as doctors and consumers debated whether or not it was safe to stop the body from perspiring and which products were the most effective at ensuring a woman’s “charm and daintiness.”
