Male Vanity: Just for Men in the 19th Century

The start of the 19^th century saw the transition from powdered wigs as the fashionable hair accessory to flawlessly groomed, short hairstyles for men. The popularity of neatly trimmed hair and facial hair, the preference for brown and black coloring instead of naturally aging gray and white hair, and the desire for a thick head of hair with little sign of thinning and balding, continued to rise into the late-19^th-century Victorian era. As a result, multiple individuals and companies created, and increasingly marketed, hair restorative and hair dye products for consumers (American Battlefield Trust 2020: Ancientspast 2023; Barber 2022; Grove nd).

The consumers of the hair products, though, often did not want others to realize their need for such products, and the disposal of these bottles was sometimes done covertly to hide where few might see or find them. Where was a good place to hide them? A privy. Recent archaeological excavations at the Buena Vista privy (outhouse) in New Castle, Delaware, conducted by Dovetail, a Mead & Hunt company, recovered eight whole and partial bottles related to hair restoration and hair dyes at the bottom of the privy (Liebeknecht et al. 2023). These bottles date from the 1850s and 1860s and were purposefully disposed of in the brick-lined privy shaft. Subsequent historic cleanouts of the privy during its use could not reach the lower level; as such these bottles were preserved in place. What can these bottles tell us about life at Buena Vista during this time period?

What Were Their Purpose?

Seven of the bottles were purposefully branded as hair restoration tonics as noted on embossed (raised) lettering on the bottles themselves and in surviving advertisements from the time period. Four bottles were from the same company—Professor Woods/Hair Restoration Depots manufactured in both St. Louis, Missouri, and New York—dating between 1852 and 1860 (Photo 1). Professor Woods claimed that his product “is the only Preparation which will in all cases Restore Gray Hair TO ITS ORIGINAL COLOR” (Fadely 2013a). The other three bottles were from three different manufacturers and were recovered just above the Professor Woods bottles stratigraphically in the privy fill and were thus used more recently. These bottles consist of a H.T. Lovet’s Wahpene, a London Hair Restorer, and Mrs. S.A. Allen’s World Hair Restorer (Photo 2)

Hezekiah T. Lovet was selling his “Wahpene” in New York from 1853 until at least 1861. Wahpene was advertised to be an “Indian” vegetable preparation that never failed to change grey hair to its youthful appearance and also cured baldness (Fadely 2013b). The “LONDON HAIR RESTORER” bottle was one of the products created by Dr. Huson Swayne & Son of Philadelphia. They began to advertise their London Hair Restorer in 1860 and promised to restore hair to its natural color (Fadely 2013c). The dark purple bottle of Mrs. S.A. Allen’s/World Hair Restorer with an embossed address of 355 Broome Street in New York dates to after 1854. Her advertisements also detailed that gray hair would be reverted to its original color. Her hair restorer came in two colors —one for light hair and one dark hair (Fadely 2013d).

The eighth bottle was found alongside the Professor Woods bottles and was specifically advertised as hair dye, not a hair restorative (Photo 3). Charles Rothe, a German immigrant, was selling dye at least as early as 1850. His bottle found at Buena Vista, One Roth Boston No 1, contained black hair dye (Fadely 2013e).