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People will do almost anything to look and feel young and attractive which is why the beauty industry is thriving. And it doesn’t matter if the trends are incredibly strange, as long as others are following them—you’re likely to jump on the bandwagon. However, when you look back in history, there have been some very weird beauty practices in the past that have left us puzzled. Suntan vending machines and using a literal iron to iron hair are just the tip of the beauty iceberg.
Bored Panda has collected some of the best vintage photos of women doing very peculiar things, all in the name of beauty. So scroll on down, upvote your fave photos, and let us know which of these activities you personally thought were the most bizarre, dear Pandas. Oh, and be sure to let us know which modern beauty practices you think are objectively weird! According to Forbes, the global beauty industry is worth 532 billion dollars. The US is the world’s largest beauty market with around a fifth of the share. While China is in second place and Japan is in third place.
To learn more about the history of beauty and the beauty industry, Bored Panda reached out to Dr. Jane Nicholas from St. Jerome’s University at the University of Waterloo. According to Dr. Nicholas, the global beauty industry has grown “substantially” over the 20th century. “Its expansion reveals the importance of beauty in people’s lives as it shapes their identities, especially in regard to gender.”
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#1
A Full-Faced Swimming Mask Helped Protect Women’s Skin From The Sun, 1920s
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#2
A Woman Having A Seam Painted Onto Her Leg, To Make It Appear That She Is Wearing Stockings, 1926
#3
Rita Perchetti And Gloria Rossi Try Out Their New Portable Bathhouse So They Can Change Their Clothes After Sunbathing On Coney Island Beach, 1938
Dr. Nicholas explained to Bored Panda that modern culture is a visual culture. Meanwhile, modern living meant finding yourself in an increasingly-dense but anonymous city. And that means that appearance becomes more important than ever. After all, when you’re a stranger to someone, they judge you by your appearance.
“So how one appears is often presumed to be who one is. Historically, the rise of the modern city was seen as the place of quick judgments on appearances in places that were crowded but also built for observation. Evaluation by one’s appearance, then, took on new importance. This has only intensified,” the history expert explained.
#4
10th Century Chinese Tradition - Foot Binding
#5
Faceless Beauty Contest In Cliftonville, 1936
#6
"Ironing" Hair, 1964
She pointed out that beauty is (at the same time) deeply personal, as well as culturally driven. That means that the beauty industry is relational to the consumer.
“It provides products and images for consumption and how consumers take those up largely determine its success. Beauty products and practices have to resonate with consumers, who are not simply dupes but often thoughtful and measured in what they want and can consume,” Dr. Nicholas said.
“Gaps in services and products lead to further innovation. Throughout the twentieth century, for example, women of color struggled to be appropriately represented and struggled to find appropriate products. In multiple ways, the industry was forced to grow and expand to respond properly to their needs. Black entrepreneurs often led the way,” she said.
#7
Before The Invention Of Sun-Screen In The Mid 1940s, Bathers Wore Garments Like This Freckleproof Cape To Protect Themselves From The Sun. The Cape Also Features Built-In Sunglasses
#8
French Breast Washer, 1930s
#9
Portable Hair Dryer, 1940s
It’s no surprise that some vintage beauty procedures, treatments, and practices seem strange to us now. “When dislocated from their context, what was typical in one time period seems strange in another. Today, we see the highly filtered, fully made up selfie as quite ordinary. When you pause to consider it though, it is interesting to think about how those reflect changes in technology (both digital and in cosmetics), as well as in dominant presumptions of what is considered beautiful. It can also be reflective of the democratization of techniques in lighting and makeup application that were historically reserved for insiders within modeling. Now, anyone can use them.”
Dr. Nicholas said that beauty is deeply interwoven with the wider social and cultural context. That means that it reflects more than just beauty itself. “Using X-rays for hair removal, for example, also reflects the fact that technology emerges before the full impact of its use is known,” she gave an example.
The history expert also told Bored Panda that we can expect some of the practices that we take for granted today to seem outdated and peculiar in the decades to come. “It’s quite ordinary today to inject a form of botulism into your face or to dress in the skin of another animal. Over time, though, as our collective beliefs and values change, these ordinary acts might come to be seen as extraordinary.”
#10
Tape Worm Diet, 1900s
Raine Soo 4 years ago
I will say that this is worse than having leeches suck your blood in the hopes of improving blood flow. Tape worms can attach themselves to other internal organs and other parts of the body. If they want to leave a body, they will exit where they please. It is not a pretty sight. The damage can also be quite extensive.
#11
Freckle Removal. A Complicated Apparatus Is Employed. Eyes Are Covered With A Special, Air-Tight Piece, And The Nostrils Filled In. Breathing Is Done Through A Special Tube. Sensitive Parts Of The Face Must Be Treated Separately, 1930
#12
A Perm In Germany In 1929
What I find the weirdest, personally, is the size of the hairdryers in the past. They’re absolutely humongous and they look like something straight out of a sci-fi flick.
The very first hairdryer was invented in 1890 by French stylist Alexander Godefroy. His seated version had a bonnet that attached to none other than the chimney pipe of a gas stove. You read that right, dear Pandas! Imagine going to a beauty salon and being told to put one of those stove-connected bonnets on your head.
We got the very first handheld hairdryers around 1920 due to technological innovations at the time. However, these were nothing like our modern-day equivalent: they weighed around 2 pounds (that’s 0.9 kilograms) and were very difficult to use. They were also prone to overheating and electrocuted people from time to time.
#13
A Policeman Judges An Ankle Competition At Hounslow, London, 1930
Capelli rosa e patate 4 years ago
“Yes these are the winning pair of ankles; congrats little lady. NOW COVER THOSE YOU LOOK LIKE A WHORE”
#14
Max Factor's 1931 Ice Mask
#15
Woman Tans Using A Suntan Vending Machine, 1949
Before you rush to poke fun at these vintage beauty practices, keep in mind two things. First of all, even if something is trendy, far from every person follows the newly-minted flavor of the month beauty techniques.
Second of all, if you think that we’ve ‘advanced’ much beyond silliness, turn on the TV and flip to an infomercial channel! The things you’ll see there are just as weird (and maybe even weirder).
#16
Contestants In The Miss Lovely Eyes Beauty Pageant In Florida Wearing Masks To Obscure The Rest Of Their Faces, 1930
#17
Customers Have Their Legs Painted At A Store In Croydon, London, 1941
Downunderdude 4 years ago
This was during the war. At that time, nylon had only just been invented. Both silk and nylon were needed to make parachutes and were either just about impossible to get or were prohibitively expensive.
#18
A Traditional Japanese Sign Of Beauty- Black Teeth, 17th – 19th Centuries
Laugh or not 4 years ago
Women used to put a white powder on their faces (made with rice, not lead) and that would make the teeth look yellow. So they dyed them black instead.
#19
X-Ray Of Female Torso With Corset (Left) And Female Torso Without A Corset (Right), 1908
#20
Hair Dryer, 1920s
#21
Wooden Swimsuits, 1929
Ray Martin 4 years ago
If Rose had worn one of those on the Titanic, Jack could could have had the door and the film would have had a happy ending.
#22
Rubber Beauty Masks Used To Get Rid Of Wrinkles In The 1920s
#23
A Fruit Mask From The 1930s
Jayne Kyra 4 years ago
And even today some people or articles will recommend using straight up lemons and lemon juice to "even out skin-tone" or better yet, "to lighten the skin".
#24
The Bra Claimed To Develop And Strengthen The Bust And Was Designed To Vibrate While The Person Wearing It Was At Work. Brussel, 1971
#25
You Have A Beautiful Face But Your Nose?
#26
Dimple Machine In 1936
Downunderdude 4 years ago
OK, I've got an idea... So, you attach wire to the inside of your cheeks (oh, I don't know. Superglue, maybe. Details. I'll work it out later). Then you wrap the wire around your teeth. Brilliant, huh? I'm going to be SO rich!
#27
Women Who Had Just Given Birth To A Baby Weren't Prohibited To Smoke In The Hospital. 1940s Ad
htbq 4 years ago
alcohol kills too but everyone likes to point at smoking..
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Louloubelle 4 years ago
I'm the youngest of 5, born in 1960. My mother's OB/GYN encouraged her to smoke while pregnant. It was relaxing they said. Also encouraged her to have a beer a day, because she was very thin. I'm surprised we were as healthy as we were. Although none of us was over 7 lbs. And one of my sisters was born almost 3 months premature. But can you imagine?
Anonymous Web User 4 years ago
This is proof of how evil advertising can be. The dangers of smoking were known, yet cigarettes were even targeted at pregnant women, as smoking caused low birth weight, which was pushed as a good thing. It's horrifying.
Lynn Gold 4 years ago
A lot of people didn't fully realize how unhealthy smoking was until 1964 when the Surgeon General issued a warning about cigarettes. A lot of my relatives quit right after that.
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lorraine watson 4 years ago
I had my eldest in 2001, the maternity ward had a room for smoking. It was gone when I had my 2nd child in 2004
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Lucie Elvin 4 years ago
Even into the 70's doctors and nurses smoked in break rooms and patients in their rooms. Then because of fires patients were wheeled out to smoke outside.
Denise Mclean 4 years ago
I love the photo though of the Mother and Baby, but such a crazy thought of a gentle cigarette. I suppose that is the light version today.
Terry Bolger 1 year ago
I was a nurse in the 1960's in England and smoking was allowed in all wards, even the chest ward. Hazel
Terry Bolger 1 year ago
I was a nurse in England in the 1960's and smoking was allowed on all wards. Even the chest wards
Marci Rommal 4 years ago
In 1984, I was hit by a car while I was walking across the street. I was in the hospital for about a month, and they would wheel me out of the room to the hall across from the nurses' station so I could smoke without blowing up my roommates who were on oxygen tanks. I have since quit smoking, but it really wasn't that long ago that you could still smoke in a hospital.
Vytas Navickas 4 years ago
In the hospital in 1973 I bummed a smoke from the doctor who was attending me, who was smoking!
Carole Strawn 4 years ago
So you can have your lung cancer and COPD treatment in the same hospital where you gave birth.
Johanne Trudeau 4 years ago
Not just in the 40's, this has continued into the late 90's if not after. Now there is no more smoking in hospitals.
Vicki Perizzolo 4 years ago
and those tobacco companies killed a LOT of people -babies included -in their zest for the almighty dollar
Evangeline Valhalla 4 years ago
Of course it’s bad but mom deserved it but not the baby. They were prolly in a nursery far away though
Terri Keller 4 years ago
They weren't prohibited to smoke just after childbirth in 1976 either. 😥
Todd Hollfelder 4 years ago
My friend had a baby fairly recently. She made it clear she didn't want baby clothes or other such nonsense. It was a pack of Marlboro Lights, a bottle of Bacardi and bottle of Coca-Cola
Barbara Potter Pinto 4 years ago
I smoked in my hospital room when my son was born in 1980! It was not uncommon - I had two roommates who also smoked. I smoked when pregnant with my son too. He was 8 lb 12 oz and today he is a very brilliant, high dollar, Silicon Valley programmer. I did not smoke with my next 3 babies and they too are all excelling at life. LOL!
Barbara Potter Pinto 4 years ago
I smoked in my hospital room when I gave birth to my 1st son in 1980! It wasn't just allowed, it was common.
Stina Kolling 4 years ago
This ad has nothing to do with mothers having cigarettes. Read the paragraph!
Becca Gizmo the Squirrel 4 years ago
Tons of pharmacist made goodies around 1900 that had "cure all" uses. They had heroin and cocaine in them. Baby have colic? Try my new mixture.!
Yeah, you heard 4 years ago
What's really shocking is that people today still poison themselves in this way. Future generations will really puzzle about why.
Molly Block 4 years ago
I hate cigarettes. I hate cigarette smokers. What I hate even more is the smell of a cigarette smoker who just stepped out of the rain. But you know what does smell good? Better even than a (clean) brand new baby? Cracking open a brand new fresh pack of cigarettes. I don't know how something that smells so lovely can then turn into such a disgusting stink all over a person's body, clothes, hair, fingers....... Absolutely dis-gus-ting! But not near as bad as baby sh*t.
k1ddkanuck 4 years ago
I hate when people get all sanctimonious and judgemental about other people who do things they look down on. You can almost feel it in the air whenever they're around. It really stinks.
Load More Replies... #28
Facial Warming Mask, 1940
#29
A Young Woman Holds Her Arms And Legs In Four Water Bathes With Electric Current, To Improve Blood Circulation, Circa 1938
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Joonscrab 4 years ago
"Weird things women are conditioned to do thanks to the unrealistic af beauty standards on social media" would be more apt.
Load More Replies...
Zophra 4 years ago
I think 100+ years from now, we know what the list will look like: Waxing, liposuction, collagen injections, breast augmentation, eyelash braiding, skin bleaching, Botox, stiletto heels, "shapewear", spray tans, acrylic nails, not to mention darker body changes like genital mutilation.
Vorknkx 4 years ago
This whole thing reminds me of an old tattered notebook that we found among my great-grandma's stuff. It contained many recipes for homemade makeup and cosmetics (since they weren't sold at stores back in the years of her youth).
Si 4 years ago
Women don’t pop out of the womb wanting to hurt themselves to gain social status from their sexual allure to the people in charge.
Luna Lovegood 4 years ago
Look, most of these ARE weird/ potentially harmful. However, we really aren't any better today. Look at cosmetic plastic surgery, diet fads, diet teas that are literally laxatives, a whole range of weird beauty products, etc. In the future, people will be horrified by what women did to make themselves "beautiful" today. Just because we do different things doesn't mean we're any better.
Logically Reasonable 4 years ago
Not any more sick and twisted than what they do today! Botox, implants, bone reconstruction, plastic surgery, liposuction, fat injections, hair transplants, skin bleaching, tanning, toxic makeup, wigs, weaves, fake nails, "diets", dermabrasions, gastric bypass surgery.............
allie 4 years ago
Don't forget the Relaxacisor from the '50s. Electric shocks from pads put on muscles that would make the muscles move while you lay there and relax. i still have my mothers machine.
Ja R 4 years ago
i believe that morphed into tens machines for reducing pain
Load More Replies...
ᴍɪᴋᴀꜱᴀ ᴀᴄᴋᴇʀᴍᴀɴ 4 years ago
-Just seeing this Just tells me that on how much Technology has approved over time now and then, Let's all be grateful for Technology today! UwU!!!-
Stille20 4 years ago
Don't go opening any women's magazines now (or really instagram influencers). They have some pretty absurd suggestions
Load More Replies...
Steve Gait 8 months ago
Have you seen the `celebrity’ women on the reality shows … none of the look `real’ anymore as they’re all Barbie wannabes
Carole Deem 3 years ago
You forgot to mention the use of arsenic for that lovely paper white complexion.
sharron lynn parsons 4 years ago
To imagine women, going to such extremes, in the name of beauty, not me !!!
Lynath Fairfax 4 years ago
A couple of years ago I willingly immersed both feet in to a fish nibbling foot spa...
Celtic Pirate Queen 4 years ago
Women are still doing weird things to be more attractive. Botox? Juice cleanses? Eyebrow microblading? We certainly don't do it to look better for US.
Kanga9ine 4 years ago
So what makes Everyman think they came out so perfect. Man was the protoype for Eve. A 3d printer popped out a man. The after a lot of errors being fixed and adding more ram, a faster processor, basically we totally upgrade the entire thing. That scares the crap out of men. Smart....and beautiful? What a huge predicament. You can fake listen as usual. You can’t understand a word she’s saying. We should Celebrate women and thier contributions to this world instead of denying them the same level of respect any man demands for himself. The tiny limitless world you imprikn her in, is even smaller than the tiny little world of the men filled with fear that women may not need you anymore. Men will always hold the power. Leave it at the door. And help with the dishes. Now that’s equal. Dumb stuff tgat gets on our nerves. It necer ends.
Meeow 4 years ago
Back in the day these women will do anything to keep the whiteness, and today these women will changed the color of their skin to pretend they are black. And those face masks can really help covid street. And that Chinese lady feet, so much pain!!!
Full Name 4 years ago
A famous wedding photographer who goes around the world said dark skinned people want to be photoshopped lighter, and light skinned people wanna look darker. What a weird bunch we are, eh?
Load More Replies... Stille20 4 years ago (edited)
Oh those silly women! Like some men aren't currently waxing their backs and we don't all try the latest trends. Plus cosmetic surgery!! There is also a HUGE difference between a portable hairdryer and say binding your feet.
Si 4 years ago
No, but the things men do to gain social status are sensible and important and we all have to hear about it every day in the news.
Load More Replies... pebs 4 years ago
In any case, it takes not only men who judge to hold a beauty contest, but women who happily submit to judgment as well. If perhaps in the past one could speak of ignorance, submission and lack of self-determination, today what should we say, especially in the West? Yet it doesn't seem to me that beauty contests no longer exist. And don't tell me about the judgment on intellectual qualities, because it's just crap: some (many) women want to be judged physically because they want to make money and careers thanks to their beauty.
Si 4 years ago (edited)
All women are judged physically whether they want to be or not.
Load More Replies... 
Joonscrab 4 years ago
"Weird things women are conditioned to do thanks to the unrealistic af beauty standards on social media" would be more apt.
Load More Replies... Zophra 4 years ago
I think 100+ years from now, we know what the list will look like: Waxing, liposuction, collagen injections, breast augmentation, eyelash braiding, skin bleaching, Botox, stiletto heels, "shapewear", spray tans, acrylic nails, not to mention darker body changes like genital mutilation.
Vorknkx 4 years ago
This whole thing reminds me of an old tattered notebook that we found among my great-grandma's stuff. It contained many recipes for homemade makeup and cosmetics (since they weren't sold at stores back in the years of her youth).
Si 4 years ago
Women don’t pop out of the womb wanting to hurt themselves to gain social status from their sexual allure to the people in charge.
Luna Lovegood 4 years ago
Look, most of these ARE weird/ potentially harmful. However, we really aren't any better today. Look at cosmetic plastic surgery, diet fads, diet teas that are literally laxatives, a whole range of weird beauty products, etc. In the future, people will be horrified by what women did to make themselves "beautiful" today. Just because we do different things doesn't mean we're any better.
Logically Reasonable 4 years ago
Not any more sick and twisted than what they do today! Botox, implants, bone reconstruction, plastic surgery, liposuction, fat injections, hair transplants, skin bleaching, tanning, toxic makeup, wigs, weaves, fake nails, "diets", dermabrasions, gastric bypass surgery.............
allie 4 years ago
Don't forget the Relaxacisor from the '50s. Electric shocks from pads put on muscles that would make the muscles move while you lay there and relax. i still have my mothers machine.
Ja R 4 years ago
i believe that morphed into tens machines for reducing pain
Load More Replies... ᴍɪᴋᴀꜱᴀ ᴀᴄᴋᴇʀᴍᴀɴ 4 years ago
-Just seeing this Just tells me that on how much Technology has approved over time now and then, Let's all be grateful for Technology today! UwU!!!-
Stille20 4 years ago
Don't go opening any women's magazines now (or really instagram influencers). They have some pretty absurd suggestions
Load More Replies... Steve Gait 8 months ago
Have you seen the `celebrity’ women on the reality shows … none of the look `real’ anymore as they’re all Barbie wannabes
Carole Deem 3 years ago
You forgot to mention the use of arsenic for that lovely paper white complexion.
sharron lynn parsons 4 years ago
To imagine women, going to such extremes, in the name of beauty, not me !!!
Lynath Fairfax 4 years ago
A couple of years ago I willingly immersed both feet in to a fish nibbling foot spa...
Celtic Pirate Queen 4 years ago
Women are still doing weird things to be more attractive. Botox? Juice cleanses? Eyebrow microblading? We certainly don't do it to look better for US.
Kanga9ine 4 years ago
So what makes Everyman think they came out so perfect. Man was the protoype for Eve. A 3d printer popped out a man. The after a lot of errors being fixed and adding more ram, a faster processor, basically we totally upgrade the entire thing. That scares the crap out of men. Smart....and beautiful? What a huge predicament. You can fake listen as usual. You can’t understand a word she’s saying. We should Celebrate women and thier contributions to this world instead of denying them the same level of respect any man demands for himself. The tiny limitless world you imprikn her in, is even smaller than the tiny little world of the men filled with fear that women may not need you anymore. Men will always hold the power. Leave it at the door. And help with the dishes. Now that’s equal. Dumb stuff tgat gets on our nerves. It necer ends.
Meeow 4 years ago
Back in the day these women will do anything to keep the whiteness, and today these women will changed the color of their skin to pretend they are black. And those face masks can really help covid street. And that Chinese lady feet, so much pain!!!
Full Name 4 years ago
A famous wedding photographer who goes around the world said dark skinned people want to be photoshopped lighter, and light skinned people wanna look darker. What a weird bunch we are, eh?
Load More Replies... Stille20 4 years ago (edited)
Oh those silly women! Like some men aren't currently waxing their backs and we don't all try the latest trends. Plus cosmetic surgery!! There is also a HUGE difference between a portable hairdryer and say binding your feet.
Si 4 years ago
No, but the things men do to gain social status are sensible and important and we all have to hear about it every day in the news.
Load More Replies... pebs 4 years ago
In any case, it takes not only men who judge to hold a beauty contest, but women who happily submit to judgment as well. If perhaps in the past one could speak of ignorance, submission and lack of self-determination, today what should we say, especially in the West? Yet it doesn't seem to me that beauty contests no longer exist. And don't tell me about the judgment on intellectual qualities, because it's just crap: some (many) women want to be judged physically because they want to make money and careers thanks to their beauty.
Si 4 years ago (edited)
All women are judged physically whether they want to be or not.
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