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Tooth Paste Or Tooth Powder ?


hilldweller

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As a kid in the late forties/fifties I always brushed my teeth with tooth powder which was in the form of a solid block of powder in a small circular tin. You wetted your toothbrush and rubbed it on the powder. From what I remember most people used tooth powder at that time.

I was under the impression that tooth pastes in a metal tube didn't come in until the late fifties.

I have just bought a new book called "Remember When" which tells me that at least fourteen different brands of tooth paste in tubes were available during the 1930's.

Did only "posh" people use tube tooth paste, we certainly didn't qualify for that description ?

Did "Baby-Boomers" on the forum use tooth powder or tooth paste ?

Does your memory stretch that far back ?

HD

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As a kid in the late forties/fifties I always brushed my teeth with tooth powder which was in the form of a solid block of powder in a small circular tin. You wetted your toothbrush and rubbed it on the powder. From what I remember most people used tooth powder at that time.

I was under the impression that tooth pastes in a metal tube didn't come in until the late fifties.

I have just bought a new book called "Remember When" which tells me that at least fourteen different brands of tooth paste in tubes were available during the 1930's.

Did only "posh" people use tube tooth paste, we certainly didn't qualify for that description ?

Did "Baby-Boomers" on the forum use tooth powder or tooth paste ?

Does your memory stretch that far back ?

HD

OK hilldweller,

I was born in 1955 on the night that ITV, Britains first commercial advertising TV network first started broadcasting.

Their very first advert was for Gibbs SR toothpaste, so it must have already been around by the mid 50's and has been around all my life.

However, in our house / prefab in the late 50's / early 60's we had both toothpaste and toothpowder.

The reason for this was that my mum thought that toothpaste was better for her and for my young delicate, deciduous "milk teeth" which needed "a light touch" so as not to scratch or damage the enamel but to keep them white and minty fresh.

On the other hand my father at that time was a heavy smoker and still had his own teeth (both of which later changed). At that time tooth powder was marketed mainly as being for smokers as it was more likely to "remove yellowness and staining" from teeth, being more agressive and abrasive in its cleaning action. The main make was "Eucryl" which was actually sold as "smokers tooth powder" so he used that. At that time, cigarettes, often cheap brands such as "Park Drive" had no filters and the dangers of smoking on health were only just being fully realised, so nicotine stained fingers, teeth, clothes, walls, everything that the "smoke" came into contact with really, developed a horrible brownish stain.

If you used tooth powder would it be because their was a heavy smoker in your household?

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OK hilldweller,

I was born in 1955 on the night that ITV, Britains first commercial advertising TV network first started broadcasting.

Their very first advert was for Gibbs SR toothpaste, so it must have already been around by the mid 50's and has been around all my life.

However, in our house / prefab in the late 50's / early 60's we had both toothpaste and toothpowder.

The reason for this was that my mum thought that toothpaste was better for her and for my young delicate, deciduous "milk teeth" which needed "a light touch" so as not to scratch or damage the enamel but to keep them white and minty fresh.

On the other hand my father at that time was a heavy smoker and still had his own teeth (both of which later changed). At that time tooth powder was marketed mainly as being for smokers as it was more likely to "remove yellowness and staining" from teeth, being more agressive and abrasive in its cleaning action. The main make was "Eucryl" which was actually sold as "smokers tooth powder" so he used that. At that time, cigarettes, often cheap brands such as "Park Drive" had no filters and the dangers of smoking on health were only just being fully realised, so nicotine stained fingers, teeth, clothes, walls, everything that the "smoke" came into contact with really, developed a horrible brownish stain.

If you used tooth powder would it be because their was a heavy smoker in your household?

The only smoker in my family was my father who kept his own teeth up to his death and as far as I know never brushed his teeth in his life.

Talking of nicotine staining I once bought a Trio stereo receiver from a workmate who was a heavy smoker. The front panel and knobs were a fetching shade of champaign coloured anodised aluminium.

Or so I thought until I decided to give it a bit of a clean and discovered it was silver coloured with a thick layer of nicotine. I did wonder what the funny smell was :rolleyes:

It took me months to clean all the gunk off.

HD

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The only smoker in my family was my father who kept his own teeth up to his death and as far as I know never brushed his teeth in his life.

Talking of nicotine staining I once bought a Trio stereo receiver from a workmate who was a heavy smoker. The front panel and knobs were a fetching shade of champaign coloured anodised aluminium.

Or so I thought until I decided to give it a bit of a clean and discovered it was silver coloured with a thick layer of nicotine. I did wonder what the funny smell was :rolleyes:

It took me months to clean all the gunk off.

HD

As a life long non-smoker, and having lost both my father and grandfather to smoking related illness I consider myself lucky not to be cursed with this particular addiction.

However, dad and grandad never consumed a fraction of the amount of alcohol that I do.

...one mans poison....?

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