There’s a story behind every item in your medicine cabinet. Here are a few.
• Before World War I, “Aspirin” was a registered trademark of the German company, Bayer. When Germany lost the war, Bayer gave the trademark to the Allies as a reparation in the Treaty of Versailles.
• Why do men wear fragrances? Isn’t that a little “girly?” It used to be. But thanks to some clever marketing during World War II, Old Spice aftershave became part of the soldier’s standard-issue toiletry kit and changed the smell of things.
• Hate taking care of your contact lenses? It could be worse. Early contacts were made from wax molds (wax was poured over the eyes). The lenses, made of glass, cut off tear flow and severely irritated the eyes. In fact, the whole ordeal was so painful that scientists recommended an anesthetic solution of cocaine.
• On average, each person uses 54 feet of dental floss every year. That may sound like a lot, but dentists recommend the use of a foot and a half of dental floss each day. That’s equal to 548 feet a year.
• In the late 1940s, aerosol hairspray was a growing fad among American women. The only problem was that it was water insoluble, which made it hard to wash out. Why? The earliest fixative was shellac, more commonly used to preserve wood.
• Women ingest about 50% of the lipstick they apply.
• Ancient Chinese, Roman, and German societies frequently used urine as mouthwash. Surprisingly, the ammonia in urine is actually a good cleanser. (Ancient cultures had no way of knowing that.)
• Almost half of all men who have dyed their hair were talked into it the first time by a woman.
A recent check of 62 police cars in Atlanta, Georgia, found that 27 had expired tags.