$1 in 1896 US dollars would be roughly $40 today, so this was not a particularly cheap product in its day. Empty bottles show up on various auction sites today.
Found bottle photo:
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HAIR.
This is awesome
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In 1896 you could hire an unskilled laborer for $1.00/day, working 10 to 12 hours.
More like $75.00 today.
Inflation counters seldom reflect reality imho.
Found a history of this guy, from the Southborough Historical Society
Interesting points: He was the first person to create Vanilla extract, and had a whole business selling that and various other flavoring extracts. He supplied the anesthetic used at Massachusetts General Hospital to perform the first painless surgery in the USA. But his "best known product", per the Historical Society, was in fact this cocaine hair treatment, which he developed in 1857. He also started a business called Deerfoot Farms, which sold a range of meat products, and - bizarrely - supplied a cow that went to the south pole and back with Admiral Byrd.
He died in 1894 in a carriage accident.
Did they believe cocaine actually did something for hair, or was this just a way to discreetly sell coke?
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"The problem is with all these weirdos trying to smell or lick my hair! One time a guy put a lighter to my hair and tried to smoke it. I mean it was good and I don't do it as much anymore...." She said.
Her cheeks are giving me Eraserhead-vibes
Did you miss that it's called cocoaine, instead of cocaine? Why?
For the hair
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