My head diseases appear to be cured.

The person pictured in this 1868 ad for some sort of electric hairbrush contraption is either a chick or an irrepressible fop. My word, would you look at the well-coiffured dandy! The product from Hopkins & Co. purported to restore gray hair and prevent baldness. I’m not a medical doctor, but I believe this is what is known as “quackery.” An excerpt from the ad copy:

“Will restore gray hair to its original color, keep the hair from falling out, promote its growth, cure diseases of the head, cleanse the scalp, and make hair soft, lustrous and silken. It is a splendid hair dressing, no persons young or old should fail to use it, who wish to preserve and restore their hair.”

More Old Print Ads:

• Alcohol-filled novelty handguns (1926)
• Rubber party masks (1941)
• Professor Baron, famed astrologer (1863)
• Salem Witch spoon (1891)
• Panti-Legs (1961)