A History of Nail Care Page 2
1930 Ladies of the silver screen bring polish into vogue. The overall look is one of cool sophistication and elegant, immaculate grooming. The moon manicure thrives in various tints of red. Gena Laboratories premiers its polish remover, Warm-O-Lotion, cuticle oil and cuticle remover.
1932 Charles Revson with his brother and chemist Joseph Revson, and Charles Lachman create an opaque, non-streaking nail polish based on pigments rather than dyes, making a variety of colours available. Revlon is born. In the '30s, the company invents the fashion of matching lip and nail colour.
1934 Anna Hamburg of California, is granted a patent for an artificial nail colour that can be applied and removed easily without damage to the natural nail.
Maxwell Lappe, a dentist in Chicago, creates Nu Nails, an artificial fingernail for nail biters.
Max Factor's Liquid Nail Enamel is similar to nail polishes of today. The company uses a limited number of pigments, which means its enamel is only available in red, dark red, vermillion and crimson. The fashion is to cover the entire nail with polish.
1935 Eugene Rohrbach of New Jersey, patents a nail covering that can be applied tot he nail without glue. It is slipped over and under the free edge.
1936 A finishing stencil, designed to be placed on top of the fingernail to ensure a consistent coat of polish, is patented by Stella O'Donnell of New York.
1937 A patent for a method using tips to repair and lengthen nails is granted to Harriet Fligenbaum of Minnesota.
1938 Manicures cost from 25c to $3.50 depending on whether or not polish is applied. Base coat is created, which in turn leads to the entire nail being polished.
1940 Rita Hayworth's long, red nails bring a new shape to nail fashion. Hers are longer than previously worn, more oval than pointed, and fully covered with red polish.
During the first half of the twentieth century, men who frequent barber shops often receive a manicure as well as a haircut, shave and shoeshine. For the women, there are bright colours such as Schoolhouse Red nail polish from Elizabeth Arden, at 75c a bottle. (Rouge and lipstick are tinted to match)
In the days before there were fibreglass and silk wraps, there were tea bags, coffee filters and Duco cement, says Beatrice Kaye. Donna Kohl of Boise, Idaho, a nail technician for 16 years, says cigarette and perm papers and aeroplane glue were also used for wraps.
1943 The Long Beach Hairdressers' Guild holds its first show.
1945 Max Factor offers Satin Smooth Nail Polish to consumers. An improvement on its earlier Liquid Nail Enamel, the polish is available in reds, pinks and other colours.
1948 Noreen Reho of Missouri, creates a manicure apparatus that contains and supports the instruments used in manicuring.
1950 Many more nail colours come on the scene and with them, a more delicate looking nail. Nails go from pointed and dark to oval and pale. Eyes are emphasised, with perhaps less attention paid to nails and lips.
Norma Keown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who has been in the beauty industry for 37 years, describes her nail care classes at a state school in the ''50s:" They taught us basic manicuring and you had to polish leaving the moons and hairline tip free. We made the hairline tip by putting polish on the nail then taking our thumbs and running them across the tip of the polished nail to remove a hairline of polish. Revlon had a student kit with a few basic materials. Most manicurists worked in barber shops, not beauty salons. Your hairdresser did your nails."
Juliette Marglen markets a wrap material resembling a matchbook with the wrap material in sheets, says Beatrice Kaye. Only the top third of the nail is covered. Having the nails wrapped in this way is referred to as a "Juliette" manicure.
Back to Top
Article originally published in NAILS Magazine, copyright 2004. Used with permission
History of Nail Care - page 1
History of Nail Care - page 3
Home
Caring for Your Nails
History of Nail Care
Contact Us
Nail Tech Training
