When Did Men Start Wearing Deodorant in the United States

Growing up, I do not remember any of the men in my family having body odor, OP.

I'm in my 60s.

Between 1942 and 1957 the market for deodorants increased 600 times to become a $70 million market. Deodorants were originally marketed primarily to women, but by 1957 the market had expanded to male users, and estimates were that 50% of men were using deodorants by that date. The Ban Roll-On product led the market in sales.

When I watch "What's My Line" on the BUZZR channel, they have ads for Stopette (sp?) for Men, so I guess men were using deodorant then.

Ever hear of soap and water, OP?

Pre roll-ons people wore "deodorant pads", which I don't imagine were very comfortable.

I don't use deo. I shower. I like a man's odour. If he is clean. I think gays who don't like a fresh masculine smell are cunts. Not worth a fuck. Pluck your eyebrows and moisturize, sissies.

My dad was in his 40s in the 1960s; never wore deodorant his entire life. We'd keep him supplied with Old Spice aftershave to compensate.

[quote] Ever hear of soap and water, OP?

Dirty French frog alert!

In addition to the the Old Spice, everyone smoked back then, so the cigarette stank probably covered up the BO stank.

There were still bogans in the late eighties who thought antiperspirant deodorants were 'for chicks and poofs'. Yes, those men did reek. Like stale tom cats' piss. Especially during summer (28-40+ Celsius). Same blokes often did manual labour, and thought weekends meant 'relaxing' (ie. getting on the piss, smoking bongs and durries, and wearing the same clothes from Friday morning 'til Monday morning.

People don't think about how odor-free our world is. Almost any smell now that doesn't come from a bottle is distasteful but that is a recent phenomenon limited to the US. People's homes, businesses always had distinctive smells when I was a child. Some comforting, some foul.

From the Smithsonian...

How Advertisers Convinced Americans They Smelled Bad

My grandfather never wore deodorant. But, he was born in 1892.

I'd like to see a study done (if not already) correlating the rise in deodorant with cancer rates, particularly breast cancer.

You mean the US over-deodorizes, overbathes, overgrooms, overlaunders, overeats and overcompensates for their penisses?

[quote] I'd like to see a study done (if not already) correlating the rise in deodorant with cancer rates, particularly breast cancer.

The myth that breast cancer is believed to be linked with deodorant use has been widely circulated, and appears to originate from a spam email sent in 1999;[6] however, there is no evidence to support the existence of such a link.[7] One constituent of deodorant products which has given cause for concern are parabens, a chemical additive.[35] According to the American Cancer Society "studies have not shown any direct link between parabens and any health problems, including breast cancer"

Someone needs to bring up the distinction between deodorants and anti-perspirants..........so I shall: deo stops or cuts back the bacteria population to eliminate noxious fumes, while anti-perspirant plugs sweat glands with aluminum salts, and is believed to cause more health problems. Some breast cancer tumours do test positive for aluminum deposits.

"Wake up, Mary!" should be the new DL battle cry.

And we are going to continue overusing products until a direct link is found. No preventative measures for us. Sounds like climate change deniers

If you could only get a bath once a week, this might be a problem. If you were unable to afford more than one shirt and were unable to regularly launder your clothing, this might be a problem.

But if you shower every day and launder your clothing, this is highly unlikely to be a problem. You will not stink. Deodorants are a waste of money and you should not be smearing unneeded chemicals on your body every damned day.

There is nothing worse than going down on a hot man's pits and getting a mouth full of antiperspirant. If that happens, that date is over.

Well 19, you & other concerned readers may want tomgive Lavilin a try. Cream that can keep you funk-free up to 5 days.... Fairly harmless ingredients, and really works. Not inexpensive, but as you do not need to reapply daily, it lasts a long time. Made In Israel, avail on Amazon

I've read somewhere that BO was not as bad in the pre-deodorant days as it is now. That sounds a bit ridiculous but the explanation had to do with how deodorants work to reduce the bad smell. Deodorants work by killing off the bacteria that cause body odor. (Antiperspirants work by clogging the sweat glands so you sweat less.) The bacteria develop and reproduce pretty quickly, which is why if you accidentally forget to use your deodorant one morning, you can develop a bad odor in a few hours.

However, according to the explanation I read, the body also hosts bacteria that counteract the bad smell. These "good" bacteria don't completely eliminate the bad smell--just mitigate it--and they're slower to develop/reproduce. So, people still had bad odor but it wasn't as acrid as what we associate with body odor today.

Deodorants kill off both these bacteria - the good and bad - but the bad develop more quickly. By killing off both the good and the bad - deodorants create a situation where we're more dependent on them to control the smell.

A few other factors that play into it, I think: - Since we're now use to people generally not smelling, it really stands out when one person is the exception. If everyone had a little body odor, we'd become less aware of it because "it's always there." - The foods we eat today, with all the preservatives, create more body odor. - Sweat from "hard work" smells different than sweat from "just day-to-day living."

Clean people don't smell bad. You are crazy

R20 Sorry, no. Some people, like myself, are excessive sweaters and as a result are more malodorous. I've TRIED to go without antiperspirant/deodorant, and it's fine for a couple days, but then the smell returns. I've showered twice a day, tried one of those salt crystals, used baby powder, nothing works.

Call me R24, I love a smelly man

Not having BO is a sign of low testosterone in men btw.

R22, some of what you write is correct, according to what I have researched. However, not deodorant specifically kills both types of bacteria, some might have when Triclosan was allowed, but real culprit that allows the really stinky bacteria to thrive is the aluminum based salt anti-perspirants.

So if R22 says is correct, one could theoretically stop using and eventually not smell horrible, but need to be prepared for a period of smelling funky? How long might it take for the "good" bacteria to regrow?

R24, seriously try the Lavilin.... I'm a sweaty guy too, and it works at keeping the funk away.... You will however remain sweaty.

Gotcha R27. I was summarizing based on recollected memory alone, so I'm definitely not certain about all the details. You're probably right.

My grandmother, who was quite pretty and flirtatious in the 1920s, once told me that all properly brought up Southern girls knew to bathe their underarms daily and if they were going out in the evening, to dip a cotton ball in alcohol and swab their pits.

R28, some claim one's body can adjust in a few weeks.... I have not used the chemical varieties of ant-perspirant since the late 80's.... The Lavilin uses zinc oxide as active ingredient... (Same stuff in diaper rash creme and old-school sunscreen) The people who use nothing, claim natural "healthy" BO should be like grapefruit scent.

Not using deodorant doesn't mean you'd stop showering R28. Might also be interesting to experiment; A week of showering, using soap/shower gel, a week of showering, washing with just water. And see if soap, by killing 'good' as well as 'bad' bacteria, contributes toward creating an armpit environment. that smells more 'ripe' with a day's sweat.

R33, bathing or just washing with plain soap did not kill all healthy bacteria according to my sources. Liqiuid body wash is detergent, not soap though. I would suspect all the young people hooked on the liquid are killing more beneficial bacteria compared to real soap.

Milk of Magnesia is another less harmful alternative to bad chemical stuff. Many old hippie types swear by it.

R33 I work in a small office, I could never subject my coworkers to the kind of BO that would result from not washing with soap. Maybe a day or two but not a WEEK.

Agreed R36, but while I've been down with this flu, four days sans shower, the Lavilin still worked! Day 5, I was funked up, so I showered and re-applied.

Most of these liquids, gel bain douche, contain so many pthalates..... Wonder what effect they have on our healthy bacteria?

Interesting. Thanks R34.

I prefer soap but it leaves a residue in my shower that is annoying to clean off. Shower gel never leaves this residue. Anyone else experience this?

Detergents have salts like water softeners in them, so even in hard water, there is no residue. Very chemical though! This is simple chemistry R40

I take daily probiotics and noticed I have much less funk. I have no idea if that's related, but I can now use a natural deodorant (without aluminum) without having to reapply midday.

Prob is R42.... The natural biome, and the study of it is very popular right now. It's not just about colon health.

"But if you shower every day and launder your clothing, this is highly unlikely to be a problem. You will not stink."

That might apply to some people but not others. People who sweat a lot do stink

[quote]And we are going to continue overusing products until a direct link is found. No preventative measures for us. Sounds like climate change deniers

Uh, climate change has been proven, moron.

[quote]Not having BO is a sign of low testosterone in men btw.

Link.

[quote]Some breast cancer tumours do test positive for aluminum deposits.

Ahem.

Its a white person problem that becomes everyone's problem. Asians have no BO because they don't have apocrine glands.

[quote]Asians have no BO

Inaccurate.

If you eat a relatively healthy diet, refrain from alcohol/tobacco/drugs you generally don't smell that much- just normal, low-level BO.

I'm old enough to remember when seeing large wet stains on clothing under people's arms. Deodorants stop the wetness as well as the odor. Vintage clothing may retain those stains, but mostly the badly stained items get thrown out. I also remember when it was common to see dandruff flakes on people's shoulders. I'm 67. by my mid teens it was less common to see dandruff and pit stains.

I'm in my late 50s - as I remember, older people only bathed /showered once a week, maybe twice. The big deals were Rapid Shave and Old Spice roll-on for men; in the cohort of guys born 1890-1930, say, there was no such things as having four or colognes on your dresser (unless you were gay I guess.) The thing I remember for old ladies was Jean Nate, which was supposed to be bath lotion, but they used it as oerfume.

I get the pork sweats.

R51 Do you remember that many if not most older adults had ghastly black stains on their teeth, which were often rotted? I remember that in my mother's generation -- otherwise well-dressed women with makeup and lipstick etc. would be sporting this awful mouth, and many old people would wait until half their teeth were gone before finally going for dentures. I remember lots of old people walking around with no teeth at all. I think it was a combination of bad nutrition and no dental care when they were young, smoking, and the fact that false teeth then were pretty rudimentary and painful.

I sweat after eating low-quality pizza.

[quote] Inaccurate

Nope. You need to get out more. Bathe before you do so though.

I rarely wear deodorant. Exception would be if I had an important meeting, had to wear a suit and tie and had to take the subway and/or walk a couple of blocks on a very hot day. Otherwise, day to day, I don't sweat that much unless I am working out. I shower 2x a day (at night and a quick rinse in the morning) and use old school soap - Dial, Irish Spring, etc. On the weekends if I don't shower, I definitely smell, even if I am just laying around the house, but day-to-day showering and washing with soap keeps me BO free.

R57, could be you are able to get by w/out deo is because you're washing in DEODORANT SOAP! With a lot of added synthetic fragrance might I add! Not that I'm objecting, I like those scents, just think they are not the healthiest choices. I would prob only wash my pits and feet with that stuff if I felt I truly needed it.

R57 Dial is anti-bacterial

[quote]I rarely wear deodorant.

Ugh. Which shithole country are you posting from? Gross.

I loved the summers in high school and college. We had a pool and lived near the beach. I was constantly out in the sun and in the water. I could go about ten days without taking a shower and not smell.

I like having clogged sweat glands.

R61, when I was growing up I spent my summers on a lake. My mom used to throw me a bar of Ivory soap every once in a while and I'd wash in the lake.

R61 - I noticed the same effect. I'm not sure if it was something about the sun, the salt water, or the cooling/drying effect of the sea breeze, but I would never develop a bad odor spending the day at the beach.

I shower daily, sometimes twice daily, and my pits reek with 2-4 hours of a shower without deodorant . So I wear deodorant.

I don’t wear deodorant. It irritates my skin and doesn’t smell better. If you keep a clean -ish diet your scent won’t be bad anyway. I love sniffing my pits.

Ruth Goodman had an interesting take on this in "How to be a Victorian," where alleges that a Puerto Rican show every morning actually works pretty well in preventing odor --

^^I use Dove moisturising, the beauty cream bar.

R66, do you smell grape-fruity?

I don’t smell grapefruity. It’s more like a fragrant musk. Like my balls but not quite as intoxicating. I would much rather smell like my own scent than some artificial smell.

r60, I am in the US. I stopped using deodorant years ago after I had an allergic reaction to it (Right Guard) and developed a rash. The dermatologist told me not to use any and to wash with a very mild cleanser (Cetaphil) until it cleared up. During that time I noticed that I didn't smell. It could be a hormonal thing, because I remember as a teenager and preteen I stunk just by being. I would wake up with BO. Started using deodorant at about 11.

On the rare occasion that I do use it now, I use Dry Idea unscented. I keep some in my desk drawer at work in case I need it, but that's hardly ever. My office seems to be a little bit cold in the winter and colder in the summer so I don't sweat.

I shower everyday and after sport obviously. I don't stink. When I used deo regularly I stunk immediately when sweaty. Haven't used deo for years. Smell nice. Manly light scent.

Ruth Goodman doesn't think she stinks either R72 -- she also probably thinks her breath is fine without mouthwash. And that her cat-box smells fresh.

R70, interesting.... The stuff I use (Lavilin) has no fragrance.... It has a slight scent, but not a parfum/artificial fragrance. If my pits smelled as good as my balls, I guess I wouldn't worry about using anything either. Lucky you!

On the same message board that we have this thread about rarely bathing, not using soap, not using deodorant - we have a thread about the lengths you need to go to in order to physically scrape your skin off to be "clean enough".

For all of you saying you "don't smell" - have you considered that you can't smell your own BO? Everyone else can smell you, so use some deodorant. My company has a lot of H1B hires from India and other Asian countries and part of their training includes American hygiene rules, because before we did that - you could barely breathe in the Indian cubicle section. I am sure they thought they "didn't smell" either or it "wasn't a big deal".

Who is the queen who would end a date if they licked someone's arm pits and it had deodorant in there? I'd end the date if someone smelled like stank ass long before I'd be bothered about that. They can always rinse it off if you absolutely MUST lick their arm pits.

Actually, that's one of 5 threads going back years about excessive hygiene on here. The thread I was thinking of was more recent, but google gave me another one.

r75, uh, thank you Datalounge Historian? That you knew of a short thread from 6 years ago and was able to find it is beyond weird.

R75, interesting, may check it out .... I dated a bloke years ago who asked me to ditch my deo, ditched him instead!

r77 - no, but I know how to type "site:"datalounge.com" wash cloth" into google

R70 and R74 please describe your ball smell. Why is it intoxicating?

This thread is useless without pits.

R80, can't speak for R70, R74 here.... My ball scent is sweet, bit like cranberry-apple.... If I haven't unloaded them in a few days, (usually try to everyday) then there is an added cookie dough undernote. I bathe each day, usually. Take a long soak in the tub once a week, showers rest of the time. I am thorough, and use a flannel/washcloth.

Cont..... I use real soap too, no detergent body wash crap.

Your pussies ALL stink!

Dear Lord in Heaven!

R54, I do remember when many people had bad teeth. I also remember when old ladies wore sturdy, ankle high black lace up shoes and old men wore pants up to their nipples and suspenders.

R75 I’ve been told by multiple Indians (some here for decades) that they never quite feel at home unless they’re able to smell sewage, I’m sure they’re just as conscious of the curry stench.

R70, R74/R82/R83 here, how would you describe your balls' scent?

Scratch and sniff. It's the manly thing to do.

[quote]My dad was in his 40s in the 1960s; never wore deodorant his entire life. We'd keep him supplied with Old Spice aftershave to compensate.

Your dad sounds like a real charming person🙄