John H. Breck established his hair care business in Springfield, Mass., around 1910. He is credited with introducing the first pH-balanced liquid shampoo in 1930. The famous "Breck Girl" portraits, used in company advertising for forty years, were originally created by Springfield artist Charles Sheldon. Later Breck Girls included future celebrities such as Kim Basinger, Cybil Shepard, Jacquelyn Smith, and Christie Brinkley. Today (2012) the Breck product line is owned by Dollar Tree of Chesapeake, Va.
Lipicil and lanolin (wool grease) were key ingredients in Breck Cream Treatment which was sold from the late 1940s through the end of the 1950s. "Lipicil" was trademarked by the Breck company in 1954. Advertisments claimed that these ingredients would "aid in the treatment and prevention of hair dryness, dandruff, and hard-to-manage hair."
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