The inscriptions on the handle of this toothbrush read “BRISCO” and “KLEANWELL” and “57.” The form was available by 1910, was apparently made in France.
Wood-handled toothbrush with red rubber bristles. Toothbrush is part of a boxed set that came with a tube of Pearl-Mint toothpaste (1984.0782.277) and a small vial of Pearl-Mint dental tape (1984.0782.277.2). The box for the set states: "A Packet Containing All Three Essentials for Clean, Healthy Teeth and Gums." Set manufactured by Associated Dental Products, Inc., New York City. Associated Dental Products was in business by 1925 and selling Pearl-Mint by 1927.
Glass vial with metal screw lid, and paper label that reads “3 Yds. Waxed / PEARL-MINT / DENTAL TAPE / Flatten before using / ASSOCIATED DENTAL / PRODUCTS, Inc./ NEW YORK, N.Y.” Associated Dental Products was in business by 1925 and selling Pearl-Mint by 1927.
Dental tape is part of a boxed set that came with a tube of Pearl-Mint toothpaste (1984.0782.227) and a toothbrush /gum massager (1984.0782.227.1). The box for the set states: "A Packet Containing All Three Essentials for Clean, Healthy Teeth and Gums."
Cardboard box with inscriptions that read “Sensodyne / TOOTHPASTE FOR SENSITIVE TEETH / Recommended by Dentists for Sensitive Teeth / Sensitive teeth relief / in a mint flavor” and “FROM / BLOCK DRUG COMPANY, INC. / JERSEY CITY, NJ 07302.” The Block Drug Company was established in Brooklyn in 1907 and relocated to Jersey City in 1938. It applied for a trademark on the term Sensodyne in 1960.
Two cylinders of dental floss in a cardboard box. The inscription on one side of the box reads “Butler / RIGHT KIND / UnWaxed Dental Floss / For Personal Oral Hygiene / John O. Butler Co. / Chicago, Ill. 60611 / Printed in U.S.A. Made in U.S.A.” That on another side adds “Conforming to the Optimum Characteristics / of Dental Floss for Personal Oral Hygiene / as specified by Dr. C. C. Bass / For Personal Oral Hygiene.”
John O. Butler (1873-1973) was a Chicago dentist who, in 1923, established the John O. Butler Company, a firm that manufactured sundry oral-care products. Charles C. Bass (1875-1975) was a physician on the faculty of the Tulane University Medical School. Zip codes were introduced on July 1, 1963.
Personal tooth cleaner with a “RE-VIRA / REG. U.S. PAT. OFF.” inscription on the handle. Neil McCloud Whittaker (1878-1963), a graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, devised a tooth cleaner that used disposable cotton pads rather than reusable bristles. He introduced the term “Revira” in 1924. He received a trademark in 1925, and a patent in 1926. He established the Revira Company in Ridgefield Park, N.J., and sponsored ads asking: “Do you sterilize your toothbrush?”
Ref: Neil McCloud Whittaker, “Toothbrush,” U.S. Patent 1,604,731 (Oct. 26, 1926).
A label on the front of this glass jar reads “DENTRAY / TOOTH POWDER.” That on the back reads in part “DENTRAY / TOOTH POWDER / MADE BY A DENTIST / Purest ingredients, harmless if swallowed. No grit, no pumice-cannot scratch the precious tooth enamel, nor hurt tender gums / . . . / DENTRAY COMPANY, N.Y. / MADE IN U.S.A.”
David Adolph Eolis (1886-1945) was an immigrant from Russia who settled in New York and identified as a chemist. In 1935, he obtained a patent for a powder dispenser (1,986,718), and a copyright on the term Dentray. In 1939 he obtained a patent for “composition and process of making powder from nacreous substances” (2,172,369).
The label on this metal container reads “ALBODON FOR THE TEETH” and “WILLIAM WARNER & CO., INC. NEW YORK, ST. LOUIS” with instructions for use. There was an Albodon Co., in New York, that was making a dental cream by 1916, and that dissolved in 1928. William R. Warner & Co. was making Albodon by 1936.