Unidentified photographer
1918 (ca)
7 Sutherland Sisters' Hair and Scalp Cleaner

Packaging material, cardboard, cropped
3 3/8 x 4 x 1 in.( 8.5725 x 10.16 x 2.54 cm)
 
National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Gift of William H. Helfand, ID Number: 1980.0317.03, Accession number: 1980.0317, Catalog number: 1980.0317.03
 
Curatorial description (Accessed: 19 August 2021)
This powdered shampoo was produced by the Seven Sutherland Sisters Corporation beginning in the late 1800s and into the 1930s. The sisters toured with Barnum and Bailey beginning in 1884 and were famous for their long hair, which stretched a supposed 37 feet in total. They were models, singers, and entertainers, and were among the first celebrity endorsers. They remain famous in Niagara County, N.Y., where they were born.
 
Henry Bailey married one of the sisters and trademarked the name "7 Sutherland Sisters" in 1886, claiming to have been using it since 1884. This particular box is dated to around 1918. The hair products were still being advertised in the 1930s, but had begun their decline in popularity.
 
LL/112910