Modjeska Tooth Powder

[robertk]

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Bottle Vitals​

	Date	Color	Shape	Size (Height x Diameter)	Value*
Modjeska Tooth Powder	1880s	Clear	Rectangular	3.25" x 2.25" x 1.25"	$20.00

Bottle Views (click to enlarge):

Front	Back	Side	Side	Bottom
Larkin Soap Co Buffalo

Back before fluoride and toothpaste came to dominate oral hygeine, there was tooth powder. You would use it to brush your teeth, just as you would use toothpaste today. (There are also modern tooth powders available today, many of them formulated without fluoride). This particular tooth powder was made by the Larkin Soap Company out of Buffalo, New York. They were pioneers in direct-to-consumer and network marketing, and developed a nationwide network of distributors through their use of promotions and discounts. Their factory in Buffalo was immense.

They produced a wide range of products, some of which have already been posted on this site (Larkin Cold Cream, Modjeska Cold Cream, and Modjeska Derma-Balm). Their tooth powder was sold nationwide at twenty to twenty-five cents a bottle.

The bottle would have originally had a paper label and a metal stopper that doubled as a shaker top. Here is how it would have looked back in the day:



This bottle was cleaned using soap and water, brushes, and a wooden scraper. Here's the before and after:



* Value is based on sold eBay listings as of the time of posting, and varies considerably with condition.

 

[Limitool]

Great post and job again Robert...! I probably dug up the metal stopper but didn't know what it was...? Was this a single bottle of it's kind?

 

[robertk]

Was this a single bottle of it's kind?

Yes, this was the only one of this kind. I think there is still another Larkin bottle to do, but it's different.