25 products you could probably find in every medicine cabinet in the Sixties

Everyone likes to peek inside the medicine cabinet.

It's just a part of human nature, at least for a portion of society. When some people visit your house, they peek inside the medicine cabinet. 

Well, it's time to do just that, guilt-free. Only we're not snooping in a modern bathroom — we're going back to the 1960s. 

The packaging and product names bring back some memories. A few things we still use today. Other stuff is the relic of the era. Did you use any of it?

1. Alka-Seltzer in the long, tubular glass jar

 

There were a lot of upset stomachs in the 1960s. (If you watched Mad Men, you'll remember why.) Good thing that Speedy (and Buster Keaton!) were there for that plop-plop-fizz-fizz relief.

2. Phillips' Milk of Magnesia Tablets

 

No water needed! Milk wasn't needed, either!

3. Bufferin

 

Today when you hear "Bufferin" you think "Waiting for a video to load online." Which can be a headache.

4. St. Joseph Aspirin for Children

 

Kids had their own headache medicine. And it had "orange flavor and creamy smoothness." Sounds like a Dreamsicle.

5. Scott's Emulsion Cod Liver Oil Tonic

 

"Specially made to winterize your body against colds." Hey, if it works for fish in the Nordic sea!

6. Bright pink Band-Aid bandages

 

It looked so much like bubblegum, it should have come in a pack of baseball cards.

7. Dippity-Do

 

Speaking of bright pink, this gel helped keep hair helmet-hard.

8. Ice Blue Secret Cream

 

Yep, this is how deodorant came packaged.

Image: Pinterest / eBay

9. Pond's Cold Cream

 

The official pre-bedtime ritual for millions of women.

10. Brylcreem

 

"A little dab'll do ya!" promised Dick Clark. Today, the Dab is a dance move.

11. Gleem

 

"The toothpaste for people who can't brush after every meal." Hey, it rhymes with Brylcreem!

12. Lavoris

 

"Tangy cinnamon-clover flavor." Firetruck color.

13. Campho-Phenique

 

"Campho-Phenique" just sounds like a vintage medicine.

14. Vick's VapoRub

 

Remember when mom would smear this on your chest?

15. Head & Shoulders in a little tub

 

The variety of packaging made it easily mistaken for cold cream… or toothpaste.

16. Remington Lektronic Shaver

 

Introduced at the start of the Sixties, the electric razor revolutionized men's shaving. No wonder neckbeards weren't a thing back then.

17. Old Spice Pro Electric

 

Well, if you had an electric razor, you needed the Old Spice Pro Electric shave lotion.

18. GE Electric Toothbrush

 

Hope you have multiple outlets by the sink, because electric toothbrushes were introduced back in the '60s, too.

19. Palmolive Rapid Shave

 

Of course, you could do things the old school way — with a razor. In which case, Palmolive, the dishwashing people, were there for you.

20. Cashmere Bouquet Talc

 

"Protects and prolongs your daintiness."

21. That Man cologne

 

Well, if it's good enough for the Tony Randall household…

22. Dermassage

 

That's actually a rather elegant bottle.

23. Dixie Peach Pomade

 

It sounds delicious, but don't eat it.

24. Fresh-Start

 

Pond's had the teen market covered, too, with its blemish treatment.

25. Arrestin

 

Every medicine seemed to end in "–in" back then, no?

SEE MORE: 10 gone, groovy shampoos of the 1960s

 

Would you put Minipoo in your beehive? READ MORE

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19 Comments

EricFuller 40 months ago
Some of the products listed are still made.
Dario EricFuller 40 months ago
You can find Lavoris at your local $1 Dollar Store which comes in both green(mint) and red(cinnamon). 😁😁😁😁😁
Wyatt 61 months ago
Never heard of Dixie Peach but know all of the rest quite well from those years
UTZAAKE 67 months ago
The house where I grew up was constructed in the early-1960s so the two original medicine cabinets which still exist are just about as sixties as one can get! 4, 6, 13 and 14 were regular occupants; I still use Campho-Phenique.
12. Have always jokingly called it Nasty Lavoris which sounds like something Juliet Landau's Drusilla would've spoken.
ELEANOR 67 months ago
SO WHAT ABOUT Pepto Bismol ?? That stuff was always around. And Mercurochrome to put on cuts. And nose drops for stuffy noses. That stuff did nothing for the nose but it made your eyes water. And Unguentine for getting splinters out.
UTZAAKE EleanorLawson 67 months ago
Oddly my family kept the Mercurochrome and Unguentine in a closet which also had towels, blankets, a checkers/chess set, light bulbs and other good stuff. The latter was used to treat burns.
Corey 67 months ago
I remember St. Joseph aspirin.
stephaniestavropoulos 67 months ago
I can remember a time when it came to aerosols, and sometimes shampoos, we got ours for free! I can remember my mom {my dad sometimes too I think,} saying something like can you bring some more deodorant home, we're running low. Usually it was Sure, but a couple/few other brands as well.
Now, for the backstory on the above statement:
My dad was Director Of Quality Control for a packaging company. So his job was to oversee the lines, making sure items were passing inspection. {Have to keep those clients happy!} If they didn't, off the line they'd come. Then those rejects wound up being free for the taking. The product itself was fine, just the container was off. The label was wrong, the seal of the can right, whatever. They didn't only package aerosols, they got contracts for other items. A couple/few Christmas' they packaged spray snow. I remember he brought home a can to show us what he was talking about. They packaged vitamins. {I want to say they were from Sears.} One of their biggest clients {if not THE biggest who they they had for a very long time;} was Helene Curtis. My dad would bring some of their product line home as well. We had several boxes in the basement of stuff we'd literally give them out to our relatives! "You need deodorant, shampoo, we've got plenty." Seemed to be our family's catchphrase. We sure {no pun intended!} saved quite a bit of $$ in the Health/Beauty aisle!
Charleydawg 67 months ago
Remember that children would poison themselves eating the aspirin bra cause it tasted like candy. As to the cough medicine, we used Coke syrup, commonly used on the East coast and was available from pharmacists.
Corey Charleydawg 67 months ago
So True and I remember coke syrup I hated Vicks 44D.
TVFF 67 months ago
I don't remember trying any of these products in the Sixties. My mother was big into home remedies (that usually didn't work) and I could only dream about the mysterious products I used to see advertised on TV.
jeopardyhead 67 months ago
"Tangy cinnamon-clover flavor." Reminds me of the night I got plastered on cinnamon schnapps.
Dario 67 months ago
A couple of these products still exists in our day & age; Lavoris is sold at the Dollar Tree for.....$1. 😉💵💲💰😁
EricFuller DarioWiter 67 months ago
I bought a bottle the other day.
So does St. Joseph's Aspirin and Dippity-Do, still exist.
Yes though no longer marketed just for children (https://www.stjosephaspirin.com/) and yes (http://dippity-do.com/en/).
ELEANOR UTZAAKE 67 months ago
Yes, I remember Dippity Do. I used it once and it didn't work. In fact, sleeping in rollers was painful and I ended up NOT suffering for beauty.
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