Noxzema Skin Cream

A Noxzema jar from the 1940's.

Noxzema skin cream was invented in 1914 by a Baltimore pharmacist named Dr. Bunting. Originally called "Dr. Bunting's Sunburn Remedy", the earliest concoction was a combination of medication and vanishing cream sold as a treatment for sunburn. For the first 3 years, Bunting did all the mixing, heating, and pouring of the product himself.

Legend has it that the name Noxzema came from a satisfied customer who exclaimed, "You knocked my eczema!"

An ad from the 1940's stated that Noxzema was "wonderful for chapped hands, too."

The first Noxzema factory opened in 1920, in Baltimore, with the slogan “the miracle cream of Baltimore”. Demand grew steadily as the years progressed and by the 1940's, Noxzema had achieved national popularity through radio and print ads... There was even a Noxzema blimp!

This ad from the 60's suggested using Noxzema under makeup or at night.

In the 1950s, the Noxzema product line expanded to include other personal care products such as shave cream, suntan lotion and cold cream. In 1960, the Cover Girl line of cosmetics was launched, backed by an advertising campaign that used actual magazine cover girls enthused by this "glamorous new makeup". Cover Girl cosmetics touted the inclusion of Noxzema's medicated ingredients in its formulas.

The Noxzema company changed its name to Noxell in 1966. In 1989, Noxell was acquired by Procter & Gamble. Noxell had remained in the hands of the Bunting family until this merger.

A Noxzema ad from the 1970's, featuring a young Cybill Shepherd.

Noxzema owes its distinctive fragrance to the inclusion of camphor, menthol, and eucalyptus in its formula. Together with the ubiquitous blue jar, they have been Noxzema's hallmarks since 1914.

An early 70's commercial for Noxzema shaving cream, with Farrah Fawcett.

images: all flickr.com

The USSR Pavilion

Located on Île Notre Dame, the USSR pavilion was one of the largest at Expo 67. And with an attendance of 15 million, it was the most visited.

The striking structure of glass and aluminium featured a dramatic sweeping roof, meant to symbolize the country's powerful take off. The bold USSR/URSS lettering on the pavilions facade drew crowds curious to discover the mystique of the Soviet Union.

This sculpture paid hommage to the 50th anniversary of the Russian revolution.

The pavilion's exhibit was based on the elements Earth, Sea and Sky, and how the Soviet population had benefited from these elements "all in the name of man, for the good of man".

Earth was located on the main floor, Sea was one floor below, while Sky, with it's hugely popular space exhibit, was strategically located on a mezzanine at the highest point of the pavilion.

Earth

A huge portrait of Lenin hung high above the Earth section, where the raw material wealth of the country was displayed. Films, photographs, illuminated maps, sketches and texts, as well as models, machines and samples of raw materials all sought to demonstrate Soviet achievements and future plans in such diverse fields as consumer goods industries, oil and coal industries, housing and town planning, agriculture, chemistry, mechanical engineering, quantum electronics, etc. etc...

Sea

Sturgeon (the fish that produce caviar) swam peacefully up and down a large fish pool located in the Sea section. Ship models were on display in this section, including the atomic icebreaker Lenin. A model of a desalinization plant showed how fresh water was produced.

Sky

High under the roof, a gallery was devoted to the conquest of space. On either side of the section were huge impressionistic panels of blues, greens and purples, painted by Alexi Leonov, the first man to walk in space. Cosmos Hall was a spherical 60-seat theatre which took visitors on a simulated ride to outer space. A replica of Yuri Gagarin's space capsule was on display, as were mock-ups of the surfaces of the moon and Venus.

Due to the Cold War, the USSR's position adjacent to the US pavilion raised eyebrows.

The USSR pavilion was also equipped with a 600-seat theatre, used for movies, documentaries and fashion shows. A wide variety of Russian delicacies could be sampled at the pavilion's café, snack bar and 1100-seat Moskva restaurant.

An official postcard featuring the impressive USSR pavilion facade at dusk.

A stunning view of the USSR pavilion at night.



images: (1-2-3-4-6-7) library and archives Canada
(5) expo67.ncf.ca
(8) alamedainfo.com
(9) courtesy DC Hillier

1976 Olympics Posters

Montreal hosted the 1976 Olympics from July 17 to August 1 of that year.

A series of posters was created for the '76 Summer Games and to promote physical fitness in general. My good friend DC Hillier came across the images in a flickr set: the posters are apparently still up somewhere at the Olympic Stadium.

DC painstakingly recreated the fab images you see here...

images: courtesy of DC Hillier

Jackie Kennedy at Expo 67

Former American first lady Jaqueline "Jackie" Kennedy visited Expo from October 6 to 8, 1967.

Celebrities who wished to tour Expo 67 incognito were provided with certain services, such as a non-uniformed guide or hostess to escort them. Though it was meant to be a private event, Jackie Kennedy held a press conference the morning of her Expo visit!

Mrs. Kennedy was welcomed by The U.S. pavilion's Assistant Commissioner General, Milton Fredman, and began her tour of Expo at the Czechoslovakia pavilion.

Always elegant, Jackie Kennedy talked to any visitors or journalists who called out to her at Expo.

images: library and archives Canada

Magic Highway USA, 1958

This is just the type of atomic-era, retro-futuristic document I love.

An exerpt from a 1958 Disneyland TV show, these animated predictions on future transportation technologies look very Jetsons-esque...