While deodorizing or masking of unpleasant body odor has been in practice for much of recorded history, controlling underarm wetness has only become a personal care practice in the past 100 or so years. Underarm products began to appear in the market place in the United States in the late 19th century with the introduction of a product called MUM in 1888. At the dawn of the 20th century the first brand name antiperspirant appeared on the U. S. market as EverDry. It was followed in a few years by a product called Odo-RO-No (3). These early products lacked the aesthetic qualities of today’s brands. Aluminum chloride solutions were wet and runny and had very little cosmetic appeal but managed to sell at a reasonable rate and therefore had enough potential for their manufacturers to keep them in the market. The greatest shortcomings of these products were their irritating effects on the skin and the damage they caused to clothing materials (3).
During the early part of the 20th century the antiperspirant market progressed slowly. Following World War II the antiperspirant market expanded very rapidly. The
technology advancements that occurred because of the war could now be applied to nonwar related applications. The ball point pen led to the idea for roll-on applicators. Aerosolized packaging led to aerosol antiperspirants and deodorants.
Radio and, the most impactful communication system of our time, television provided a medium for commercial advertising that captured the attention of millions of consumers with both verbal and visual displays.
Manufacturers of antiperspirants and deodorants were quick to buy into TV advertising to extol the virtues of their new products. TV watchers were provided a daily barrage of how to control offensive body odor and underarm wetness. The fact that people themselves can experience their own odor and wetness, as well as notice these attributes in others, reinforced the commercial appeal of these products.
Antiperspirants and deodorants, which in earlier days had been formulated as creams and solutions, now became available in all types of product forms. There were pads, daubers, pump sprays, squeeze bottles, powders, stick creams, solids, roll-ons, and aerosols.
The aerosol market grew rapidly and created “family use” products that were an aesthetically as well as hygienically pleasing way of delivering the product. The aerosol market captured the greatest market share until late in the 1970s when the use of aerosols became severely impacted by the concerns for the atmospheric ozone layer depletion and the ultimate ban on chloroflurocarbon propellants for aerosols. New propellant technology has preserved the aerosol but the solid cream and gel sticks came to the forefront of the United States market in the 1980s and remain as a large market share of the current formulation market place.