Adventures in vintage advertising: Cutex Nail Polish

In the first year of this blog's life, 2009, I wrote a pair of posts each of which shone the spotlight on the history and ads of a particular product and/or brand (one was about toothpaste, the other Green Giant Vegetables). Back then, these two post didn’t necessarily intend to start a series, but I did hope to put up future editions of "Adventures in vintage advertising" as time went on.

Well, on and on and on time went, and it wasn't until this week that a third post of this nature finally came to be, more than 3.5 years after the last one. As frequent readers of this site may know, vintage ads of all kinds are something that I have a very deeply rooted passion for. I pin them like there's no tomorrow to many of my Pinterest boards, include them often in blog posts here, and routinely look at yesteryear advertisements of all kinds for my own inspiration.
 
So what, you may be wondering, prompted me to think about another edition of Adventures in vintage advertising? Well, I was painting my nails, as many of us do on a frequent basis, and began thinking about some of the fantastic vintage nail polish ads I've seen over the years. In the mid-twentieth century, as now, there were a multitude of different brands selling nail polish (aka, nail lacquer), some of which are no longer around and others that have continued to go strong for decades now.

Though the brand (Essie) that I was painting on my tips that day is much more modern player on the polish scene, it was ads from Cutex - a brand that was established in 1911 - that were floating around in my head that day most of all. And so on this fine Sunday morning, I wanted to share a little bit of history about this classic brand, as well as some of my all-time favourite Cutex ads.

Cutex nail polishes - or, as they were known when they first hit the market, nail tints - began life nearly 100 years ago, in 1914. Three years later, in 1917, a paint that was similar to certain paints being used on automobiles of the day was introduced. Up until that time, nail polishes had usually been of a cake, powder or paste variety, having remained much the same since antiquity. Nail paint however caught on very quickly, and by the 1920s, it had largely replaced anything else on the market.

In 1928 Cutex pioneered another terrific invention, commercially manufactured nail polish remove, which, for a time, was sold right along with their polishes (in a combo pack, which you can see an example of in this etsy listing). A few years later, in 1934, Cutex launched a new polish formula that was glossier and more opaque then previous recipes, which most people would probably find relatively comparable to many nail polishes on the market nowadays.

For the next few decades Cutex reigned as one of most successful and popular nail polish brands on the market, with scores of hues being released and millions of bottles being sold to customers around the globe. However, as the twentieth century wore on and the two-thousands appeared, the popularity of Cutex's polishes dwindled (perhaps in part due to so many other competitors in the marketplace). While many of us grew up with Cutex nail polish (and/or can remember our mothers using this brand, as I certainly can), and they are still available in some countries (I believe), these days the company focuses more on nail polish removers and nail care products. Their liquid nail polish remover has always been one of my favourites, and you can almost always find a bottle of it under my bathroom sink.

Though Cutex nail polishes themselves are not as commonplace or wildly popular as they once were, I'm happy that the brand as a whole is still going strong more than a century after it was founded and really hope that it will continue to thrive for many more years to come.

In celebration of the many wonderful Cutex polishes that were a part of countless women's beauty arsenals for decades, let's take a look at several mid-century ads (spanning the 1930s through to the 50s) featuring an array of beautiful Cutex polishes.




{It strikes me as interesting that in the midst of the Great Depression, a time when a great many people had little to no money to keep in a bank, Cutex would opt to feature three banker's wives in one of their ads. I think however, they they were looking upon this title (bank's wife) as one of prestige and good social standing, and coming at things much more from that angle.}




{Featuring half-moon manicures with bare tips, this ad from 1936 features three shades that were voted most popular by the stylish women of New York.}



{Designer extraordinaire Elsa Schiaparelli lends her seal of approval to Cutex's products in this chic ad from 1938.}




{Polish users everywhere, take a bow with 1940's three largest selling Cutex nail polish colours in the world.}




{As with many beauty ads of the time, this Cutex advertisement from 1942 tapped into the patriotic spirit and wartime sensibility that was prevalent across America in those uncertain days.}




{Those same themes ring true in this lovely illustrated Cutex ad that appeared a year later in 1943, which encouraged users to save their nail polish bottle tops and brushes "as they may be scarce".}




{The war now over, this ad from 1946 returned to more of a focus on glamour and beauty, and implored women to put it (Cutex polish) on their "long, temptress nails".}



{Think, darling, think! Why pay high prices for nail polish and lipstick when Cutex's offerings provide all the benefits of costly brands at a fraction of the price (which in 1950, when this appeared, was only $0.10 or $0.25, depending on the size of the bottle of nail polish, and just $0.25 or $0.49 for a tube of lipstick.}





{Serene beauty radiates from this elegant French Cutex ad from 1950. It's interesting to note that here we see the whole nail painted from cuticle to tip, a look that became more common in the fifties than in decades past, though it certainly occurred (as seen in some of the earlier ads here) prior to that time as well.}



{It's new! It's sensational! It's Spillpruf! If this bottle really lived up to its claim, you have to wonder, why didn't it stick around? Who amongst us - our floors and counter tops very much included - wouldn't love a spill proof bottle of nail polish like the ones featured in this ad from 1952?}




{A rich shade of red, undoubtedly one of the most popular polish hues of all time, is in the spotlight in this alluring ad for Slightly Scarlet Cutex nail polish from 1955.}



{Without a doubt, this Cutex ad from 1958, teaming with juicy strawberry and an adorable pink summer outfit, has always been one of my very favourites from this classic cosmetics brands.}


{To learn more about a specific image, please click on it to be taken to its respective source.}



It was a lot of fun to revive this particular type of post, and you know, now that we're up to three editions, I think we can rightfully call it a series, albeit it one that won't appear quite as often as, say, Saturday Snapshot or Flickr Favourites. Instead, just as in 2009, posts of this nature will pop up when a certain product or brand, and its respective ads, waltz through my thoughts and deserve to enjoy a moment in the vintage limelight.

I'm always open to suggestions, so if there's a product that's been around since at least the 1950s that you might like to see appear in a future edition of Adventures in vintage advertising, please don't hesitate to let me know in the comments below or anytime.

As the polish I applied earlier this week is now looking a little worse for wear, I think it's high time I moozy on over to the powder room, whip it off and apply a fresh batch. Now, if only I could track down some gorgeous Hot Strawberry for today’s manicure!