Selling, Consuming and Becoming the Beautiful Man in Britain: The 1930s and 1940s

Masculinity, Modernity and Male Baldness, c.1880‐1939

“…In an expanding consumer culture, a growing number of advertised products promised stronger, cleaner, smarter and more attractive bodies, teeth and hair, thus taking advantage of, and no doubt feeding, the wider cultural concern with physical appearance. 57 A study of advertising in 1935-39 issues of the middle-class magazine Men Only found that one-third were for products related to male bodies and grooming, such as shaving products, hair lotions and clothes. 58 The impact of these aesthetic concerns on attitudes to hair was exacerbated by the 1930s' retreat in the convention for hat wearing, part of a general relaxation in attitudes towards dress, at least among the young.…”

“On display: Bodies and consumption in the ‘new’ Canadian cultural history”

“…For women the products ranged from cosmetics to corsets to cigarettes, and those, in turn, marked out a critical element of feminine modernity (Peiss, ; Tinkler & Warsh, ). As Paul S. Deslandes () argues in regard to British consumers, by the 1930s, people “were articulating new consumer identities and embracing a belief that modern selfhood, success in life and self‐respect were partially contingent on physical appearance, an attractive personality and an active engagement in the marketplace of body‐oriented goods” (53). As much as people at the time were critical of elements of fashion and consumer culture, few could escape it.…”