Hill’s Hair Dye, sometimes called Hill’s Hair and Whisker Dye, was on the market for roughly 80 years from the 1850’s up through the early 1930’s and possibly longer. Originally sold by a New York City barber named William Hill, the rights to the product were later obtained by C. N. Crittenton and later still by the Century National Chemical Company.
It was one of a class of products commonly marketed as instantaneous hair dyes. A summary of “Hair Dyes and Restorers” included in “The Popular Health Almanac for 1876” described them like this:
Instantaneous hair dyes come mostly in two small vials, the one containing a watery solution of gum arabic and soda, or an alcoholic solution of gallic acid (obtained from nut-galls), the other a solution of nitrate of silver, in dilute aqua ammonia. These dyes when carefully applied may be considered harmless. Batchelor’s, Briest’s, Cristidoro’s, Hill’s, Miller’s, Vessey’s dyes, and Hoyt’s Hiawatha Hair Restorative belong to this class. They can readily be compounded for less cost by every pharmacist.
Two years later, the 1878 -79 “Canadian Pharmaceutical Journal” documented the actual contents of the two Hill vials:
Hill’s Instantaneous Hair and Whisker Dye.
Bottle No.1 contained a light brown liquid, of acid reaction; no residue on evaporation of pyrogallic acid.
The contents of Bottle No. 2 consisted of an ammoniacal solution of argentic nitrate. One fluid ounce contained 17.5929 grains of silver.
The product’s namesake and initial proprietor, William Hill, was first listed in NYC’s 1837 Directory as a hair dresser at 86 Pearl Street. That same year this classified advertisement for his “Inimitable Style of Hair Cutting” began appearing in several springtime editions of the “New York Daily Herald.” This all suggests that he opened his first salon or barber shop sometime in 1836 or 1837.
Another advertisement, this one published in the March 28, 1838 edition of New York’s “Evening Post” mentioned that in addition to providing hair cuts and shaves, he also carried an assortment of perfumery and fancy articles.
Hill’s focus however was certainly on hair cutting and a September 19, 1838 advertisement in the “Evening Post” eloquently laid out his marketing pitch.
THE INIMITABLE STYLE OF HAIR CUTTING – Hill’s Hair dressing establishment, No. 86 Pearl Street, upstairs – The unexampled approbation which has hitherto attended the adoption of Hill’s Inimitable style of hair cutting, induces him to call public attention more fully towards it. Nothing contributes more effectually to give ease and dignity to the human form than the judicious and graceful arrangement of the hair, and yet nothing is more generally neglected. While every advantageous ornament is sought to decorate the person, and bestow on the wearer an elegant deportment, that graceful appendage which nature has so profusely provided is overlooked, or if attended to at all is arranged so unskillfully as rather to detract than to adorn. To secure the graceful arrangement of the hair everything must depend upon the manner in which it is cut. It is to this subject therefore that Hill has devoted his particular attention, and he flatters himself that, having given it the fullest consideration, he has succeeded in forming a style which unites elegance with utility, and which will secure, as his increasing patronage fully attests, the universal approbation of the public; also particular attention paid to the shaving part of the business.
N.B. Call and judge for yourself.
Over the next several years his business, while always located in lower Manhattan, moved around quite a bit, listing addresses of 91 Broad Street (1839) and 118 Water Street (1840 – 1842). Then, in 1843, March and April advertisements in the “New York Daily Herald” announced that he was back at his “Old Stand,” 86 Pearl Street, where you could get your hair cut or curled for 12-1/2 cents or a shave for 6 -1/4 cents.
Two years later he moved again, this time to 13 Nassau Street. Just prior to the move Hill began advertising the sale of a proprietary hair product called “Hill’s Infallible Onguent.” An announcement, sounding introductory in nature, suggested that he had been using it on his barber shop clientele since 1840. The announcement appeared in the May 27, 1844 edition of the “New York Daily Herald”
Hill’s Infallible Onguent, or never drying Pomade, has been satisfactorily tested during the last four years by thousands as being superior to all others afforded to the public for ameliorating the hair…Sold wholesale and retail by Hill, the original and inimitable Hair Cutter, No. 86 Pearl Street, adjoining the Pearl Street House.
Another advertisement in the November 4, 1845 edition of the “Brooklyn Evening Star” described it’s many purported benefits.
Alopecy, or falling off of the hair and pityriasis or dandruff scuff, etc., are positively cured by the use of Hill’s Infallible Onguent, which is an old and well tried specific for all diseases of the hair or scalp of the head. It is a certain preventative of grey or red hair, or if they do exist, a thorough use of the Onguent will change the color; it will make the hair flexible, inclined to curl, kept moist longer and give it a glossier appearance than any other preparation now in use…
In 1853 Hill began advertising his “Instantaneous Liquid Hair Dye.” Around the same time he was on the move again, this time to 45 Nassau Street where you could buy his dye and, if you preferred, have it applied there as well. The earliest newspaper advertisement I can find for his hair dye along with the announcement of his move to 45 Nassau Street both appeared in the May 2, 1853 edition of “New York Daily Herald.”
Two years later he added a second location at 1 Barclay Street that according to this July 3, 1855 “New York Daily Herald”announcement included “hair dyeing, cutting, curling and shampooing parlors.”
Just Opened, Hill Branch Hair Dyeing, cutting, curling and shampooing parlors, at No, 1 Barclay Street, fitted up in a neat, comfortable and practical style. Shaving at this or the old stand, No. 45 Nassau Street, six seats.
Hill dropped the Nassau Street address a year later, after which his hair parlors operated solely out of 1 Barclay Street for the next 10 years. The location also served as the depot for his brand name products as evidenced by this November 9, 1859 “New York Times” advertisement.
During this time he added two additional products; a hair tonic called “Floralia,” and “Arctic Ointment” for the treatment of burns, etc. Advertisements for both began appearing in the late 1850’s. The following ad which mentions both, along with Hill’s Hair Dye, appeared in the May 21, 1859 edition of the “New York Tribune.”
Sometime in 1865, Hill left his long-time Barclay Street location subsequently listing addresses of 66 John Street (1865 to 1867), 95 Duane Street (1867 – 1868) and 266 Broadway (1868 to 1869).
As late as 1868 Hill was still advertising his hair dye as evidenced by this June 9th advertisement published in the “New York Daily Herald.”
Then sometime in 1870 Hill apparently formed an association with C.N. Ctittenton. Crittenton operated what he called a “patent medicine warehouse” that at the time was located at 7 Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. As early as December 22, 1870, Critteton included Hill’s Instantaneous Hair Dye on a list of his preparations published in “The Sun” (Last one listed).
Below the listing a note read:
C. N. CRITTETON of 7 6th Ave., near Bleecker St., purchases Helmbold’s genuine preparations direct from Dr. H. I. Humbold, as also all other genuine family medicines now direct from the manufacturers and warrants all goods to be as represented. Give him a call.
This suggests that for a time in the early 1870’s Crittenton served as agent and distributor for the hair dye, while Hill was still involved with its manufacture. This period found Hill listing addresses of 127 Grand Street (1871), 39 Fulton Street (1872) and 41 Fulton (1873-74).
Several internet sources indicate that this arrangement changed in 1880 when Crittenton obtained the rights to the hair dye from Hill. That being said, I suspect this change may have happened as early as the mid-1970’s for two reasons. First, as early as 1876 Hill’s advertisements began naming Crittenton as the product’s “proprietor.” One of the first ads to this effect that I can find appeared in the “Erie County Independent” on June 16th of that year.
Secondly, as early as 1877, Hill, still a barber and now located at 10 Ann Street, began touting a different hair dye, this one called “Ching Foo Hair Stain.” This ad touting “Ching Foo Hair Stain,” appeared in the August 9th edition of “The Sun.”
INIMITABLE HAIR CUTTER. SHAVING 10 cents, 12 for a dollar, at 10 Ann St., Ching Foo Hair Stain, black or brown, one application.
Another ad featuring “Ching Foo Hair Stain” appeared in the August 2, 1880 edition of “The Sun.”
NYC directories continued to list Hill as a barber at 10 Ann Street until 1884 at which time he announced he was moving to Brooklyn in a May 3, 1884 special notice published in the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle”
Brooklyn directories listed him as a barber up through the mid-1890’s after which the listing disappears.
Meanwhile Crittenton continued to advertise Hill’s Hair Dye, much of the time in connection with other Crittenton products, primarily Glenn’s Sulphur Soap. This advertisement that included both was found in the September 13, 1885 edition of the “Kansas City Times.”
Renew Your Age. Ay, but how? that is the question. In the first place, ladies, discount twenty years from your actual age by giving a youthful transparency to your complexions with “Glenn’s Sulphur Soap.” You can do it; there is no mistake about it, and with absolute safety too, for the preparation contains no injurious matter. Beware of counterfeits. See that “C. N. Crittenton, proprietor,” is printed on each packet, without which none is genuine. Sold by druggists at 25 cents; three cakes, 60 cents. Then, if your hair be slightly tinged with gray, take off another ten years by converting it to a splendid brown with “Hills Instantaneous Hair Dye,” which has the double advantage of being the cheapest and best Dye in the world.
Both products were included on this list of Crittenton’s “Proprietary Articles,” included in their 1902/1903 Catalog.
Crittenton passed away in 1909 and seven years later his heirs, who controlled 60 percent of the business, opted to liquidate the company. According to the October, 1916 edition of the “American Druggist:”
The drug trade will learn with universal regret of the passing of the house of Crittenton, which is now in process of liquidation…On his death in 1909 it was found that Mr. Crittenton had made five grandchildren and the Florence Crittenton Mission of New York, a house of refuge for young girls, founded and supported by him, his principal heirs. These heirs, controlling 60 percent of the company stock, voted last January to convert the business into cash as quickly as possible. The corporation was dissolved in July, but it was assumed by the trade that the business would be carried on after a reorganization. It was only recently that it had become generally known that the business is to be liquidated, although it is in a very strong position financially, the outstanding obligations being less than $50,000, while the assets are estimated at four or five times that amount. The liquidation has been brought about purely for internal reasons and has no significance from a trade point of view…From the Crittenton ranks many men have risen to prominence in the wholesale drug trade, and the disappearance of the name of Crittenton from the annals of the drug trade will cause regret among a very wide circle, including all the wholesale trade and a great many of the leading retail druggists.
The Crittenton company continued to advertise both Glenn’s Sulphur Soap and Hill’s Hair and Whisker Dye right up to the very end, as evidenced by this August 2, 1916 ad found in the “Middletown (N.Y.) Times-Press.”
More on the Critteton company can be found in another post on this site.
Sometime in the late teens Dr. Franklin J. Keller of Paterson, N. J. acquired the rights to manufacture several Crittenton preparations including both Hill’s Hair Dye and Glenn’s Sulphur Soap. Around the same time he established a corporation to manufacture and distribute them called the Century National Chemical Company.
The incorporation notice was published in the October 12, 1918 edition of the (Paterson N. J.) Morning Call.
The Century National Chemical Company, to locate at 379 Totowa Avenue, this city, filed papers of incorporation with County Clerk Slater yesterday. Dr Franklin J Keller is named as the agent of the business. The articles state that the company proposes to carry on a general business as chemists, druggists, chemical manufacturers, importers, exporters and dealers in chemicals.
An authorized capital stock of $100,000 is provided, to consist of 1,000 shares at a par value of $100 a share. The company will commence business with its entire capital stock paid in. It is held by the following incorporators: Franklin J. Keller, 997 shares; Jane D. Keller, two shares, and William J. Lickel, of New York City, one share.
In addition to their Paterson New Jersey factory the company maintained an office in New York City at 86 Warren Street in lower Manhattan. In the company’s early advertisements and labeling they referred to themselves as “Successors to The C. N. Crittenton Co.”
Hill’s was still included in a list of Century National Products found in the February 21, 1925 edition of “The Pharmaceutical Era” (half-way down)…
…and it was still being advertised, along with Glenn’s Sulphur Soap, in newspapers as late as 1933, as evidenced by this July 7th ad in the “Bristol (Vt) Herald.”
I can’t confirm when the product was discontinued but I can’t find any newspaper advertising for it after 1933.
The bottle I found is blown in a mold and is 3-1/4 inches tall with one inch wide panels front and back. One panel is embossed “HILL’S,” the other “HAIR DYE No. 1.” The bottle is 3/4-inch wide with slightly rounded sides. It contains no more than one ounce. It almost certainly dates to the Crittenton years.