The fashions before 1910 didn't leave people with much skin exposed. Hands and heads were about all one would typically see on show, aside from some evening gown and bathing suit styles. Because of this, hands were considered an important thing for ladies to maintain, as they were one of the few exhibitions they could make of their natural beauty.
Dr. Chase's book of Recipes gives the following suggestions for hand-care, when the skin has become chaffed from dryness or ill-care.
- Rub them night and morning with raw linseed oil.
- Put a little glycerine [...] with a little borax, upon your hands at night, and wear gloves in bed.
- Wash with soft soap, mixed with red sand; or, wash them in sugar and water; or, apply a little sal-prunello. [Sic. Probably means sal-prunella, a potassium nitrate salt.)
He also gives the following advice:
"Be careful always in washing to wipe your skin dry, particularly your hands; rub them briskly for some time. If hands are left moist after washing, they will chap, crack, and become red. Honey is excellent to rub over chapped hands, or anoint them with cold cream or glycerine before retiring to rest."
With these tricks did ladies of old seek to maintain their visible youth, health and beauty.
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