Plastic toothbrushes didn’t become available until the late 50’s. Before that toothbrushes had wooden handles and the bristles really were bristles, made of boar hair, if I remember right. They were definitely made from some kind of hog hair.
Toothpaste was available in some of the bigger shops, and it was in the form of powder usually. It had all kinds of stuff in it, but was far too expensive for large families.
We used soot. Every few weeks the range would be allowed to cool down so it could be given a good clear out. It burned better if all the sooty deposits and most of the ash was removed. I’m sure you know that wood burns better on an ash bed, and because of that we would always leave about an inch in the bottom of the fire box.
Collecting the soot was easy – just reach in and scrape it off. I collected it on a tin pie plate and then when I had enough, would spoon it into small tins that used to have mints in them.
For the younger children, I made it into a paste and put it on their brush for them… the brushes were all one size, far too big for children really. The older children would just dip the damp bristles into the soot and that was that.
Their reward was a couple of mint leaves or a chunk of apple to take the sooty taste away.
I didn’t need dentures until about 12 years ago. I’d lost a few teeth over the years, but generally they were very good. A fall in 2002 loosened my front teeth and made eating and drinking uncomfortable so that was that… out they came. It really bothered me, if I am being honest, but it had to be done.
If we had gum problems we would rinse our mouths with strong warmed salt water and, more often than not, that did the trick after a few goes.
Not using what most people call ‘proper’ toothpaste doesn’t seem to have had ill effects on our teeth and gums. In fact, my grandchildren have lost teeth through decay, and had those awful filling things far earlier in life than their parents did. I don’t think that’s just down to the soot, if I am honest. I think the healthy diet with few sweets made more of a difference.
Well, I’m sorry this is a bit short, Tess, but there’s not much more to say about boar hair, toothbrushes and soot toothpaste is there?
Regards,
Maud
Poor Maud, your wrong. In 1952 I remember we had plastic tip bristles for toothbrushes. We had regular toothpaste too. I remember when shoping with monma cause I was the oldest. We could get toothpast for about 19 cents a tube and if we had run out we used bakingsoda. We lived in the mountains of Virginia and had to go at least 20 miles to the general store but never had the problems poor Maud had.
Thanks for the tip about soot. I wonder, how did you keep bacteria down on the hog hair toothbrushes? Modern brushes are supposed to be changed every 3
months.