Why Toothpaste was the "Embarrassment" of the Aerosol Age

After World War II, American products entered a kind of aerosol age, where companies eagerly embraced new technology that turned products into a fine mist or foam with the press of a button. Aerosol cans became the container of choice for countless products. Paint, bug spray, hair spray, whip cream, shaving cream, air fresheners, and…toothpaste. And while many of these aerosol products were immediately popular, aerosol toothpaste was not so easily accepted among consumers. This is the story of why aerosol toothpaste was a total flop.

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Sources:

“Post-War Homes Will Be Bug-Proof Through Use of Insecticide Aerosol,” Dorothy Gilfert, Tampa Bay Times, Sep 14, 1944

“Aerosol Age Seen in Push Button World,” Jordan Barlow, The Times, Jun 13, 1949

“Flyswatter Thing of Past With ‘A-Bombs’ Available,” Kitsap Sun, Jul 7, 1949

“Pressurized Packages,” Modern Packaging, Aug 1949

“In Bombs, ‘A’ Yields to Spray,” Sam Matthews, Detroit Free Press, Mar 11, 1951

“Aerosol Bombs Do Household Chores,” Sam Matthews, Tampa Bay Times, Apr 1, 1951

“Aerosol Bomb Kills Insects,” The Bakersville Californian, May 2, 1953

“Aerosol Bombs Show Big Spurt Since First Sale to Public in ’47,” Alexander R. Hammer, The New York Times, Jul 3, 1955

“Expansion Likely in Use of Aerosol,” The New York Times, May 27, 1956

“Nitrogen Propellant Development Reported—Termed ‘One of Most Important Advances in Aerosols,’” Aerosol Age, Oct 1957

“Advertising: Aerosol Toothpaste Container,” Carl Spielvogel, The New York Times, Jan 20, 1958

“Toothpaste Now Shot from Cans,” Max Forester, New York Herald Tribune News Service, Rapid City Journal, Mar 5, 1958

“The First Aerosol Toothpaste,” Modern Packaging, Apr 1958

“Over the Transom,” Aerosol Age, May 1958

“Push-Button Toothpaste,” Chemical Processing, May 1958

“Pressurized Packages for Cosmetics,” Morris J. Root, American Perfumer and Aromatics, Apr 1958

“Over the Transom,” Aerosol Age, Aug 1958

“Toothpaste Package Being Mistaken for Shaving Cream,” Aerosol Age, Oct 1958

“Aerosol Packs Sweep Markets,” The Ephrata Review, Dec 4, 1958

“Spray Dispense Find a Big Market,” John J. Abele, The New York Times, Jan 4, 1959

“Bridgeport: Home of Aerosol ‘Squirts,’” Robert A. Demshak and Arthur R. Cooney, The Bridgeport Post, May 3, 1959

Merchandising for Tomorrow, E.B. Weiss, 1961

Marketing in Action: Readings, William J. Shultz and Edward M. Mazze, 1963

“Canned Toothpaste Bombs but Aerosol Future Gleams,” Frank Leeming Jr., The Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan 19, 1972

“DDT Regulatory History: A Brief Survey (to 1975),” EPA report, July 1975