With all the nonsense in the news about coconut oil being poison, I thought I should show you that coconut was wildly popular in the early 1900s and I have found no reports of people dropping over from the overuse of the natural oil.
Laco Hair Shampoo
Just like today, coconut oil was an ingredient in quality shampoos. In this ad from 1948, the shampoo is listed as having coconut oil in to for “luxurious, free-rinsing lather.” It also contained castor oil and olive oil, two oils that remain popular today.
Coconut Castile Soap
Coconut oil was also a popular oil used in soaps. The coconut castile soap description was published in 1938. Apparently there were plenty of women buying the oil for soap making purposes.
Coconut Butter
In 1919, coconut oil was made into butter and sold as a healthy alternative to butter.
Bubble Bath
There was the threat of a bubble bath shortage in 1942 due to World War II. According to one article, coconut oil was necessary to make the best bubble bath mixture.
World Using More Coconut Fat
A newspaper article from 1921 stated that:
“Even now, and in this country, there is an insufficiency of animal fats (as indicated by the price of butter), and to make good the shortage coconut oil is being imported in enormous quantities. During the last year 345,737,913 pounds of this oil were brought into the United States.
“The oil is largely used as a cooking fat, but also in the manufacture of nut butter, candles, soap and cosmetics. It is said to be an excellent substitute for cod liver oil, being highly digestible and with the advantage of an agreeable flavor. At ordinary temperatures coconut oil is a white, butter-like solid.”
