Madame CJ Walker's Glossine

A tin that, to put it mildly, is of great historical significance. It is Madame CJ Walker's Glossine with the statement on the front, "For Beatifying and Softening Kinky Hair." Madame CJ Walker was an early industrial pioneer around the time of other industrial titans such as Carnegie and Rockefeller. She became, as some say, the first African American millionaire in the United States. This is open to debate once people discover that Annie Malone (below) actually taught Madam Walker. She did so simply by inventing a line of cosmetics specifically for Black people. She capitalized on an untapped market at the time and the rest is history. This is a rare tin to find. The condition is excellent, measuring 2 inches across.

-- 1926 First Edition copy of Poro College in Pictures. -- a short history of its development. The many images of the college are absolutely stunning, costing over a half a million dollars to construct! The Founder and President of Poro College was none other than Annie Malone. Annie was the founder of hair care product line for African Americans; developed business into the Poro System, a network of franchised agent-operators who operated salons under Malone's guidelines using Poro products. She founded Poro College, 1917, in St. Louis, MO, the first school for the training of beauty culture specialists for African American clientele. She manufactured a line of beauty products for black women and created a unique distribution system that helped tens of thousands of black women gain self respect and economic independence. The college trained women as agents for Poro products and by 1926 claimed to have graduated some 75,000 agents located throughout the world including the Caribbean. However, her contributions to African American culture are often overlooked because her business empire collapsed from mismanagement. One of her students, Madame C.J. Walker, later created a similar enterprise and is largely credited with originating the black beauty business, a feat that rightly belongs to Malone.

-- BACKGROUND: Annie Turnbo Malone (1869-1957) was one of the richest African American women in the United States at one time just a generation after slavery had ended in the country. During the 1920s, Malone was reported to have been worth fourteen million dollars. Founder of an extremely successful line of hair-care products, Malone exhibited both a sharp mind for marketing as well as an overly generous cash disbursement policy. As her business grew increasingly prosperous, Malone neglected to keep a tight rein on in-house finances, while at the same time bestowing large sums of money to worthy charitable organizations; such policies eventually spelled the end of her large enterprise. Malone's dramatic rise in the hair-care field has often been overshadowed by that of one of her former employees, Madame C. J. Walker, but it was Malone, historians assert, who developed the first successful formulas and marketing strategies aimed at straightening African American hair without damaging it.

-- Madame C.J. Walker: Almost-impossible--to-find Hair Glossine (unused sample tin, with product untouched) and Superfine Face Powder (actual unused and untouched product) in mint condition and a tin of Hair & Scalp Preparation (excellent condition, with a little bit left in the bottom of the tin) from Madam Walker's cosmetic business (early 1900s). These are very scarce vintage items, especially with the still-unused product intact!!! Born Sarah Breedlove on December 23, 1867 on a Delta, Louisiana plantation, this daughter of former slaves transformed herself from an uneducated farm laborer and laundress into the twentieth century's most successful, self-made women entrepreneur millionairess.

-- The collection owns seven (7) Madam Walker tins of hair care products.
-- Vintage wood handled pressing combs (twelve) are in used, as-found condition. They've been in a storage building for years. The brand name on the handles is "Black Beauty," similar to what Madam Walker used in her business. They measure approximately 9" long. >>>>>
-- Nine (9) small bottles of Madam C. J. Walker's Perfumes (Carnation, Gardenia & Wisteria (spelled Wistaria on bottles). These seem to be very scarce. We have researched high and low for information about these perfumes bottles. What we discovered was that the perfumes were not among the original products manufactured during Madam Walker's life (1867-1919) and probably were added during the late 1930s or early 1940s. We did review a copy of the mail order form from the 1944 Madam C. J. Walker Yearbook and the three perfumes were listed. At least now we can confirm that it was an authentic product sold by the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company in 1944.

-- The Black Dispatch (Oklahoma City African American newspaper), March 30, 1919, with large lettering near the top of the front page:"Madam C.J.Walker At Rest." The sub-headline on the front page reads: "Madam Walker Dies."
-- Five tins of "Sweet Georgia Brown" Hair Dressing Pomade, 1930s.
-- An empty one gallon can of Posner's Shampoo Oil (Cleansing Hair and Scalp without Water).
-- Rare tin of La Jean Pressing Oil Compound.