Antique 1910s Japp's Hair Rejuvenator Metal Cardboard Easel Sign Barber Salon

Description

Japp’s Hair Store opened in the Over-the-Rhine section of downtown Cincinnati in 1879. John G. Japp was a German immigrant who originally settled in Chicago only to be burned out by the Great 1871 fire. He bounced around for a few years before locating his in Cincinnati and ran his business until his death in 1934. His store specialized in toupees, wigs, and hair and toiletry products. The business remained in the Japp family until 1985, selling handmade wigs from human hair. The resold remaining boxes of hair almost paid for the entire building when it was purchased by a new owner in the late 1980s.
This sign dates from between 1912 and 1925. During those years, the family operated the J.G. Jap Toilet Requisite Co. in the same store building. Much of hair care then and now is tied to social status, and pre- and post-World War I economic booms created an unprecedented demand among the socially mobile in America to sport good looking hair. That was what “Japp’s Hair Rejuvenator” was all about. The product didn’t improve the actual hair condition. Synthetic shampoos, invented around 1920, were a vast improvement over lye-based soaps and detergents used in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Instead, this product was a hair coloring that came in seven different shades/colors. Think of it as an early Just For Men product that could be used by women as well.
We’re not sure how long the dye preparation was sold (the toiletry side of Japp closed in 1925) but there were a lot of hair colors other than black through light chestnut and blond. Probably like Just For Men, it worked better for men while women stuck with the traditional matching of dyes to hair color. The pictures on the front purport to show models with half gray and half "rejuvenated" hair, so potential customers could see the difference. Wonder if the dye ran in warm weather?
This sign is about 9.5 x 13.5 inches (25 x 34 cm). The front is in very good to excellent condition with minor scratching and scuffing, remarkable for its age. There is one longer thin scratch on the front as pictured. Otherwise, no dents, chips, rust, marks, or other disfigurements. The back is in excellent condition and the easel back looks like it has never been used. The original red chord means this could be placed on a hard surface or hung. A must have for recreated barber shops, hair salons, or drug stores. A primo addition to any sign collection due to its great condition. How about wall decoration for a unique bathroom or the dressing or vanity section of a bedroom? Shipped free and insured in the US. Check out our hair care and advertising collectibles at
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