If you grew up in the 60's and 70's, there's a very good chance you had a bottle of liquid gold - Breck Shampoo. I remember it well, it seemed like a luxurious shampoo to me, it was thick and smelled so good. Maybe I liked it because of their ads and the beautiful Breck girls, after all, who wouldn't want to have a head of hair like those gals had - I was always trying all the shampoos - my hair was long, straight and tended to be on the oily side - I needed all the help I could get!!!
Last week Heidi Ann who writes about lots of vintage goodness over at her blog, Gold Country Girls, did two posts about Breck Girls - she included pictures from her vintage magazines. If you want to read her posts, they're here and here . That was all I need to haul out my vintage magazines and see what I could find - I'm sharing mine with you today.
But, first, here's a few Breck facts -
Breck Shampoo was created by Dr. John S. Breck in 1930 in Springfield, MA - it was thought to be the first pH balanced shampoo in history.
The Breck Girls were first illustrated by Charles Sheldon who had previously worked at Photoplay Magazine, he was succeeded in 1957 by Ralph William Williams - his work is what you'll see on my images.
All Breck Girl images are at the Smithsonian Institute - many of the girls were company employees, Breck family members or local women who were not models. Numerous celebrities were also Breck Girls - Cheryl Tiegs, Jaclyn Smith, Cybill Shepherd, Kim Basinger and Brooke Shields.
Breck sponsored America's Junior Miss Pageant - many girls were used from there.
The ads were normally on the back cover of such magazines as Ladies Home Journal, Woman's Home Companion, Seventeen, Vogue and Glamour
The Breck girl was phased out in 1976 with the death of Williams.
In 2006, Breck was acquired by Dollar Tree - from what I've read online people it'sjust not the same - nothing is ever the same anymore...
Here are the Breck Girls, from my thrifted magazines.
From Ladies' Home Journal - January/Februrary 1964 - I found this page torn from the magazine and folded in the middle.
From Family Circle - December, 1964
From Woman's Day, January 1966
From Woman's Day, December 1966
The July 1973 issue of Woman's Day saw an ad for a new Breck Shampoo - Super Balsam.
From Woman's Day, October 1974
Once again they were advertising a new product - Breck Satin Lotion and Creme, the ad is different and there is no signature from Williams on it. It is from Good Housekeeping, September, 1970.
There was even a Bonnie Breck doll - which you could order for $2 - this is from Good Housekeeping, October 1971.
It's no wonder these beautiful illustrations became part of the longest running and most successful campaign in advertising history - every one is gorgeous - the images live on - look on Pinterest, you can probably see just about every Breck Girl. I really think I need to find some more ads!!
Linking back with Dawn at We Call it Junkin and don't forget to check out Heidi Ann's Breck Girls at Gold Country Girls
