1942: Cosmetic Industry

Again in 1942 the cosmetic industry had another one of the best years in its history doing over $500,000,000 worth of business at retail. Increased purchasing power combined with a shortage of durable goods brought this industry a wartime prosperity which even actual restrictions, in the form of material shortages, and a short-lived limitation order, did not seriously affect.

Underneath this front of rising sales, the year in this industry was marked by the research and development work beneath the surface as increasing effort was placed upon finding substitute materials. The list of chemicals and other raw materials whose use by the industry was proscribed due to their limited supply and greater need elsewhere was already long as the year ended. But a more critical situation existed in the field of packaging where it seemed quite likely that many of the containers and closures of all types normally used on cosmetics would be almost unobtainable in 1943. Paper and wood were the chief materials with which the industry experimented in the effort to replace metal in lipstick containers, vanity cases, collapsible tubes, tin cans and metal caps. There were even those who were planning ahead should the day come when glass jars and bottles for cosmetics might be restricted or curtailed.

However, as the year ended, so few substitute products or packages had reached the market that they were comparatively unnoticed as the newly created purchasing power asserted itself in a surge of retail buying. For three months, from July to October, the industry had operated under a limitation order, which established a quota for both products and packages. During this period there was some cessation of sales effort as manufacturers made their plans to do business on this new basis. But with the establishment of a controlled materials policy, WPB discarded limitation for limitation's sake in favor of the more enlightened plan of permitting industry to carry on as best it may under limitations provided by supply shortages, after army, navy, lend-lease, and economic warfare have been given what they need.

That limitations of this kind could be as real as quota restrictions was emphasized at the year's end when the order went out to curtail the use of alcohol in this industry by 50 per cent. It meant find an adequate substitute or sacrifice some of the approximately $50,000,000 worth of perfumes, colognes and toilet waters sold annually, to say nothing of the large volume of hair preparations and other products whose formulas call for alcohol. The problem of this and other substitutes still remained to be solved as the year ended together with the twin shortages of manpower and transportation facing sales forces and shipping departments.