This is a dynamite collection of animated, scare tactic, and social pressure propaganda personal hygiene films. Skin disease, lice, zits, bacteria, infections, and tooth decay can destroy your life!!!....so you better be clean!!

Included Content:

About Faces

Length: 10 Minutes | Produced:1941

Twenty percent of all applicants for selective service during World War 2 are not allowed because they have bad teeth. It is the most cited reason for rejection. If these young men in the prime of their health have such bad teeth, what can be expected of the rest of Americans? This amazing film, About Faces, seeks to answer this question with some of the most bizarre scenes ever filmed. Poor oral hygiene abounds! First the audience is asked to rub their tongue around their teeth (actual film footage of an audience in the 40s follows). Weird dentists insist on the usual tooth brushing to prevent cavities, but thats really not what the movie is about. Since this World War 2 video was made by the US Public Health Service, one would think the focus would be on good oral habits. But instead, its about tooth decay, bad teeth, crooked teeth, yellow teeth, and remarkable shots of old bums with mouths that look like picket fences! The film is dryly narrated by Lowell Thomas, whose famous voice has graced most of the classic government films. Thomas gets to deliver some phenomenally kitschy lines, like, with those teeth, he wont even get to first base! and insisting on how Americans focusing on dental work and stopping tooth decay will help beat Hitler! One of the finest movies during World War 2, About Faces is by far the most entertaining look at the history of dentistry available.

Body Care And Grooming

Length: 17 Minutes | Produced:1948

This is a funky 1940s hygiene film that teaches college students how to clean, groom, and dress themselves in order to make a good impression (and strictly conform). A young coed is shown using her good habits to seduce a male student, proving the validity of the films arguments. This is the beginning of dated, sexist rhetoric that peppers this odd movie. Hair, skin, nails, teeth, and clothing are all discussed in detail, and the film animates things like hair follicles and sweat glands. Some of the tips border on absurd, like suggesting that women wash their hair every two weeks. With the sexist ideas, grooming tips that would be considered outrageous today, and some nifty scenes from Cornell Universitys campus, this is a highly recommended classic video.

Care Of The Skin

Length: 10 Minutes | Produced:1949

This Encyclopedia Britannica vintage etiquette video discusses proper skin care. This film follows three adorable 1940s kids as they learn to take care of their precious bodies. Skin, often taken for granted, is one of the most essential parts of the human body - what with layers of physical, chemical and mechanical defense. The little tykes, Fred, Billy, and Virginia, are treated to a wholesome lesson on personal cleanliness. This educational video provides timeless advice for anyones health and well being.

Care Of The Hair and Nails

Length: 9 Minutes | Produced:1951

This 1950s personal hygiene film teaches young children care of the hair and fingernails. A somewhat disturbing magical fairy shows the picture of a very unkempt little boy with messy hair and long claw-like fingernails, saying I always keep that picture on my wall, just to remind me how many boys and girls still need my help. She waves her magic wand and introduces some other children who need tips from the fairy. She recommends that they wash their hair at least once a week, and advocated never using another persons comb or hat for fear of lice, which are shown in an animated diagram. She instructs one little girl, Alice, to brush her hair until it shines, or 100 strokes of the brush. She also tells the children, boys and girls, how to clean and manicure their fingernails. This is an interesting hygiene film, thanks to the creepy fairy godmother and wacky kids.

General Health Habits

Length: 6 Minutes | Produced:1928

Personal hygiene film that explores the differences in cleanliness between city and country lifestyles.

Health: Your Cleanliness

Length: 11 Minutes | Produced:1953

This 50s cleanliness and hygiene film aims to promote good hygiene by highlighting the threat of germs and disease. The film, geared toward elementary and middle school students, gives instructions on hand washing, bathing, showering, brushing teeth, hair care, skin care, healthy diet, drinking enough water, and caring for clothes.

How To Be Well Groomed

Length: 10 Minutes | Produced:1949

This film is a monument to post World War II cultural insistence on conformity, uniformity, and social standards. Following a cookie cutter young couple, the film discusses the various ways in which its important to maintain rigorous standards of health and hygiene. The amount of detail and precision used would make an OCD patient blush by todays standards! Make sure your hem line is even! insists the narrator. How to be Well Groomed is the pinnacle antique etiquette and social guidance films.

Personal Hygiene

Length: 31 Minutes | Produced:1950

Dont be fooled by the bland title Personal Hygiene, this is one of the wackiest old films ever made: the topic of personal hygiene is transformed into a musical production! Produced by the United States Army, this films main character is Homer, a GI who doesnt wash often enough and begins to offend his fellow barrack mates with his smell. In an effort to get him to change his hillbilly ways, they change the lyrics of old folk songs and serenade Homer with such ditties as Wash Your Socks, What Are You Going to Do With a Dirty Soldier? and Come a fly-yi-yippee-i-ay, a song about attracting disease-carrying flies. The Army used this film as a way to encourage cleanliness among their GIs so that the men could stay healthy and comfortable.

Preventing The Spread Of Disease

Length: 10 Minutes | Produced:1940

This 1940 film discusses how to avoid the spread of disease and ill-health by taking better care of the body, keeping water supplies clean, exercising, and eating a healthy diet. This film does use typical scare tactics to get people to think about their personal care habits. It also mentions sewage disposal, vaccines, and staying away from people who are sick as ways to promote health.

Told by a Tooth

Length: 11 Minutes | Produced:1939

An animated tooth appears as the narrator of this tooth care film. In Told by a Tooth, the tooth teaches children the mechanics of proper brushing, exercise of the teeth and gums, following good nutrition, and visiting the dentist. A bizarre xylophone soundtrack accompanies some fairly weird scenes, like when a little girl dumps plates of food on what looks like a giant tooth shrine. This film, geared toward children of all ages, shows children engaged in eating, brushing, spitting into the sink, and going to the dentist.