History of Deodorant

The Hidden History Podcast · Sep 17, 2026 · 15m

You use it every single day. You probably used it already today.

This is the hidden history of deodorant — the product the American Medical Association once called fraudulent and dangerous, and the 1919 magazine ad that made an entire country ashamed of its own body.

In this episode, we trace the long arc from Egyptian scented oils and Roman unguentarii, to Ibn Sina perfecting distillation, to Victorian dress shields, to Mum in 1888 and Everdry in 1903 — and why doctors warned against blocking sweat.

Then the turn: Edna Murphey's Odorono in 1912, James Webb Young's 1919 "Within the Curve of a…