Counter-top display, Comb-A-Flea atomizer, Comb-A-Flea Company, Seattle, Washington, between 1950 as well as 1952.
Flea season is back upon us, as well as pet owners anywhere are emptying their wallets for those expensive, however extremely effective, topical monthly treatments. There is likewise a thriving on the internet neighborhood of pet owners who share less costly as well as chemical complimentary techniques to managing fleas, from feeding dogs brewers yeast as well as garlic to spraying family pets as well as their beds with options made of the herb pennyroyal.
I’ve written a couple of articles on “Fleas as well as other Itches” (10 may 2014 as well as 5 October 2016). These will provide you background on the standard utilize of flea combs, which I still utilize to inspect whether my family pets are showing evidence of infestation in spite of my finest efforts, as well as on the origins of industrial flea powders.
This entry focuses on the “Comb-A-Flea Atomizer,” a patented novelty that attempted integrate the standard flea comb with an atomizer that provided powder close to the skin of the feline or dog. My collection includes this unused counter-top screen of ten Comb-A-Flea Atomizers. The comb head of each is very carefully sealed in cellophane as well as consists of a little instructional pamphlet. The head of the comb is plastic; the bulb appears to be rubber as well as the material has ended up being as well rigid to squeeze.
Detail, Comb-A-Flea atomizers in their screen package.
The Comb-a-Flea Atomizer was patented in 1952 by John L. Sullivan, who assigned it to the Comb-A-Flea business of Seattle, Washington. right here is the drawing for his patent. The cutaway diagram shows exactly how the powder was pushed up the neck of the comb when the pet owner squeezed the bulb.
It took nearly three years between this application as well as the issuing of the patent, as well as around the exact same time, a number of other people likewise used for patents for combs that dispensed flea powder. right here is one more patent drawing for an “Insecticide Comb-Applicator,” which was really got two years before the Comb-A-Flea applicator.
I have no concept why this type of insecticide applicator ended up being a topic of rate of interest by a lot more than one inventor, as well as so far I can discover no evidence of get in touch with among the inventors, or lawsuits about patent infringement. This may just be one of those things — a number of minds dealing with the exact same issue as well as coming up with similar solutions. One thing that nearly definitely made the Comb-a-Flea possible is the proliferation of plastics after world war II. Molding a hollow comb with a bit hole at the base of each tooth was simple with plastics.
Each Comb-A-Flea came with an direction pamphlet, as well as I was able to work one of them out without damaging the cellophane cover.
Instructional pamphlet for Comb-A-Flea applicator. Front side, unfolded.
Instructional pamphlet for Comb-A-Flea applicator, reverse side.
The Comb-A-Flea suggests a couple of fascinating things to believe about. First, it is one example of the unexpected boost in products for pet keepers in the two decades complying with world war II. Examining magazines like All-Pets, which was aimed at pet-shop owners as well as wholesalers, suggests that little companies, maybe connected with other post-war novelty businesses, pumped out lots of novelties meant to enhance the experience of having dogs, cats, parakeets as well as other creatures. (I’ll go over the novelties connected with the 1950s trend for keeping parakeets in one more post.) The Comb-A-Flea was meant to be convenient, a sales pitch utilized for lots of type of home products at the time. This was since it integrated grooming the animal as well as treating it for flea, ticks as well as lice with one implement. If you go back as well as checked out the instructions, however, you’ll see that the applicator wasn’t truly any type of much easier to utilize than a comb as well as a shaker of flea powder. For one thing, the text suggests that it clearly had issues with clogging.
Second, the Comb-A-Flea did NOT make utilize of DDT, the toxic however ubiquitous insecticide that was introduced into lots of home products including flea powders. Pulvex, which made a line of over-the-counter remedies for dogs, introduced DDT into its flea powder as early as 1946. The Comb-A-Flea powder contained Pyrethrins, Rotenone as well as Piperonyl, all of which had been around for a while as well as which are still in utilize in garden sprays and, in the situation of a variant of Piperonyl, lice shampoos. notice that the Comb-A-Flea pamphlet makes a point of assuring pet owners that the insecticidal powder is safe, as well as that it has been authorized by veterinarians as well as pet dog breeders.
The Seattle-based Comb-A-Flea business didn’t last long, as well as I haven’t yet been able to discover anything about it. In 1951, the “Atomizing Comb-A-Flea” did appear in advertisements in a few east coastline newspapers; right here is a 1951 ad from Gimbel’s in Philadelphia. however the business seems to have been gone by 1953.
Advertisement for Comb-A-Flea Atomizer, Philadelphia Inquirer 19 August 1951. The pet department of the Comb-A-Flea
The next advancement in flea manage for pets, was the creation of the flea collar, a thick plastic strip impregnated with a flea-killing chemical. I’ll go over this, together with the utilize of DDT in flea powders, in a future post. In the meantime, we may believe about the balancing act in which we pet owners engage as we struggle between the wish for relief (for both our animals as well as ourselves) from biting insects as well as the prospective dangers of prolonged intimate get in touch with with potentially toxic chemicals.
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