Object Details
- Overton Hygienic Mfg. Company
- Description
- Anthony Overton, Jr., son of enslaved parents, started the Overton Hygienic Manufacturing Company in Kansas City, Missouri, in the late 1890s. His first important product was baking powder, but by 1900 he had introduced High Brown Face Powder, and a whole line of cosmetics soon followed. At a time when almost all cosmetic products were made by white concerns for white women, Overton made products designed for the skin tones of African Americans. He employed only African American men and women in the manufacturing, packaging, and selling of his products. In 1911, Overton moved his family and business to Chicago, where he led the company until his death in 1946. His son, Everett Overton (1889-1960) took over at that time, and was followed by his grandson, Anthony Overton III, who led the company until its demise in 1983.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of Mary E. and Joseph F. Melfi, Jr., Tupper's Drug Store, Summerville, South Carolina
- ca 1910
- ca 1912-1920
- ID Number
- 1980.0698.126
- accession number
- 1980.0698
- catalog number
- 1980.0698.126
- Object Name
- personal hygiene product
- facial treatment, bleaching
- Other Terms
- Medicine; Cosmetics; Patent Medicines; Drugs; Non-Liquid
- Physical Description
- paper, tin, ink (overall material)
- Printed in black ink by off-set lithographic process. (overall; packaging production method/technique)
- Measurements
- overall: 1 1/8 in x 2 3/8 in x 2 5/8 in; 2.8575 cm x 6.0325 cm x 6.6675 cm
- place made
- United States: Illinois, Chicago
- United States: Missouri, Kansas City
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Medicine
- Health & Medicine
- Beauty and Health
- Beauty and Hygiene Products: Skin
- National Museum of American History
- Subject
- African American
- Cosmetics
- Record ID
- nmah_716416
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-5d44-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
