Proxide Problem Of The First World War

The first World War cut off the supply of certain chemical products which formerly had been imported from Germany. This included the chemicals that had been used to develop film, but also included hydrogen peroxide. Though the following item was light in tone, the problem it dealt with was real.

From THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR, Saturday, October 23, 1915:

The price of peroxide has gone up 200 percent in the last two months and in all probability will keep going up. This is another one of the horrors of war. Some of the chemical components of peroxide come from the war zone and this is another product that has been ruined by bursting shells. The situation is a serious one for volunteer blondes. Some of the burlesque beauties are in a panic as they root around in medicine closet and other receptacles in the hope of resurrecting a bottle or two in which a few teaspoonfuls of peroxide may still be lurking before their locks begin to show a kind of greenish-yellowish tinge due to the peroxide famine.