Victory Hair Pins and WWII Metal Rationing

Metal Rationing and The Beauty Salon

Production for everything your beauty salon used from hood hairdryers to hair pins to lipstick canisters slowed due to metal rationing during WWII. People at home were asked to donate any scrap metal they had and also do their best to use as little metal as possible.

The Duty of Beauty

The “duty” of women directly affected her beauty regime. Not only did advertising constantly remind her it was her responsibility to keep beautiful for her own morale and also the morale of the soldiers and fellow patriots, but it was also important that the country’s war efforts were a top priority.

Victory Pins

I picked this unopened and unused Victory Pins packet up on ebay a while back. They were made by the Smith Victory Corporation.

Rationing Hair Pin Wire

The rationing of raw materials, like metal used for hairpins, made the daily beauty routine much more expensive and difficult. The War Production Board only allotted a certain amount of metal wire to hairpin companies to make hairpins. They could only distribute so many hairpins, so if you showed up at your hair appointment without your hairpins during a time of low inventory, instead of an SOS moment, you could be having an SOL moment. Read more about hairpin rationing here.  

These Pins have been packed under rigid inspection at our factory, and upon sale to you, package should be sealed, thereby guaranteeing you service with pins that have not been used or handled since leaving factory. These pins belong to you and your cooperation in re-using them as often as possible will not only save you money, but save a great deal of steel and guarantee your future hair setting.

Thank You.

Shop Owner

The war didn’t stop women from making beauty a priority. And their employers had convenient ways to help them continue their practices. Read more about these convenient WWII salons here.