10/13/2026
🧐𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐐-𝐓𝐢𝐩 (Cahoon’s Apothecary Artifact Collection)
𝑫𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒄 𝒄𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒘𝒂𝒃 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 1920𝒔!
♀️ Mrs. Hazel Forbis first manufactured the swabs in her home and sold them under the name “Baby Nose-Gay.” Around the same time, Ziuta Gerstenzang began attaching wads of cotton to toothpicks to clean her infant's ears. She and her husband Leo purchased the patent from Mrs. Forbis and the “Leo Gerstenzang Infant Novelty Company” was born.
👶In 1926, Leo changed the name of the product from “Baby Nose-Gay” to “Baby Gays” and then to “Q-Tips Baby Gays.” The "Q" stood for quality or Cutie Tips. Eventually, the “Baby Gays” part was dropped and the product was called simply Q-Tips.
👂By the 1970s, Q-Tips packaging was changing, warning consumers not to insert cotton swabs into the ear canal. Today, this practice is widely recognized as a common cause of perforated eardrum. “The golden rule for ear care” is now touted by healthcare professionals and parents alike: If it's smaller than your elbow, keep it out of your ear canal! Save those cotton swabs for cleaning the outer ear, applying makeup, first aid, or your next craft project instead.
🎞️𝑫𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒂𝒙 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒖𝒑? 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒄𝒚 𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎, 𝒘𝒆'𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑!
From our collection of classic TV commercials from the golden age o...
