The Bear Necessities!

At first glance, these charming little glass bears look like they might have held candy or maybe a novelty perfume. They actually contained bear grease!

For centuries, people believed that fat rendered from bears could restore thinning hair, prevent baldness, soften dry hair, and even keep it from turning gray. The thinking was bears have thick, healthy coats, so surely their fat must encourage hair to grow! While there's no evidence that it worked, bear grease remained a popular hair dressing well into the nineteenth century.

As demand grew, so did the marketing. Chemists, druggists, and hairdressers sold bear grease in eye-catching containers shaped like bears, much like these examples in our collection. These whimsical bottles served as early advertising, assuring customers that they were buying the "real thing." In reality, genuine bear fat was expensive, and many products likely contained little or none at all. Contemporary writers joked that much bear grease was actually made from pig lard, with a bit of perfume added for authenticity.

By the late nineteenth century, bear grease had fallen out of fashion, replaced by newer hair products made from vegetable oils and manufactured ingredients. But the bear-shaped bottles survived, becoming collectible reminders of a time when medicine, cosmetics, and clever marketing often went hand in hand.