Outdoor Girl (post 1935)
Continued from: Outdoor Girl
After the American part of Outdoor Girl was sold to Affiliated products in 1935, important developments in the history of the brand largely shift to Britain. Outdoor Girl first appeared there following a trip Myram Picker and his wife made to Britain and Europe in 1931. The Crystal Products Co. Ltd. (capital £1,000) was organised then and, after McCoy’s Ltd. at 53 Farringdon Road, London was appointed as the British distributor, Outdoor Girl began to appear in chemist shops and cut price stores like F. W. Woolworths.
In 1932, Myram Picker returned to Britain and, with the help of his daughter, Rhoda (Ray) Picker, established a Crystal Products factory at 32 City Road, London. It produced Outdoor Girl cosmetics along with those from Miner’s, another cosmetic range manufactured by Crystal Chemical in America. The establishment of the factory meant that Crystal Products avoided the protective tariffs enacted by the British Government to protect local industries during the Depression and gave Crystal Products better access to countries that had been part of the British Empire, like Australia and New Zealand, which had a favoured trade status with Britain.
Other developments followed. In 1936, Crystal Products was registered in Dublin (capital £1.000) and Myram Picker, Ltd. (capital £1.000) was established in London in 1938, taking over the role of distribution from McCoy’s. By this time, Stanley Picker [1913-1982], Myram Picker’s youngest child and only son, had become the family representative in the British business. He would settle in London and remain there until his death.
Products
The Outdoor Girl cosmetics sold in Britain between 1931 and 1935 were the same or similar as those developed for the United States market, came in the same shade ranges, and were housed in similar packaging. Following the sale of the American part of Outdoor Girl to Affiliated Products in 1935 the British and American brands began to diverge. However, it is hard to be certain how far this extended as details about the American business between 1935 and its demise in 1945 are scant.
New lines that may have appeared in the British range after 1935 include Outdoor Girl Powder Cream, and Outdoor Girl Four Purpose Cream. The first appears to be comparable to the highly successful Velouty de Dixor, a powder cream first seen in Britain in 1923, or similar products also popular in the British market. The second looks to take its inspiration from Lady Esther 4-Purpose Cream which debuted in the United States in 1931.
Outdoor Girl Combination Powder Cream: “[S]erves as a perfect foundation for face powder. Imparts to the face hands and shoulders an exquisite and lasting velvety smoothness. Unrivalled for shiny complexions, red spots and windburn. Dries quickly. will not harm the skin or clothing.” Shades: Flesh, Lido, Rachelle, and Everglades.
Outdoor Girl Four Purpose Cream: “Here is a cream that is really different—perfected after years of research! It cleanses—takes every tiny trace of dust and clogging grime out of the pores! It rejuvenates—restores the skin muscles and brings back the elasticity of youth quite astonishingly. It refines the skin—nourishes the tissues and makes your complexion velvety clear. It holds powder for hours and hours—a perfect powder base.”
See also: Lady Esther
Towards the end of the decade we get on firmer ground with the introduction of larger product sizes in the British Outdoor Girl range. This started with Outdoor Girl De Luxe Olive Oil Lipstick (1936), and Outdoor Girl De Luxe Face Powder (1937), followed by Gala-sized Outdoor Girl Lipstick in an all-chromium case (1938), and Gala-sized Face Powder (1940). The Gala-sized cosmetics were distinctively packaged and were combined with others cosmetics to form the Gala of London range after the Second World War.
Above: 1939 Outdoor Girl advertorial (UK). Note the two De Luxe Olive Oil Lipstick, the Gala-sized Lipstick refill and non-spill powder box (bottom left), the Four Purpose Cream (top right) and the tube of Complexion Pack (bottom right).
See also: Gala of London
There were some other interesting developments at Outdoor Girl in the years leading up to the Second world War. The first concerned colour coordination. Outdoor Girl make-up shades were generally selected by a woman’s colouring. However, after 1939 the clothing a woman wore also became an important determining factor. This fashion trend was increasingly popular with cosmetic companies during the 1930s as it encouraged women to buy multiple shades of cosmetics such as lipsticks to wear with different oufits.
Above: 1939 Outdoor Girl Miami Lipstick keyed to summer dress colours.
See also: Colour Coordination
A second development was the introduction of a new spill-proof face powder box. Invented by Leslie Charles Bithrey (GB patent: 526,402, 1939), the spill-proof box had a plugged hole that could be opened when the powder was to be pored into a container or onto a puff. Early versions placed the hole at the front of the box but later forms put the hole on the side which made pouring the powder easier.
War
Crystal Products stopped manufacturing some Outdoor Girl cosmetics during the war, most notably its Outdoor Girl Nail Gloss, and it also ceased exporting Outdoor Girl cosmetics to Europe and elsewhere. Exports of Outdoor Girl to Commonwealth countries like Australia do not appear to have resumed until some years after 1945 with Crystal Products concentrating on initially supplying these countries with the new Gala of London cosmetics instead.
Post war
As mentioned earlier the Outdoor Girl Gala series had become its own cosmetics range by 1945 which meant that Crystal Products was now manufacturing three lines – Outdoor Girl, Miner’s, and Gala of London. It would add a fourth when it launched Mary Quant Cosmetics in 1966. After the war, all of these lines were produced at the new Crystal Products factory at Hook Rise, Surbiton, Surrey, which was officially opened in 1945.
Above: Crystal Products factory in Surbiton, Surrey.
Outdoor Girl continued to be aimed primarily at budget-conscious younger women which accounts for its postwar tagline – ‘Luxury cosmetics at budget prices’. Gala of London was positioned more upmarket than Outdoor Girl, even though many products from the two ranges were made using the same formulations.
Products
I have been unable to find any new lines developed for Outdoor Girl in the years immediately following the war, presumably because Crystal Products was concentrating on developing its Gala of London range.
Outdoor Girl did introduce two new shades of lipsticks in 1946 – Hollywood Red and Hollywood Pink – along with Hollywood shades of Outdoor Girl Face Powder, and Outdoor Girl Rouge. These formed part of the Outdoor Girl Lipstick Wardrobe which matched four Outdoor Girl lipstick shades with fashionable clothing colours.
Above: 1951 Outdoor Girl Lipstick Wardrobe – Hollywood Pink, Miami, Boulevard, and Hollywood Red (London College of Fashion).
In 1954, the company made a major change to its logo, switching the title font to lower case and eliminating the interlocking ‘O’s. From then on product titles became more prominent with Outdoor Girl favouring names that included ‘Secret’ and/or ‘Magic’.
Skin-care
The first new skin-care lines introduced after the war, that I know of, were a dry skin cream and beauty mask added in 1954. Unfortunately, I have no information of either product.
By 1960, Outdoor Girl had added three sets of skin-care products for women and girls organised by age. For teenage problem skins there was Young Set Medicated Day Cream and Young Set Night Cream (1960). For average teen and twenty-something skins there was First and Last (1958), a day-and-night cream for normal skin types, and Night Extra (1958), a night cream for dry skin types. For older women Outdoor Girl added Over-30 Cream (1960), a light non-greasy night cream fortified with vitamins.
Make-up
During the 1950s, Outdoor Girl added to its make-up range following a number of new post war developments found across other cosmetic companies as well. Unfortunately, information about the shade ranges of many of these is limited or non existent.
Foundations and powders
I have no evidence that Outdoor Girl ever made a cake make-up along the lines of the one developed by Max Factor in 1938 but it did add Outdoor Girl Secret Magic Cream Powder in 1955. This was housed in a metal container rather than a compact but came with a washable nylon puff. It was said to fit most mirrored compact cases then on the market with Outdoor Girl only to begin selling its own Secret Magic mirrored compact in 1958.
Outdoor Girl Secret Magic Cream Powder: “This exquisite blend of fine-spun powder and satin smooth foundation gives such a wonderfully ‘finished’ look—smooth as flawless pearl.” Shades: Sweet Secret, True Secret, Secret Glow, Secret Touch, Golden Secret, and Deep Secret.
A number of the Secret Magic shades were pinks and this emphasis was repeated by Outdoor Girl adding the Secret Glow shade (a muted rose) to the Outdoor Girl Foundation, and Outdoor Girl Face Powder, along with a new Secret Pink shade to its Outdoor Girl Lipstick. Pinks were also promoted in Outdoor Girl Nail Gloss through its Cyclamen, Secret Pink, Natural Pink, Natural, and Clear shades. Additionally, the pink/secret theme was used to launch the new Secret Love Perfume in 1955, described as an ‘in-the-pink fragrance’.
In 1956, Secret Magic was complimented with Magic Touch Liquid Foundation in matching shades. Magic Touch could be used as an alternative to Secret Magic for those with dry skin but Outdoor Girl also suggested that the two products could be combined by applying Secret Magic over Magic Touch.
Outdoor Girl Magic Touch Liquid Foundation: “He’ll be spell-bound from the moment you use Magic Touch—miraculous new liquid foundation with lanolin. He (and you) never saw your skin so radiant before—so velvety soft and supple.” Shades: Natural Pink, Rose Peach, Muted Rose, Creamy Rachel, Dark Rachel, and Olive Rachel with Fair Lady added in 1957.
Lipsticks
In 1956, Outdoor Girl renamed some of their long-stranding lipstick shade names and discontinued others, such as Lido, and Riviera Tan. Miami became Pink Coral, Boulevard was changed to Jazz Red, Everglades became Dark Magic, Evening Cyclamen was now known as Jive Pink, and Ember became Red Magic. These joined new lipstick shades such as the previously mentioned Secret Pink (1955) as well as Oriental Peach, Ice Pink, Lucky Pink, Fair Lady Rose (1957), and Rave Red (1958).
Other Outdoor Girl lip cosmetic additions included Lip-stay, a lipstick sealer made along the lines of Liquid Liptone and Lip-cote, introduced no later than 1954. Outdoor Girl also repackaged its De Luxe Lipstick in a new gilt case etched in a trellis pattern in 1956 and added a Lip Pencil in Medium Red, Dark Red, Light Pink, Deep Pink shades in 1957.
See also: Liquid Lipsticks & Sealers
Eye make-up
I have very little information on new Outdoor Girl eye make-up from the 1950s. In 1954, Outdoor Girl introduced an Eyebrow Pencil in Black, Brown, and Light Brown shades with Grey added in 1955. The company would add a propelling eye pencil in Black, Dark Brown, Light Brown, Grey, and Blue-Green shades in 1958.
Hands and Nails
In 1957, Outdoor Girl introduced a new silicone hand lotion in a plastic, squeeze bottle. The following year, it added Nail Magic nail polish in a new bottle.
Silicone Hand Magic: “[W]orks in two ways towards keeping hand soft and well-cared for. By day it protects them from detergents, household dust, dirt, and even cooking smells. By night its nourishing qualities smooth and soften rough skin.”
Nail Magic: “[A] sparkling nail colour in Fresh-as-paint bottle with a distinctive shape.” Shades: Clear, Natural Touch, Soft Touch, Pink Touch, Touch of Rose, Peach Touch, Touch of Coral, Bright Touch, Gold Touch, Sungold Touch, and Silver Touch.
Other lines
Sticking with the ‘magic’ theme, Outdoor Girl introduced three Fresh Magic deodorant/antiperspirants in 1957 – Fresh Magic Jel, Fresh Magic Stick, and Fresh Magic Spray.
Fresh Magic Jel: “Crystal-clar jelly, extra-strong. Dries instantly. Plastic tube.”
Fresh Magic Stick: “Stoke-on solid dedorant. Push-up case.”
Fresh Magic Spray: “Plastic squeeze bottle angled for easy spraying.”
Spray Magic, a hair setting spray in a plastic squeeze bottle was also released in 1957, with an aerosol version in a can arriving the following year.
Outdoor Girl Spray Magic: “Wonderful, new hair preparations to set your hair in smooth waves—soft, springy curls! Or to hold your new hair-style glamorously in place.”
Later developments
In the early 1960s, Crystal Products registered a number of alternative ‘Girl’ trademarks including Model Girl in 1961, and Little Girl, Sports Girl, and Cover Girl in 1962. This suggests that the company may have been thinking about getting into the children’s cosmetic market with a Little Girl range and/or of updating the name and/or logo of Outdoor Girl to give the brand a more contemporary appeal.
It seems likely that the management at Crystal Products was aware of the success of Noxema’s Cover Girl mediated make-up range in the United States and may have been going to replicate this idea in Britain. However, they elected to not use their Cover Girl or Model Girl trademarks, reassigning the Cover Girl to Noxema in 1964.
See also: Cover Girl
Updating the Outdoor Girl brand began with the formation of Girl Cosmetics Ltd. in 1961 which suggests the direction the company was going to take. When the Outdoor Girl range was repackaged in 1964 it came with a new logo which emphasised the ‘Girl’ part of Outdoor Girl and surrounded it with a baroque border.
Above: 1964 Trade advertisement for Outdoor Girl.
The rebranding and repackaging of Outdoor Girl was accompanied by a division of the product range into two price points – an Economy Series and a Luxury Series. The Luxury Series included the previously mentioned Over-30 Cream so was presumably aimed at older women. These may have been budget-conscious Outdoor Girl users in their youth but were looking for something a little more glamorous and subdued now that they were older.
Above: 1964 Part of a trade advertisement for the Outdoor Girl Economy and Luxury Series.
The 1964 logo did not last for very long with the ornate border replace by a stylised ‘G’ by 1967.
Above: 1969 Trade advertisement for Outdoor Girl Golden Girl Collection with new logo.
Meanwhile, a number of organisational changes were taking place that concerned the brands manufactured by Crystal Products. The Gala Cosmetic Group Ltd. was established in 1962 as a holding company for Miner’s, Gala of London, and Outdoor Girl and then, two years later, the Gala Cosmetic Group was floated on the stock exchange.
Outdoor Girl survived the buyouts of the Gala Cosmetic Group by Smith & Nephew, the owners of Elastoplast and Nivea, in 1970, Norton Simon (Max Factor) in 1980, Esmark in 1983, and Pantry Pride (Revlon) in 1986, but was discontinued by Procter & Gamble a few years after they bought the company in 1991. However, following a change in attitude, Procter & Gamble relaunched Outdoor Girl in 2004 after it had been off the market for six years. It continues to be sold as a budget brand to this day.
Timeline
| 1931 | Crystal Products Co. Ltd. founded in Britain. |
| 1932 | Crystal Products opens a factory in London. |
| 1935 | Outdoor Girl (USA) sold to Affiliated Products, Inc. |
| 1936 | Crystal Products (Irish Free State), Ltd. registered in Dublin. New Products: Outdoor Girl Four Purpose Cream (UK). |
| 1938 | Myram Picker Ltd. founded in Britain. New Products: Outdoor Girl Gala Lipstick (UK). |
| 1940 | New Products: Outdoor Girl Gala Face Powder (UK). |
| 1942 | Crystal Products (Eire) Ltd. open a factory in Dublin. |
| 1945 | Crystal Products factory established in Surbiton, Surrey. |
| 1951 | New Products: Outdoor Girl Panchromatic Foundation (UK). |
| 1954 | New Products: Outdoor Girl Eyebrow Pencil; Outdoor Girl Beauty Mask; and Outdoor Girl Dry Skin Cream (UK). |
| 1955 | New Products: Outdoor Girl Secret Magic Cream Powder (UK). |
| 1956 | New Products: Outdoor Girl Magic Touch Liquid Foundation (UK). |
| 1957 | New Products: Outdoor Girl Lip Pencil; Silicone Hand Magic; Fresh Magic Jel; Fresh Magic Stick; Fresh Magic Spray; Spray Magic; and Fair Lady Perfume (UK). |
| 1958 | New Products: Outdoor Girl Nail Magic; First and Last; Night Extra; and Propelling Eye Pencil (UK). |
| 1960 | New Products: Young Set Medicated Day Cream; Young Set Medicated Night Cream; and Over-30 Cream (UK). |
| 1961 | Girl Cosmetics Ltd, founded (UK). |
| 1962 | Gala Cosmetic Group Ltd. established. |
| 1970 | Gala Cosmetic Group acquired by Smith & Nephew. |
| 1980 | Gala Cosmetic Group bought by Norton Simon (Max Factor). |
| 1981 | Surbiton factory closed. |
| 1983 | Norton Simon taken over by Esmark. |
| 1984 | Esmark merges with Beatrice Foods. Gala Cosmetic Group put into the Playtex beauty division. |
| 1986 | Gala Cosmetic Group bought by Pantry Pride (Revlon). |
| 1991 | Gala Cosmetic Group sold to Procter & Gamble. |
| 2004 | Outdoor Girl relaunched. |
First Posted: 6th June 2024
Sources
The American perfumer & essential oil review. (1906-1955). New York: Robbins Perfumer Co. [etc.]
The chemist and druggist. (1859-) London: Morgan Brothers.
The drug and cosmetic industry. (1932-1997). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich [etc.].
1931 Myram Picker [1881-1950] and Edna Picker [1880-1965] sailing for Europe on the S.S. Minnetonka.
1936 Outdoor Girl Four Purpose Cream (UK).
1936 Outdoor Girl De Luxe Lipstick in an ivory and magenta coloured case (UK).
1938 Outdoor Girl matched make-up (UK).
1939 Drawing from the no-spill box patent invented by Leslie Charles Bithrey (GB patent: 526,402, 1939).
1940 Marks and Spencer window display for Outdoor Girl Gala Lipstick (London College of Fashion).
1942 Pouring Outdoor Girl Face Powder from a spill-proof container (London College of Fashion).
1951 Outdoor Girl Olive Oil Face Powder (UK).
1951 Outdoor Girl Olive Oil Lipstick (UK).
1955 Secret Magic Cream Powder, Secret Love Perfume, and Secret Glow Foundation and Powder.
1957 Lucky Pink and Iced Pink Lipsticks (UK).
1957 Trade Advertisement for Fair Lady Rose. Outdoor Girl also introduced Fair Lady Perfume (UK). Both products were linked to the production of ‘My Fair Lady’ which opened on Broadway in 1956 and the West End in London in 1958.
1957 Magic Touch and Secret Magic (UK).
1958 Outdoor Girl First & Last, and Night Extra (UK).
1958 Outdoor Girl Fresh Magic Jel, Stick, and Spray.
1958 Outdoor Girl Nail Magic (UK).
1960 Outdoor Girl Young Set Medicated Day Cream, and Night Cream (UK).
1973 Outdoor Girl (UK).
1974 Outdoor Girl (AUS).