Grease, Shine and the Long Life of Pomade

In 1925 a Chicago barber named C.D. Murray started selling a thick, waxy, oil-based pomade out of his own shop. It held like cement and shone like a new car. It was also famously hard to wash out, so much so that the company's own website has recommended dishwashing liquid to get it off.

Chicago grease and Birmingham cream

Murray's Superior Pomade was aimed first at Black customers, and it found a much wider audience as it spread. In 1959 a Detroit pharmacist, Harry Berlin, began selling it from his drugstore and worked closely with the Murray family to market it. As of 2017 the pomade was still being made in Detroit. Royal Crown and other petroleum-heavy dressings sat beside it on barbershop shelves for decades.

Across the Atlantic, a different formula took over. In 1928 County Chemicals, working out of the Chemico Works on Bradford Street in Birmingham, England, launched Brylcreem. It was not a true grease. Brylcreem is an emulsion of water and mineral oil held together with beeswax, lighter than an American pomade but with the same high shine.

Brylcreem became shorthand for a whole generation of British men. During the Second World War, members of the Royal Air Force were nicknamed the Brylcreem boys. The cricketer and footballer Denis Compton, who played for Middlesex, England and Arsenal, became one of the first British sportsmen to earn serious endorsement money, and his face sold Brylcreem through the 1940s and 1950s. Its famous jingle, created by Hanley M. Norins of Young and Rubicam, sold the idea that a tiny amount went a long way.

How did the pompadour get its name?

The style that made pomade famous carries a name with almost nothing to do with it. Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of Louis XV, wore her hair swept back without much height at all. The label was applied in the twentieth century, and it stuck.

The men's pompadour arrived in the 1950s, carried by country singers, rock and roll stars and film actors. Elvis Presley was photographed with one in 1954. James Dean wore one too, and Little Richard took it as high as it could go. Most of it ran on Brylcreem or a tin of grease. The hair was pushed up and back off the forehead, combed into shape and polished until it reflected the stage lights.

The look belonged to a whole uniform, from cuffed selvedge jeans to white T-shirts. Our raw denim and selvedge guide covers the other half of that outfit. In the 1980s the rockabilly scene revived the pompadour, and psychobilly bands pushed it forward into the exaggerated quiff.

Why pomade went away

The heyday of pomade ran roughly from the 1930s through the 1960s. Then men grew their hair longer and wanted it to move. Drier, looser, more natural styles took over, and a product that left hair stiff and shining looked like something your father wore.

There was a practical problem too. Petroleum-based pomade got everywhere. It stained pillowcases and car seats, and it took several washes to clear. For a generation chasing the shaggy look, the trade was no longer worth it.

Water changes everything

The revival came from barbershops. In the 2000s Donnie Hawley, the barber behind the Hawleywood's shops, created Layrite, a water-soluble pomade designed to hold like wax and rinse out with water. It gave the vintage scene the look of grease without the week-long cleanup, and it opened the door for a wave of small brands.

Suavecito, based in Santa Ana, California, built its following through rockabilly and lowrider culture, with a skull logo and later a women's line called Suavecita. In Rotterdam, the barbers Leen and Bertus opened Schorem in 2007, a shop built around classic cuts and old-school service. Its house brand, Reuzel, takes its name from the Dutch word for lard, a wink at the animal-fat greases of the 1950s. The tins are color coded. Pink is the heavy grease, green the medium grease, and blue the water-soluble strong hold usually recommended to beginners.

Choosing and wearing it now

The choice comes down to hold, shine and how much you hate washing your hair. Oil-based pomades give the most authentic look and can be restyled through the day with a comb, but they build up and take real effort to rinse out. Water-based pomades wash out easily and are the friendlier place to start. Matte pastes and clays are the modern cousins, with hold and very little shine.

Work a small amount between your palms until it warms, apply from the back to the front so the front does not get overloaded, then comb into place. A fine-toothed comb gives the sharp lines of a 1950s side part. Fingers give a looser, modern finish. If grease is your choice, a clarifying shampoo once a week keeps the buildup in check. Keep the neck and sides sharp, which is where a good barber, a straight razor or our safety razor shaving guide comes in, and if you grow a beard alongside it, our beard care guide covers the rest.

The Brylcreem story on Wikipedia and the entry on Murray's Pomade are good starting points if you want the deeper history. For more, browse the Quiet Menace grooming section and our menswear history hub. And if you inherit a tin of Murray's from a grandfather, keep a bottle of dish soap by the shower. The company was not joking.