Origin of the name.
The English word Pomade comes from the French word Pommade, which means ointment. Ointment is a Hair Wax-like substance that was used as a medicinal remedy for the skin. Pommade comes from the Latin word pomum (apple, fruit) via the Italian word pomata or pomo (apple). An ingredient of Ointment was crushed apples, the Pomades of today do not contain apples and have little to do with fruit anymore.
History
The first Pomades find their origin in the 19th century, where they were first used as Hair Styling. These Pomade contained the fat of a pig. References to this time still exist, such as the Pomades from Reuzel, which still have pigs on the packaging.
Only in the 20th century was pig fat replaced by a combination of beeswax and petroleum jelly. Murrays, Royal Crown Hair Dressing, and Dixie Peach Hair Pomades were at the forefront of the rise of Pomades in the 1920s. The hairstyles in the following years were partly the success for the Pomades of that time. Pomades provided shiny and smooth hairstyles.
Pomades 21st century
Where in the early years of the 20th century the Pomades were only available based on oil, we now find them also on a water basis, with properties that come close to the oil-based variants. Due to the rise of the old-school barber and the hairstyles of the 21st century, the Pomade has made a comeback.