I’ve got a Cary Grant movie on now, and his hair is shiny. I looked up Brylcreem on Wikipedia, and there’s a picture of him (not from the film). The article has some present-day culteral references, but mostly just references rather than cites of people who do ‘The Wet Look’.
So is anyone actually wearing the ‘greasy kid’s stuff’? (I’m not. A certain someone says she likes my hair the way it is. 
)
I still see it in Wallgreen Stores, by the mustache wax, so people use it. I would guess the age group of most of the users would be over sixty. forty years ago my grandpa had it in the bathroom for going to town. Add in some Barbasol and Aqua Velva and you have the popular hair tonics from the fifties and sixties.
Isn’t the current style greasy kid’s stuff? They just call it “mousse” and “styling gel.” But it’s really no different.
I haven’t used mousse. I did use Brylcreem or something when I was an extra in The Right Stuff, but never on my own. I’ve used gel though, back in the day when I spiked my hair. Gel seems to make the hair stiff (the Wiki article mentioned ‘helmet head’ – which is something different to me, as I ride a motorcycle), and I’m under the impression that Brylcreem doesn’t. I could be wrong, though.
Mousse and gel are a big improvement over the old petroleum-based gunk-in-a-tube because they are light, water-soluble and breathable. I actually used Brylcreem during my swing kid period in the mid 80s; it made my head hot, sweaty and itchy and turned all my pillow cases translucent.
My dad used baby oil in his hair back in the 50s and 60s. Now he’s a hairspray guy. Huge improvement.
Vitalis. I’m pretty sure that’s the name of the stuff my dad used. I was really little when he died, but he had groovy curly hair, which I’m sure would have been outta control without some sort of goop.
My old man used Score. I can’t think of why, his hair was never longer than a brush cut.
Brylcreem is going strong over here, with the traditional drippy greasy crap sold in all major supermarkets and drug stores, as well as a load of rebranded ‘youth market’ creams and gels, but still under the Brylcreem brand. I use the ‘reshaper wax’ stuff on occasion.
My dad used this stuff when I was little. The smell of it turns my stomach, plus it’s greasy.
*… use more, only if ya dare
But watch out
The girls will all pursue ya,
They love to run their fingers through your hair.
*
The fact that I still remember the jingle makes me feel old.
I grew up in a time warp. Although it was the 70s, pictures of my Dad in that time look like they were from the 50s. He rode a bike, wore blue jeans with the cuffs turned up, a white t-shirt with leather jacket. His hair was greased back in a duck tail with huge wave in the front.
Like most little boys, I thought he was the coolest man in the world and I wanted to be just like him. So pictures of me in the early 70s show a little red headed boy with slicked back hair.
You won’t find Brylcream in my house now.
OK. So they’re new, improved greasy kid’s stuff. But the look is similar – like you were caught in an oil slick.
I used Score for awhile in my teens, but quit when I got to college. I didn’t use a lot of that, either (and Score was water-soluble – one of it’s big selling points).
I once knew a young African-American guy who used it. He swore that it kept his hair soft and manageable.
Papa Doug, like many a 1950s era Midshipman, sported a flattop you could have landed an F9F on. He cultivated it with the nongreasy stiffening preparation Butch Wax, sold in biggish tins.
Today I have a short laydown Caesar cut, and I occasionally use something similar called Fiber. It’s smooth, pasty yellow stuff in a brown translucent container about hockey puck size. Brylcreem’s “reshaper wax” sounds like the same kinda deal.
My father still uses greasy kid stuff.
Alberto V05 still makes a very similar product that I’ll use on occaision, and I have a tube of Brylcreem in the bathroom too, as my hair is really fine and gets too “fluffy” right out of the shower. A pencil eraser sized glop on my finger smoothes everything right out. The only complaint is all of this stuff smells really old school medicinal.
::looks around::
Hand lotion, especially the types with aloe, do a really good job at this, they’re cheap, they don’t smell, and they are not greasy.
(I never said that, BTW)
And I never, ever use Bath and Body works hand lotion in my hair either. Ever. I have no idea why my hair smells like oranges some times… 
My boyfriend (22) likes the old fashioned dandy thing, and he uses it sometimes. Along with moustache wax. And sock garters.
Bwhaaa, what a name! And the funny thing is that back then it was probably coined simply to suggest athleticism.
Grandad used Brylcreem, both on his own bad self and on a younger me anytime I was visiting. Can still smell that unusual smell and the wind blowing through your stiff hair wasn’t necessarily an unpleasant sensation… when you’re ten.
When I grew my beard I looked for something to keep it manageable and tame. All I saw in the store was Vitalis, so for grins I bought some. Used it once.