The Consumer Reports Archive

Photo documentation of their work from 1936 till 1980. This archive of vintage photographs shows the ingenuity of our testers and traces American consumer products over the decades.

Permanents, 1938
Getting a permanent wave is "almost a national pastime" and the price has dropped to a dollar. But beware of shops that cut corners: "The felt pads between the curlers and her head... can be excellent carriers of scalp disease."

I quite liked Gaylord the Pup, a mechanical basset tested in 1963.

Via Jaf Project.