Woodbury Soap Company

[5] In 1908 the John H. Woodbury Dermatological Institute was brought to court for practicing medicine without a license, and in 1911 they filed for bankruptcy protection.

The ad, known as "The Sun Bath", was photographed by Edward Steichen and showed a nude woman lying on stairs on her side with her back to the camera.

In 1938, debutante Brenda Frazier appeared in and for the company's soap which included a testimonial from the gossip columnist who was largely responsible for her fame, Cholly Knickerbocker).

[10] In the 1940s and 1950s, actresses Lucille Ball, Virginia Bruce, Leslie Caron, Linda Darnell, Gloria DeHaven, Ava Gardner, Judy Garland, Veronica Lake, Myrna Loy, Marie McDonald, Merle Oberon, Donna Reed, Elizabeth Taylor (who also appeared in ads for the company's soap) Gene Tierney, and Esther Williams also appeared in ads for the company's cosmetics line.

[13] From 1941 to 1942, the company sponsored The Adventures of the Thin Man, the 1940s radio show about husband-and-wife crime solvers that played the detective genre for laughs.