Butywave Shampoo

"Butywave Shampoo - gives life to your hair", said a popular British advert in the 1920s: "Each shampoo contains in separate packets Egyptian Henna and Lime-Juice Rinsing Chrystals." This was a shampoo that loved an exotic image. When the smash hit The Son of the Sheik (George Fitzmaurice, 1926) with Rudolph Valentino and Vilma Banky arrived in Great Britain, Butywave released a series of sepia postcards of the film to promote its shampoo.


British postcard in a series by Shampoing Butywave. Photo: Allied Artists. Rudolph Valentino in The Son of the Sheik (George Fitzmaurice, 1926).


British postcard in a series by Shampoing Butywave. Photo: Allied Artists. Rudolph Valentino and Vilma Bánky in The Son of the Sheik (George Fitzmaurice, 1926).


British postcard in a series by Shampoing Butywave. Photo: Allied Artists. Rudolph Valentino and Vilma Banky in The Son of the Sheik (George Fitzmaurice, 1926).

Mass hysteria

The Butywave postcards were clearly not intended for a male audience while Rudolph Valentino's hair was never revealed on the pictures.

Valentino's early death at age 31 caused mass hysteria among his female fans and propelled him into iconic status. The postcard series must have been a success while Butywave still exists today.

There were actually 32 cards in the series but in this post are only 9 of them. All cards have a top-three line wording saying “One of these beautiful reproductions of Rudolph Valentino`s love scenes is contained in every Butywave Shampoo Packet. 32 Scenes in All. 

Each shampoo contains a different one. Note: If you buy 6 Butywave Shampoos you will be given a large Art Portrait (8 ins by 10 in) of Rudolph Valentino ready for framing, free. Ask for it at the shop”.

Then there are two lines of printed mock handwriting at the bottom which says: “P.S. I`ve fallen in love with Butywave Shampoo – have you?” Most cards are from The Son of The Sheik but one card is from Valentino's The Eagle (Clarence Brown, 1925), however not in this post.


British postcard in a series by Shampoing Butywave. Photo: Allied Artists. Rudolph Valentino and Vilma Banky in The Son of the Sheik (George Fitzmaurice, 1926).


British postcard for Butywave Shampoo. Photo: United Artists. Rudolph Valentino in The Son of the Sheik (George Fitzmaurice, 1926).


British postcard in a series by Shampoing Butywave. Photo: Allied Artists. Rudolph Valentino and Vilma Banky in The Son of the Sheik (George Fitzmaurice, 1926).


British postcard in a series by Shampoing Butywave. Photo: Allied Artists. Rudolph Valentino and Vilma Banky in The Son of the Sheik (George Fitzmaurice, 1926).


British postcard in a series by Shampoing Butywave. Photo: Allied Artists. Publicity still for The Son of the Sheik (1926). Despite the card telling this is Banky, the lady in question is Agnes Ayres. Ayres and Rudolph Valentino play the parents of the leading character, also played by Valentino. Actually the parents are the former protagonists of the earlier film The Sheik, now grown older.


British postcard in a series by Shampoing Butywave. Photo: Allied Artists. Rudolph Valentino and Vilma Banky in The Son of the Sheik (George Fitzmaurice, 1926).

Source: Worthpoint, IMDb and the cards.