In 1909, Helena Dalrymple, 29, booked a fashionable dry shampoo at Harrods — and died during it. The lotion was carbon tetrachloride, a solvent whose fumes act as an anaesthetic. Her assistant told the inquest she had warned her the fumes “might make her feel faint”. Another assistant said he had used the shampoo “a thousand times a year” for six years. The pathologist, Bernard Spilsbury, blamed “status lymphaticus”, a condition medicine later abandoned. The verdict was misadventure, and the manslaughter charges against the department manager and the assistant were withdrawn. Send this to the friend who books the salon. #BritishHistory #EdwardianHistory #WomensHistory