Ann K. Benson, of Allegheny City, Penn., registered a Patent for her "Improved Hair Restorative" in 1869 (Patent #98,142). To make it, she boiled petroleum oil, reducing it to half its original amount, and added small amounts of oils of bergamot and citronella. The perfume oils were added to remove its "noxious smell." She claimed that after the application of this preparation to the hair, diseases of the scalp would be removed, and the growth of the hair invigorated.