Be Dainty, or be Undesirable

An assortment of vintage 40s and 50s cosmetics/hygiene  advertisements preying upon women's fears of dreaded spinsterhood. According to magazines, all women desired marriage more than anything else. One recurring theme is the fear of any natural odor. Women were required to be "dainty", "sweet" and "pretty" at all times. Delicate flowers... Sweat was a big no-no!


I recall my mom telling me that women did not sweat, they glowed. She said it tongue-in-cheek... but still. I cannot imagine what an endless battle it would be to maintain "daintiness" at all times. 

"Often a bridesmaid but never a bride"

often a bridesmaid but never a bride

"Edna's case was really a pathetic one. Like every woman, her primary ambition was to marry. Most of the girls of her set were married- or about to be. Yet not one possessed more grace or charm or loveliness than she. 


And as her birthdays crept toward that tragic thirty mark, marriage seemed  farther from her life than ever.


She was often a bridesmaid, but never a bride."

The Radiant Camay Bride

marriageable thanks to Camay

"Camay is so gentle to my skin", she sighs. "When I changed to regular Camay care, I saw my skin grow softer, smoother, clearer, with the first cake of camay I used!"


"Let this bride's success story be yours, too."

Cashmere Bouquet, with the "fragrance men love".

Cashmere Bouquet, romance in bar form

"...daily cleansing with cashmere bouquet helps bring out the flower-fresh softness, the delicate smoothness and the exciting loveliness you long for! Use cashmere bouquet soap regularly ... for a fragrant invitation to romance!"

Dier Kiss~ the fragrance that whispers "Kiss Me, Dear"...

What does YOUR fragrance whisper?

"with the fragrance that turns a mans head- in your direction!"

Mum Cream Deodorant

be kind to your man's delicate nose!

"When you're close to the favorite man in your life, be sure you stay nice to be near!"

Odo-No-Ro Cream deodorant

Wow. Blatantly preying on fears of rejection.

"millions of women have found Odo-Ro-No a sure short-cut to precious charm... Odo-No-Ro safeguards your charm and attractiveness."

She's engaged! She's lovely! She uses Pond's!

Engaged AND soft skin!

"Like so many lovely engaged girls, Roberta counts on Pond's cold cream to keep her complexion fresh and soft."

He proposed last night!

I probably would have said no had I NOT been wearing Evening in Paris!

"to create a dreamy, tender beauty in the sweet face of a girl... Evening in Paris Face Powder, so enchantingly yours for romance..."

"Kisses on a Satin-Smooth Little Face"

(ahem.... LITTLE FACE??!!)

Are little-faced women more desirable than big-faced women?

"for a smooth, kissable complexion..."

A Beauty Factory

Everybody's Magazine, 1900

Apparently dimples, in chins and in cheeks, were quite desirable back in the day...

"The Whole Stock of a Coquette"...

or, a history of the tools and techniques used up until the Year of Our Lord, 1901. Great find!


source: The English Illustrated Magazine, 1901


I've screen-captured the pages of the article, followed by enlargements of some of the fabulous illustrations ! I was thrilled to find more pouf caricatures...

The French Lady in London, pouf

The Ladies' Absurdity, pouf

The Fruit-stall headdress, pouf

A view of the back settlements, pouf

Is this my daughter Anne? pouf

The Frenchified young lady, pouf

The Boudoir of a Countess

Renaissance Rhinoplasty

Early Rhinoplasty was performed for two reasons. Syphilis was common in the Renaissance and advanced syphilis ate away the flesh and cartilage of the nose. There was also the fact that duels were common and the nose was an easy target~! I was surprised to learn that experiments in plastic surgery were performed at such an early date. Not many were successful, a notable exception was the Vianeo bros. method of rhinoplasty.  The surgery was complicated and the recovery time long...

Calabrian Method of Rhinoplasty, 1597

The above illustration and following text are taken from the book, "The Professor of Secrets", by William Eamon.


"First they gave the patient a purgative. Then they took pincers and grabbed the skin in the left arm between the shoulder and the elbow and passed a large knife between the pincers and the muscle, cutting a slit in the skin. They passed a small piece of wool or linen under the skin and medicated it until the skin thickened. When it was just right, they cut the nose to fit the end of the little skin flap. Then they snipped the skin on the arm at one end and sewed it to the nose. They bound it there so artfully that it could not be moved in any way until the skin had grown onto the nose. When the skin flap was joined to the nose, they cut the other end from the arm. They skinned the lip of the mouth and sewed the flap of skin from the arm onto it, and medicated it until it was joined to the lip. Then they put a metal form on it, and fastened it there until the nose grew into it to the right proportions. It remained well formed but somewhat whiter than the face. It's a fine operation and an excellent experience."


Eamon is quoting from the writings of Leonardo Fioravanti in the above referenced material. The emphasis on "excellent experience is mine... sarcasm ON.  I... think... NOT.


from Eamon:


"One can only imagine what excruciating agony the operation must have caused. Added to the pain of surgery was the discomfort the patient had to suffer during the prolonged healing process. The entire operation could take as long as 45 days, including 15 days in which the arm was bound to the head in a harness as the skin graft took hold. The risk of infection to the open wound also must have been high...


...Those who endured the operation seem to have deemed the discomfort and inconvenience well worth it. The humanist Camillo Porzio, who underwent the procedure in 1561 to restore a nose that had been cut off in a fight with a jealous husband, admitted that he had "suffered the greatest trials" during the operation, yet he was pleased with the results, deeming his new nose "so similar to the first one that it will be difficult for those who do not know to realize that it is not the same.""

Beautifying the Complexion~ A Cautionary Tale

BEAUTIFYING THE COMPLEXION

Alletta would have been a very pretty girl, but for the dark freckles that sprinkled her whole face over. Her arms were as white as snow, but it made her angry to even look in the glass at herself. The whole study of her life became how to rid herself of her freckles. She tried one specific after another, but the only effect seemed to be to turn her once soft skin into parchment. She next tried to cover the freckles up with enamels and powders, and in this she was more successful. But the trouble and expense was so great that she could not "make herself up" more than once a day. So for the remainder of the time she must be invisible. This was particularly troublesome, as Alletta's parents were by no means rich. Her hard-working mother did her own housework, and a great deal of sewing for her pampered daughter besides.

With all Letty's skill, she could not make her painting look exactly like fair flesh and blood. There was an unnatural glisten to the white surface, that told plainly that it was artificial. To disguise this, she always wore the thickest veils that fashion would permit, and in the most suffocating August days never ventured to raise it for a breath of fresh air. She could never enjoy the luxury of a cool laving of her face in water after she was "made up" She even slept with that crust on her skin, under the fancy that it would improve her complexion.

"You will be pale enough to suit you after awhile," said a friend, " if you continue to use white lead as a cosmetic! White in death, or from paralysis."

But Letty would not heed any warnings. She was fully enslaved by her folly. Her skin came at last to look, when just washed, like a cracked cast of plaster of Paris, she was about to be married to a young man—whom she had taken great care never to meet except in the evening—when she was stricken down with paralysis, and is now a helpless burden on the hands of her mother.

There have been many similar examples of the effects of these cosmetics, and girls may far better endure the ills of a poor complexion than run such risks in their attempts to beautify it. 

source: Arthur's Home Notes, Volume 41, 1873

~white lead had been used from antiquity up until the 1800s as a means for whitening the skin...

Modern Fountains of Youth~ 1913

Good advice is unchanging~ diet, exercise, massage, hygiene...

From Good Housekeeping Magazine, 1913:

The Fountain of Youth!

The good news is that I've found it! The bad news is that this particular fountain of youth requires a great deal of work. 


This is from a book entitled, yes, "The Fountain of Youth", by Grace Peckham Murray, published 1905.


The good advice throughout the ages never changes. Keep a healthy diet, exercise in the fresh air, and all things in moderation. Maintain a reasonable weight. Control your appetites, all of them. Food, drink, cheap novels. Maintain an even temperament, do not worry or fret overmuch. Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Mental hygiene is as important as physical. 


People have not changed, either, not one bit. We all want to improve in one way or another, that is, those of us that have the luxury of living a life beyond hardscrabble existence.


From the book: "Self-help has been the precept constantly kept in view. Personal appearance and personal hygiene are neglected for several reasons. First and foremost because of ignorance upon the subject. Secondly, because of the idea that it takes a great deal of time, and thirdly, because it is costly to take "treatments." It is therefore first of all essential to learn how to do that which is necessary, and then the fact will quickly be recognized that it does not take so very much more time, if indeed any more, to do properly that which is required." 


Here are some images from the book to inspire! Ms. Murray has provided us with advice on improving the face, the complexion, the hair, the body and the mind...

EXERCISE:

 We're all going to exercise more in 2012, yes? 

Care of the Face

I resolve to do all of this, daily. I'll never leave the house~

Self-massage 

Care of the hair~

Care of the teeth~

Miscellany

The Final Word

(or, how worry and care will wrinkle the face)

so, smile, but not too vigorously. Think pure

and HAPPY thoughts, always...