In case you are wondering why you look so radiant and lovely right now, it is due to three things: the devastating southern heat and humidity, the dwindling water resources brought to you via our crumbling sewer systems, and the excess of hair salons (which go up $10 in service prices every month it seems). At least this was the Atlanta Constitution‘s booster-ish theory in at 1926 article which detailed some of the most modern beauty treatments available to the city’s “many beautiful women” as well as its “lady strangers and visitors.”
June 17, 1926
When the paper wasn’t hyping Atlanta ladies’ aptitude for beauty via its editorial department, the advertisers were happy to point out some of the services and products available for female improvement.
January 24, 1906
May 20, 1913
June 7, 1902
December 20, 1936
Don’t worry, the men had a lot to live up to too:
December 24, 1914
The following one is scandalous. Is it directed at men or women?
June 12, 1902
While digging through these ads, I discovered a fantastic column called “Beauty Chats” by Edna K. Forbes that started in 1919 and ran through the early ’20s in the Constitution. Aware of their female readership, the paper picked up several regular features for the “fair sex” (the term “weaker sex” was so passe).
October 27, 1919
“Beauty Chats” is obviously the best as it is immediately useful, covering topics like, “Symmetrical Eyebrows,” “Dainty Underthings,” “Excessive Perspiration,” and “How About Our Arms?”
A column called “Little Beauty Chats” penned by Blanche Beacon ran several years earlier but was nowhere near as informative because it didn’t have these photo illustrations that raised important points and pressing questions. More on “Beauty Chats” later, though!
Previously: Selling out
Tags: advertising, atlanta constitution, beauty
I’m a firm believer in the Unwritten Law.