US Vogue April 15, 1952

Suzy Parker wears a printed coat and hat by Christian Dior. Lipstick, the shade of "Mint Red" by Harriet Hubbard Ayer.)

Suzy Parker porte un manteau imprimé et un chapeau de Christian Dior. Rouge à lèvres, la nuance de "Mint Red" de Harriet Hubbard Ayer.)

Photo John Rawlings vogue archive

Harriet Hubbard Ayer Ad (Vogue Italia 1972)

Spelman Seminary, companionship, Sophia B. Packard, and Harriet E. Giles

Harriet Elizabeth "Hattie" Giles and Sophia Brett Packard in a photograph sometime before 1891. Image from Spelman College Archives and NYPL.

In 1881, Sophia Brett Packard founded Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary with her longtime companion, Harriet E. Giles. The school would later be renamed Spelman Seminary in 1884 in honor of John D. Rockefeller's wife, Laura Celestia "Cettie" Spelman, who was an active abolitionist and school teacher, since the latter had paid the balance to keep the school open, which opened its doors in 1888. Sophia would continue onward on the school's board of trustees, then as president until her death in June 1891, when there were 464 students and faculty of 34. There's more to this story than the four paragraphs on Sophia's Wikipedia page.

Sophia, my fifth cousin five times removed, was born in New Salem, Massachusetts in January 1824 to Winslow Packard (1790-1852) and Rachel Freeman (1788-1844). She had five siblings: Joseph Fairbanks (1812-1883), Jane (b. 1815), Mary (1815-1838), Hubbard Vaughn (1817-1861), and Rachel Maria (b. 1818). She would graduate from the Charleston Female Seminary in Massachusetts, work at the Connecticut Literary Institution in Suffield, be secretary for the American Baptist Home Mission Society. By the early 1880s she was committed to helping improve education for Black people, specifically Black women, in the South. She would later be described as a "woman of rare executive ability" and having an earnest, strong character. [1]

There is more to be said. You may have noticed earlier that I described Harriet E. Giles as her life-long companion. This is first evidenced by the fact that Sophia died from sickness while on a summer vacation with Harriet, and would be buried in Athol, Massachusetts. Harriet, who lived until 1909, and born in New Salem, Massachusetts like Sophia, would become the president of Spelman Seminary when Sophia died. One writer would call Harriet and Sophia a lesbian power couple, noting that they met each other in the mid-1850s when Harriet was a student at New Salem Academy and Sophia was the preceptor. Both would be buried next to one each other in Silver Lake Cemetery. They would also be described as "close friends and supportive coworkers" by Harry G. Lefever in his article on the early origins of Spelman College. He also noted note the New England-progressive outlook they brought to the school, noting their emphasis on liberal and industrial courses, but employed assumptions about gender roles, which became part of the curriculum while being self-sacrificing and putting others before themselves. At the same time, they never fundamentally challenged social injustices or inequities, either by staying silent about redistribution of land for formerly enslaved peoples, not actively lobbying to end lynching within the South, or having Black people in leadership positions. [2]

Further evidence shows Harriet and Sophia living together in Suffield, Hartford, Connecticut in 1860, within the Mather household, in this below census extract:

Sophia and Harriet are highlighted by a yellow box. Source is 1860 United States Federal Census for Sophia B Packard, Connecticut, Hartford, Suffield, Year: 1860; Census Place: Suffield, Hartford, Connecticut; Roll: M653_79; Page: 667; Family History Library Film: 803079

The same is the case in 1865, when they are living in the same household in Worcester, Massachusetts, along with many other teachers and students. She would still be living in Worcester, Massachusetts until at least 1867. At first I couldn't find her in the 1870 census, and her 1890 passport application does not mention Harriet. However, digging into it more, I found them together in Suffolk, Massachusetts, and it turns out that Harriet submitted a passport application at the same time as Sophia. Additionally, when Harriet died in November 1909 of pneumonia, an obituary in The Sumpter Enterprise at the time described Sophia as Harriet's "friend and co-worker". The Atlanta Constitution would use similar language in their obituary. They were both called "devoted Christian woman" in another article about Spellman, which isn't surprising considering Sophia had worked in a church and what became Spellman was originally in the basement of a church before moving to a new location. [3]

Otherwise, a 1853 student lists for New Salem Academy note that Harriet's father, Samuel, is the secretary of the academy, Harriet as a teacher of music. Sophia is not listed there. However, she is listed as a preceptress in 1855 and Samuel is still secretary of the school, and Harriet is a student in the school's classical department. I also found them together in the 1880 census, boarding on 275 Shawmut Avenue (which is seemingly just an apartment building) in Boston within the Ryder household, along with many other boarders. [8] Harriet would also write a moving eulogy to Sophia, and mentions "loving companionship" which is undoubtedly a way to allude to the romantic relationship they had together, whether it can be called a domestic partnership, romantic friendship, or something else:

It is not necessary to euloigize one so widely known. Her work speaks for her; and the monuments she has erected, will endure from generation to generation, in the lives made better by her influence. How large her bundle of sheaves! How thickly studded her crown with stars for those she has won to Christ! We mourn not for her, but for the work, and the workers who will so greatly miss her loving companionship and wise counsels. Surely "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever."

Both also opened the Rollstone School in March 1859 together, which ended after both accepted teaching positions at the Connecticut Literary Institution. They both, would also, teach at the Oread Institute in Worchester from 1864 to 1867, with Sophia as co-principal and Harriet as teacher of ornamentals and music. They also both co-founded the Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society in 1877.

"Sophia B. Packard and Harriet E. Giles with Spelman Seminary Students" in 1886, via  National Alumnae Association of Spelman College

Spelman Seminary would later become Spelman College when its name changed in 1924. Otherwise, one article in The Springfield Daily Republican on November 25, 1939, possibly accessed using one of the libraries here, notes that an oil painting of Harriet was gifted to the Swift River Valley Historical Society. It is likely still in their collections, even though it is strange since the society wasn't incorporated until 1962.

While we don't know everything about Sophia, Harriet, and their relationship, which some have described as an iconic same-sex couple among many others, we can say that their legacy certainly lives on to this day.

Notes

[1] The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. 2 (James T. White & Company. 1921), 270-271; "Spelman - Packard" clipping in The Boston Weekly Globe, Boston, Massachusetts, 30 Jun 1891, Page 3.

[2] The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. 2 (James T. White & Company. 1921), 271; "Spelman - Packard" clipping in The Boston Weekly Globe, Boston, Massachusetts, 30 Jun 1891, Page 3; "Oread Institute," Lost Womyn's Space, Apr. 27, 2011; Riese Bernard, "16 Lesbian Power Couples From History Who Got Shit Done, Together," Autostraddle, Mar. 31, 2017; Harry G. Lefever, "The Early Origins of Spelman College," The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education No. 47 (Spring, 2005), pp. 60-63.

[3] Massachusetts, U.S., State Census, 1865 for Sophia B Packard, Worcester, Worcester Ward 7, image 4; U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 for Sophia B Packard, Massachusetts, Worcester, 1867, Worcester, Massachusetts, City Directory, 1867, Image 173; U.S., Passport Applications, 1795-1925 for Sophia B Packard, Passport Applications, 1795-1905, 1888-1890, Roll 344 - 01 Mar 1890-31 Mar 1890, Image 368; 1870 United States Federal Census for Hattie Giles, Massachusetts, Suffolk, Boston Ward 08, Year: 1870; Census Place: Boston Ward 8, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: M593_645; Page: 39A; U.S., Passport Applications, 1795-1925 for Harrich Elizabeth Giles, Passport Applications, 1795-1905, 1888-1890, Roll 349 - 09 May 1890-16 May 1890, Image 43; "Harriett Giles obituary - clip 1" in The Sumter Enterprise, Epes, Alabama, 02 Dec 1909, Page 3; "Harriett Giles obituary - clip 2" in The Sumter Enterprise, Epes, Alabama, 02 Dec 1909, Page 3; "Miss Harriett Giles Dead; Was President of Spellman" in The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, 14 Nov 1909,  Page 8; "Death notice for Harriett Giles" in The Clayton Record, Clayton, Alabama, 26 Nov 1909, Page 1; "Spellman Seminary" in The Rochester Daily Register-Gazette, Feb. 16, 1898, via Ancestry.

[4] U.S., High School Student Lists, 1821-1923 for Harriette E Giles, New Hampshire, New Salem Academy, 1853, pages 2, 3 (exact source is Catalogue of Trustees, Instructors and Students of New Salem Academy, Massachusetts, for the year ending November 10, 1853 (Greenfield, MA: Charles A. Mirick, 1853), 2-3); U.S., High School Student Lists, 1821-1923, New Hampshire, New Salem Academy 1855, page 3-4, 6 (exact source is Catalogue of Trustees, Instructors and Students of New Salem Academy, New Salem, Mass., for the year ending November 15, 1855 (Greenfield, MA: Charles A. Mirick, 1853), 3-4, 6); 1880 United States Federal Census for Hattie S. Giles, Massachusetts, Suffolk, Boston, 715, Year: 1880; Census Place: Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: 558; Page: 62A; Enumeration District: 715.

Note: This was originally posted on May 8, 2023 on the main Packed with Packards WordPress blog (it can also be found on the Wayback Machine here). My research is still ongoing, so some conclusions in this piece may change in the future.

© 2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

who's most wanted from the Masterlist's fandoms at the moment, please? thank you!

Phillip 'Phil' DeVille, Dylan 'Dil' Pickles, Mr. Stuart 'Stu' Pickles, Mrs. Didila 'Didi' Pickles (née Kropotkin), Mrs. Charlotte Pickles, Mr. Andrew 'Drew' Pickles, and the other characters from All Grown Up! / Rugrats ; Alfonso, Blathers, Booker, Don Resetti, Franklin, Gracie, Gulliver, K.K. Slider, Katrina, Mabel, Margie, Phyllis, Porter, Tom Nook, Brewster, Harriet, Pascal, Lyle, Kicks, Labelle / Label, Lloid, Pavé, Zipper T. Bunny, Phineas, Nat, Digby, Harvey, Leif, Luna, Audie, Daisy Mae, Wardell, C.J., Flick, Niko, Orville, Wilbur, Celeste, Sable, Joan, Pelly, Pete, Saharah, Tommy, Timmy, and Lottie from Animal Crossing™ ; Nigel Uno, Kuki Sanban, Abigail Lincoln, Cree Lincoln, Fanny Fulbright, Rachel McKenzie, Harvey McKenzie, and Chad Dickson from Codename: Kids Next Door ; Regina George, Janis 'Imi'ike, Damian Hubbard, Karen Shetty, Gretchen Wieners, Aaron Samuels, Ms. Heron, Mrs. George, Ms. Norbury, and Principal Mr. Duvall from Mean Girls ; Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Aria Blaze, Sonata Dusk, Adagio Dazzle, Vignette Valencia, Gloriosa Daisy, Principal Abacus Cinch, Kiwi Lollipop, Supernova Zap, Juniper Montage, Principal Celestia, Vice-Principal Luna, Flash Sentry, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Big McIntosh, Octavia Melody, DJ Pon-3, Timber Spruce, Trixie Lulamoon, and Zephyr Breeze from My Little Pony: Equestria Girls ; Princess Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Discord, Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, Princess Cadance, Trixie Lulamoon, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic ; Strawberry Shortcake, Orange Blossom, Lemon Meringue, Blueberry Muffin, Raspberry Torte, Cherry Jam, Plum Puddin', Huckleberry Pie, Sweet Grapes, Apple Dumplin', Princess Berrykin, Berrykin Bloom, Custard, and Pupcake from Strawberry Shortcake™ / Strawberry Shortcake™: Berry In The Big City / Strawberry Shortcake’s Berry Bitty Adventures™ ; Alejandra 'Alex' Delgado, Mrs. Kate Moseley-Dorsey, Mr. Doug Dorsey, Zach Conroy, James McKinsey, Alex Harrison, and Jacqueline Dorsey from The Cutting Edge film series !! And you're welcome, 'nonnie !!

Ideal Doll Harriet Hubbard Ayer Cosmetics Doll

Probably dating to 1953 or 1954, the dolls were designed to wear specially designed makeup. They are 14-1/2 inches tall. This is her original outfit including shoes. For some reason, almost all of these dolls were brunettes, but this one is a redhead. They all wore the same dress, though in various colors including green, blue, and yellow. Ideal used a different kind of vinyl to create the…

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Amazon Books ‘That Reading Feeling Awaits’ from James L Brown ACS on Vimeo.

Amazon 'That Reading Feeling Awaits’

Production company: Prettybird @prettybirdpic Producer: Cindy Burnay @cindyt103 EP: Juliette Larthe @juliette_larthe & Ted Thornton Head of Production: Fiona Bamford-Phillips @fsbamford New Business: Shiara Miranda @shiaramiranda Stop Mo / Puppetry Production: Benji Landman @benji.landman Stop Mo / Puppetry Production Assistant: Lottie Beaven @lottielindsaybeavan Live action Production Assistant: Becca Stovold: @beccastovold Treatment creative direction: Tom Manaton

Creative agency: Droga5 London @d5london Creative Director: Matt Hubbard @matthubbard Creatives: Chris Russell + Ahmed Ellabib @afrolabib Agency producers: Caroline Angell + Sophie Paton + Rob Steiner + Olly West Account Director: @laurackidd + Laura Kidd @laurackidd Senior Account Director: Tom Elias @instomgrom Head of Design: Chris Chapman

Spanish facilitation: @virtualfilms.tv MD / EP : Scott Horan Senior Producer: Joan Garcia @joanbcngarcia. Producer: Dani Ojeda @dani0jeda Production Manager: Dani Gonzalez @tarifafilm Production Co-ord: Olga Airas Production Assist: Paula Comella @paulacomella

1st AD: Rob Blishen @rob.blishen Director of Photography: James Brown @jimmylbrown Production Designer: Maria Puig @mariapuiggonzalez Stylist: Ana Nurillas @anamurillas Makeup & Hair Artist: Eva Quilez @evaquilezmakeup

2nd AD: Marc Graells Key Grip: Ricard Arrés Gaffer: Kevin González

Editorial: @zed.video + @marsheen Editor: Ben Crook @bencrookeditor Producer: Harriet Cawley @littleneng Edit Assist: Matt Blacklock @matthewblacklock

COMP & SCI-FI VFX: @blackkitestudios Colorist: Thomas Mangham @thomasmangham VFX Producer: Hannah Ruddleston @hruddleston VFX Supervisor 2D: Guillaume Weiss VFX Supervisor 3D: Fin Crowther @fincrow 2D VFX team: Jonny Freeman, James Adamson, George Brunt, Andrew Curtis, Jack Stone, Venu Prasath 3D VFX team: Andrew Bartholomew, Pawel Luszczak, Marcel Ruegenberg, James Hansell, Tsvetelin Krastev VFX On-Set Supervisor: Tito Fernandes + Jonny Freeman

ANIME: @futurepowerstation Animation Producer: Janet Smith @dammitcole Animation Director: Yibi Hu Lead Animator: Daryl Graham Character Design: @adam_relf 2D Animation/Clean Up/FX: Krystian Piotr Garstkowiak @garstkowiak Alejandra Anguita @alexanguita_art Daisy Evans @daisyanievans Husain Untoro @husain_untoro Hannah Privett @secretlyhansolo Designer: Qian Tian @shrewdingq PreVis: Kevin O’Shea @kevoshea22

HORROR PUPPETRY: Puppeteer: Jimmy Grimes @jimmy_grimes_puppetry Puppeteer: Andy Bruskill @andy.brunskill Puppeteer: Hugh Purves @hpmakes 1st Assistant Director: Laura Carrion Del Pozo Director of Photography: Chris Clarke @chrisclarkedop Art Department Assistant: Harrison Clark @harrisonclark

FABRIC STOP MOTION: Animation Director: Isabel Garrett @isabelamelia.garrett DOP: Daniel Morgan @danielrm_dop Gaffer: Evance Breteuil @evance_breteuil Spark: Brendan Freedman @brendenfreedman Character Design: Nelly Michenaud @nellymichenaud Puppets: Sculpt Double @sculptdouble Set Build: Oliver Arnell Argles @oliverguymm Art Dept: Anita Bruvere @anitavere + Rachael Olga Lloyd @rachaelolgalloyd + Daisy Collingridge @daisy_collingridge + Lisa Ott @ottventure Animator: David McShane @mcshanedavid_ + Anita Bruvere @anitavere Rigger: Robin Jackson @robin_the_rigger

SUBWAY CEL PSYCH: Animation studio STUDIO AKA @studioaka Director: Marcus Armitage @marcusanimation Producer: Nikki Kefford-White Production Assistant: Lara Salam + Meera Nasheed @larasalam Editor: Nic Gill Animation: Marcus Armitage + Darcy Woodbridge @darcy_doodbridge Artworking: Marcus Armitage

POST SOUND & MUSIC:
Studio: String & Tins @stringandtins Sound Design + Mix: Joe Wilkinson @jrjwilkinson + Culum Simpson @culumsimpson + Lawrence Kendrick @iawrence Music Composition: Ioana Selaru @ String & Tins Audio Producer: Olivia Endersby @livvye13

Portrait of Harriet Hubbard Ayer, 1879, William Merritt Chase

Medium: oil,canvas

https://www.wikiart.org/en/william-merritt-chase/portrait-of-harriet-hubbard-ayer

Today we remember the passing of Jerry Jeff Walker who Died: October 23, 2020 in Austin, Texas

Jerry Jeff Walker was an American country music singer and songwriter. He is best known for writing the 1968 song "Mr. Bojangles".

Walker was born in Oneonta, New York. His maternal grandparents played for square dances in the Oneonta area, with his grandmother, Jessie Conroe, playing piano, and grandfather playing fiddle. During the late 1950s, Crosby was a member of a local Oneonta teen band called The Tones.

The band traveled to Philadelphia to audition for Dick Clark's American Bandstand, but were turned down. Members of the band found Dick Clark's house and were able to get a recommendation to audition at New York City's Baton Records through the company's lead producer Sol Rabinowitz. The band was given a recording contract, but the studio wanted a quintet backed by studio musicians, which left Crosby and another member (Gerald T. Russell) out of their recordings.

After high school, Crosby joined the National Guard, but his thirst for adventure led him to go AWOL and roam the country busking for a living in New Orleans and throughout Texas, Florida, and New York, often accompanied by H.R. Stoneback (a friendship referenced in 1970's "Stoney"). He played mostly ukulele until Harriet Ottenheimer, one of the founders of The Quorum, got him settled on a guitar in 1963. He adopted his stage name "Jerry Jeff Walker" in 1966.

He spent his early folk music days in Greenwich Village in the mid-1960s. He co-founded a band with Bob Bruno in the late-1960s called Circus Maximus that put out two albums, one with the popular FM radio hit "Wind", but Bruno's interest in jazz apparently diverged from Walker's interest in folk music. Walker thus resumed his solo career and recorded the seminal 1968 album Mr. Bojangles with the help of David Bromberg and other influential Atlantic recording artists. He settled in Austin, Texas, in the 1970s, associating mainly with the outlaw country scene that included artists such as Michael Martin Murphey, Willie Nelson, Guy Clark, Waylon Jennings, and Townes Van Zandt.

A string of records for MCA and Elektra followed Jerry Jeff's move to Austin, Texas, before he gave up on the mainstream music business and formed his own independent record label. Tried & True Music was founded in 1986, with his wife Susan as president and manager. Susan also founded Goodknight Music as his management company and Tried & True Artists for his bookings. A series of increasingly autobiographical records followed under the Tried & True imprint. Tried & True also sells his autobiography, Gypsy Songman. In 2004, Jerry Jeff released his first DVD of songs from his past as performed in an intimate setting in Austin.

Walker married Susan Streit in 1974 in Travis County, Texas. They had two children: a son, Django Walker, who is also a musician, and a daughter Jessie Jane. Walker has a retreat on Ambergris Caye in Belize, where he recorded his Cowboy Boots and Bathing Suits album in 1998. Walker also made a guest appearance on Ramblin' Jack Elliott's 1998 album of duets Friends of Mine, singing "He Was a Friend of Mine" and Woody Guthrie's "Hard Travelin.'"

Walker recorded songs written by others such as "LA Freeway" (Guy Clark), "Up Against the Wall Red Neck Mother" (Ray Wylie Hubbard), "(Looking for) The Heart of Saturday Night" (Tom Waits) and "London Homesick Blues" (Gary P. Nunn). He also interpreted the songs of others such as Rodney Crowell, Townes Van Zandt, Paul Siebel, Bob Dylan, Todd Snider, Dave Roberts, and even a rodeo clown named Billy Jim Baker. Some have called Jerry Jeff the Jimmy Buffett of Texas. It was Jerry Jeff who first drove Jimmy Buffett to Key West (from Coconut Grove, Florida in a Packard). Walker and Buffett also co-wrote the song "Railroad Lady" while riding the last run of the Panama Limited.

Walker had an annual birthday celebration in Austin at the Paramount Theatre and at Gruene Hall in Gruene, Texas. This party became an enormous event in Texas and brought some of the biggest names in country music out for a night of picking and swapping stories under the Austin skyline. Jimmy Buffett attended the 2004 birthday bash.

On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Jerry Jeff Walker among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal Studios fire.

Walker was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2017 and passed away on Friday, October 23 2020 from cancer-related complications.

“Before the Civil War, women dressed their own hair or, if affluent, bade their maids or slaves to do so. Professional hairdressers, often men who visited the homes of the wealthy, were relatively few in number. Commercial beautifying was generally considered a "vulgarizing calling," a legacy of its ties to personal service and hands-on bodily care. This view changed as women's need for jobs grew more pressing in the late nineteenth century. Industry, immigration, and urban growth had transformed the American economy and society. Working-class women expected to support themselves or contribute to family income, but even middle-class women were thrown back on their own resources when their husbands died or failed in business. The vast majority of female wage earners toiled in factories, on farms, or in private homes as domestic workers, but growing numbers worked in clerical, retail, and service jobs. These included hairdressing, cosmetology, manicure, and cosmetics sales. 

Although commercial beauty culture mainly offered women low-wage work, it became one of a handful of occupations-along with dressmaking and millinery-to sustain female entrepreneurship and ownership. Ironically, the feminine stereotypes that rendered women unfit for the world of commerce validated their endeavors in the beauty business. Promoters proclaimed that "no profession is more suitable for women, or more pleasant, than that of helping others to become beautiful and youthful in appearance." Some, like Mary Williams, became salon proprietors. The daughter of slaves who had bought their freedom, Williams learned the hair trade after the Civil War and opened a shop in Columbus, Ohio, in 1872. Serving both white and black residents, Williams eventually ran the "leading hair-dressing establishment in the city," sold hair goods, and taught the trade to other African-American women. Women also became inventors, manufacturers, and distributors of beauty products. 

The full extent of their business activity remains unknown. Still, the U.S. Patent Office recorded the efforts of many women bent on achieving success selling cosmetics. They patented improved complexion creams, combs to straighten or curl hair, and clever devices to carry powder or dispense rouge. Most often women sought trademark protection for their products. From 1890 to 1924, they registered at least 450 trademarks for beauty preparations, the bulk of them after 1910. These confident inventors and manufacturers probably represent only a fraction of all the women who peddled their own formulas to neighbors or sold them in local salons. Many filed papers with the Patent Office years after they had put their product into use; only when they perceived a market for it, or faced imitators, did they choose to register the trademark. Beauty entrepreneurs came from all walks of life. Some of the more affluent had found themselves caught between women's new educational opportunities and ongoing sex discrimination in employment, especially in the sciences. 

Anna D. Adams aspired to be a surgeon, Marie Mott Gage a chemist. Adams abandoned her career in surgery when faced with the prejudice of male physicians, became a professor of chemistry, and eventually founded a chain of beauty parlors. Gage, who grew up in a family of doctors, studied chemistry at Vassar, but by the 1890s was writing beauty manuals and manufacturing products for the "scientific cultivation of physical beauty." A few women from wealthy or middle-class families turned to beauty culture in desperation, when circumstances forced them to support themselves. Harriet Hubbard Ayer, one of the first women to establish a large cosmetics manufacturing operation, was born into a prosperous Chicago family in 1849 and married the son of a wealthy iron dealer at age sixteen. 

For a time she lived the life of a society matron, but growing marital conflicts and her husband's business failure led Harriet to divorce him in 1886. As sole support of her children, she took a series of jobs, then moved to New York and began manufacturing a face cream named after Madame Recamier, a French beauty of the Napoleonic era. "Not a vulgar white wash" but "intended to replace the so-called blooms and enamels," Recamier cream proved a success. "Within a month," a contemporary account observed, "the house was filled from top to bottom with women trying to manufacture toiletries fast enough to meet the public demand." Ayer traded upon her elite connections to elicit rare endorsements from prominent society women and gain display space in department store. 

Most women entrepreneurs, however, started out in less fortunate circumstances. They were farm daughters and domestic servants, immigrants and African Americans, ordinary, often poor women. They lived all over the country, in cities, small towns, and rural backwaters. From socially marginal origins, they risked little going into a business whose reputation remained dubious. Traces of their local or regional exploits exist only in old fliers, ads, and patent records. But even those who became most successful, who shaped the national development of the modern cosmetics industry, often started out poor and disadvantaged. Florence Nightingale Graham was born around 1878, some time after her parents had emigrated from England to become tenant farmers in Canada. Little is known about her early life, except that Florence grew up in poverty and had a limited education. As a young woman, she took one low-paying job after another, in turn a dental assistant, cashier, and stenographer. 

Following her brother to New York City in 1908, Florence found work in Eleanor Adair's high-priced beauty salon, first as a receptionist and then as a "treatment girl" specializing in facials. To better serve the wealthy patrons, Graham taught herself to speak with proper diction and to project an image of upper-crust Protestant femininity. A year later, she joined cosmetologist Elizabeth Hubbard in opening a Fifth Avenue salon. Their partnership quickly dissolved and Graham bought the shop, decorated it lavishly for an elite clientele, and, improving on Hubbard's formulas, developed her own Venetian line of beauty preparations. When she reopened the salon, she took the name Elizabeth Arden, one she considered romantic and high class. 

In contrast, Helena Rubinstein had already achieved considerable success by the time she arrived in the United States. The facts of her early life, like Arden's, have been obscured in a haze of publicity notices. In the 1920s and 1930s, she claimed to have been born into a wealthy family of exporters, taken advanced scientific and medical training at prestigious European universities, and obtained her winning skin cream from the famed actress Modjeska. Her 1965 autobiography and other sources present a somewhat different picture. Born in 1871, Rubinstein came from a middling Jewish family, her father a wholesale food broker in Cracow. Helena's medical education ended after two years when her parents, apparently opposed to her fiancé, sent her to live with relatives in Australia. In the 1890s, she worked as a governess and perhaps as a waitress. 

The cream used in her family had been made by a Hungarian chemist and relative, Jacob Lykusky, who taught her the simple beauty techniques she ultimately capitalized upon: cold cream to cleanse the face, astringent to close the pores, and vanishing cream to moisturize and protect the skin. Her friends clamored for the cream, and Rubinstein began to sell it. Finally she opened a beauty shop in 1900, using money lent her by a woman she had befriended on the passage to Australia. Within two years Rubinstein had become a success. She moved to London in 1908, opened a salon in Paris in 1912, and when war erupted in Europe, relocated to New York and opened a salon off Fifth Avenue, not far from Elizabeth Arden. There the two rivals warred for leadership in the high-status beauty trade. Disdainfully referring to each other as "that woman," they refused to acknowledge how much they had in common-their troubled family life, economic insecurity, string of typical female jobs, their immigrant status, and not least, the acts of self-making they performed to become cosmetics entrepreneurs. 

Annie Turnbo and Sarah Breedlove also found in the beauty trade an escape from poverty and marginalization, an outlet for entrepreneurial ambition. Born in 1869 and orphaned as a child, Annie Turnbo lived with her older siblings in Metropolis, Illinois, a small border town on the Ohio River. She received an education, taught Sunday school, and joined the temperance movement, but how she earned a living as a young woman is unknown. As a girl Turnbo learned plant lore by "gathering herbs with an old woman relative of mine.. . an herb doctor [whose] mixtures fascinated me." In the 1890s she began experimenting with preparations to help black women like herself care for their hair and scalp. Many of them needed remedies for such common problems as hair loss, breakage, and tetter, a common skin ailment, but women also considered lush, well-groomed hair a sign of beauty. By 1900 Turnbo had produced a hair treatment containing sage and egg rinses, common substances in the folk cosmetic tradition. In that year she and her sister moved to Lovejoy, Illinois, a river town inhabited only by African Americans. 

They began to manufacture the product Turnbo called Wonderful Hair Grower and canvassed door to door. Facing a skeptical black community, she recalled, "I went around in the buggy and made speeches, demonstrated the shampoo on myself, and talked about cleanliness and hygiene, until they realized I was right." Demand quickly outstripped the two sisters' ability to produce the hair grower, and Turnbo hired three young women as assistants. Urged by friends to expand the business, in 1902 she moved across the Mississippi to St. Louis, drawn by its vibrant black community, a robust drug and toiletries trade, and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, then being planned. Once well established in St. Louis, Turnbo began to extend her market, first throughout the South, then nationally. In 1906, as competitors began to imitate her product, she proudly registered the trade name "Poro," a Mende (West African) term for a devotional society. 

When she married Aaron Malone in 1914, Annie Turnbo Malone's Porn was a thriving enterprise. Sarah Breedlove, or Madam C. J. Walker as she became known, also entered the hair-care business in these years. Her early life bore some sirniIarities to Malone's, her chief rival. Born to former slaves in Delta, Louisiana, in 1867, she was orphaned as a child and moved in with her older sister. In 1882, at age fourteen, she married laborer Moses McWilliams. Over the next few years, she gave birth to her daughter Lelia, then her husband died in an accident. Moving to St. Louis in 1888, Sarah did housework and laundering, raised her daughter, and joined the African Methodist Episcopal church and several charitable societies. She also briefly became a Poro agent. When her hair began to thin and fall out, Sarah experimented with formulas containing sulphur, capsicum, and other stimulants, and began to sell her own remedy. She too called her product WonderfuI Hair Grower, which may have been one of the reasons Malone registered the Poro trade name. 

Although each woman claimed to have invented haircare systems for African Americans, they probably modified existing formulas and improved heating combs already on the market, adjusting them for the condition and texture of black women's hair. Their technique for pressing hair, using a light oil and wide-tooth steel comb heated on a stove, put much less strain on the scalp than earlier methods using round tongs or "pullers." By straightening each strand, this "hot comb" process created the desired look of long, styled hair.'' McWilliams moved to Denver in 1905 and began to sell in earnest. "I made house-to-house canvasses among people of my race," she recalled, "and after awhile I got going pretty well." She married newspaperman Charles J. Walker, who helped her start an advertising campaign and mail-order business. Over the next few years, Madam Walker extended her business to the South and Midwest and in 1910 settled the company in Indianapolis, which she considered a favorable spot both for African Americans and for national distribution. 

…Gaining access to distribution networks and retail outlets especially plagued women entrepreneurs. Competition for shelf space in department stores favored the more prestigious male perfumers, considered skilled craftsmen. Druggists relied on large wholesale supply companies, which tended to carry established brands and hired men as traveling sales agents. African-American entrepreneurs faced these problems and more. With few black-owned groceries, general stores, and pharmacies, they needed to convince white retailers to stock their products. The success of cosmetics manufacturer Anthony Overton was unusual. Overton remembered calling on the trade for the first time- "several white merchants refused to even look at our samples”-but with enormous persistence he eventually broke through the color line in drug and variety stores. Only after Malone and Walker had created demand through other means were their goods accepted onto drugstore shelves. In response to these difficulties, beauty culturists redefined and even pioneered techniques in distribution, sales, and marketing that would later become commonplace in the business world.”

- Kathy Peiss, “Beauty Culture and Women’s Commerce.” in Hope in a Jar: The Making of America's Beauty Culture

Model with makeup by Harriet Hubbard Ayer for "Les Magiciennes" in L'Officiel magazine No. 573-574, 1969

Marola Witt wears a blouse printed with pale silk flowers, by Madame Hathaway. Wool tweed skirt by Sloat. Hat by Sally Victor. Beauty note: Lipstick: Candied Ginger by Harriet Hubbard Ayer.

Marola Witt porte un chemisier imprimé de fleurs de soie pâles, par Madame Hathaway. Jupe en tweed de laine par Sloat. Chapeau par Sally Victor. Note beauté : Rouge à lèvres : Gingembre confit de Harriet Hubbard Ayer.

Photo Karen Radkai

vogue archive

David Bailey - Eva Maelstrom for Harriet Hubbard Ayer (Vogue Italia 1974)

1953 ad for Roulette Red lipstick by Harriet Hubbard Ayer cosmetics. A smart new lipstick color to play against black.

Harriet Hubbard Ayer Makeup, 1953

most wanted?

This is just going to be a short list, but we would love to see Cady Heron, Regina George, Janis 'Imi'ike, Damian Hubbard, Karen Shetty, Gretchen Wieners, Aaron Samuels, Ms. Heron, Mrs. George, Ms. Norbury, and Principal Duvall from Mean Girls ; Strawberry Shortcake, Ginger Snap, Orange Blossom, Angel Cake, Huckleberry Pie, Apple Dumplin', Blueberry Muffin, Peppermint Fizz, Seaberry Delight, Coco Calypso, Rainbow Sherbet, Crepes Suzette, Tea Blossom, Tangerina Torta, Raspberry Torte, Lemon Meringue, Apricot, Banana Candy, Watermelon Kiss, Plum Puddin', Annie Oatmeal, Caramel Corn, and Lime Light from Strawberry Shortcake™ / Strawberry Shortcake™: Berry In The Big City / Strawberry Shortcake’s Berry Bitty Adventures™ ; Tom Nook, Timmy, Tommy, Blathers, Sasha, Jay, Celeste, Mabel, Sable, K.K. Slider, Goldie, Chrissy, Molly, Lily, Fauna, Harvey, Harriet, Tex, Kicks, Redd, Marshal, Audie, Shino, and Merry from Animal Crossing™ ; Prince Zuko, Princess Azula, Avatar Aang, Sokka, Katara, Suki, Ty Lee, and Mai from Avatar: The Last Airbender ; and if any of our members have any other of their own most wanted characters, please comment to this post with your list of most wanted characters that you would love to see being added to this RPG's Masterlist !!

Friends, it’s Ameripolitan Award nomination time and yours truly is throwing his hat in for the DJ category. If you don’t know what the Ameripolitans are, they acknowledge the work of artists who make Honky Tonk, Rockabilly and Western Swing music. 

In their own words: The Ameripolitan Music Awards were created to benefit and acknowledge artists whose work does not readily conform to the tastes of today’s country or other music genres and organizations. It also provides fans with a means of finding these artists and their music. Submit your ballot at the Ameripolitan site. If you need help filling in the ballot, I’ve made a list of artists I think bust their ass and would make great nominees:

Ameripolitan DJ: DON STICKSEL, The Country Bunker & Both Kinds of Music Shows Honky Tonk Male: JP Harris Orville Peck Jeremy Pinnell Charley Crockett Gethen Jenkins Zephaniah OHora Tyler Childers James Steinle

Honky Tonk Female: Kelsey Waldon Kristina Murray Kathryn Legendre Emily Nenni Charlie Marie Eilen Jewell

Honky Tonk Group: Mike and the Moonpies  Mayeux & Broussard Andrea and Mud Casey James Prestwood & The Burning Angels The Sweetback Sisters The Country Side of Harmonica Sam Jenny Don’t and The Spurs

Rockabilly Male: Marcel Bontempi Colton Turner Pat Capocci Eugene Chrysler Jittery Jack Bloodshot Bill

Rockabilly Female: Tami Neilson Linda Gail Lewis Tammi Savoy

Rockabilly Group: The Shadowmen Wildcat Rose Tammi Savoy & Chris Casello

Western Swing Male: ??

Western Swing Female: Megg Farrell

Western Swing Group: The Hot Club of Cowtown Big Cedar Fever Kyle Eldridge and the Rhythm Rounders

Ameripolitan Venue: Grand Ole Echo, LA American Legion Post 82, Nashville Tractor Tavern, Seattle Pappy and Harriet’s, Joshua Tree

Ameripolitan Festival: Western Swingout

Ameripolitan Musician: Joel Paterson Dave Stuckey

Ineligible:

Honky Tonk Female: Whitney Rose, Brennen Leigh

Honky Tonk Male: Jesse Daniel, Luke Bell

Honky Tonk Group: Two Tons of Steel, The Reeves Brothers

Outlaw Female: Summer Dean, Nikki Lane

Outlaw Male: Ray Wylie Hubbard, Cody Jinks

Outlaw Group: Mike and the Moonpies, Whitey Morgan and the 78’s

Western Swing Female: Grace Adele (of Farmer and Adele), Sophia Johnson

Western Swing Male: Justin Trevino, Billy Mata

Western Swing Group: Big Cedar Fever, The Carolyn Sills Combo

Rockabilly Female: Tammi Savoy, Bailey Dee

Rockabilly Male: Jimmy Dale (Richardson), Al Dual

Rockabilly Group – The Delta Bombers, The Go Getters

Keeper of the Key Awards- Larry Collins

Ralph Mooney Musician of the Year – Deke Dickerson, Chris Scruggs

Venue of the Year – Robert’s Western World, Sportsmen’s Tavern

Festival of the Year – Rockin’ Race, New England Shake Up

DJ of the Year – Woody Adkins KOPN, WB Walker, Old Soul Radio Show