HOPE IN A JAR
The
Making
of America's
Beauty
Culture
KATHY PEISS
University of Pennsylvania Press
Philadelphia
Copyright © 1998 by Kathy Peiss
First University of Pennsylvania Press edition 2011.
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN 978-0-8122-2167-1
The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition of this book as follows:
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Peiss, Kathy Lee.
Hope in a jar : the making of America's beauty culture / Kathy Peiss. — 1st American ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
I. Beauty culture—United States—History. 2. Cosmetics—United States—History. I. Title.
TT957.P45 1998
391.6’3’0973—dc21
97-42706
CIP
DESIGNED BY KATE NICHOLS
Disclaimer: Cosmetics recipes as described herein are given for historical and reference purposes only, and may cause skin, eye, and other injuries. In no way should the reader attempt to create, mix, apply, or ingest any of the recipes.
Frontispiece: Helena Rubenstein, around 1920
FOR PETER
with gratitude and love
Contents
3 Beauty Culture and Women's Commerce
Preface
Some years ago, I sat in my aunt's kitchen, explaining to her my plan to spend the day at the Max Factor Museum of Beauty in Hollywood, not as a tourist, but as a researcher. A vital woman in her sixties who had sold cosmetics for a Los Angeles wholesale house, she was intrigued by my project, although perplexed that a scholar would find in beauty products a subject of any significance. Then the conversation turned. Scrutinizing my face, she said, “You know, a little blusher, a little eye shadow, they make you look and feel good. Don't you think cosmetics would make you look better?” I replied, “I think they would make me look different.” “Different how,” she persisted, “different good or different bad?” I smiled. “Just different.”
This was, of course, an evasion. For women of my generation, born during the baby boom and coming of age in the 1960s, judgments about manufactured beauty changed with lightning speed. The counterculture and feminism came along just in time to turn my ineptitude with cake eyeliner and thick mascara into the natural look. At the same time, being a failed user has not exempted me from frequenting makeup counters, examining cosmetics ads, reading women's magazines, or looking in mirrors. Indeed, the idea for this book originated in a New Jersey outlet mall, during a running conversation with my shopping mate. Obviously, I live within the very culture of beauty whose history I have endeavored to write.
Still, my reply to my aunt's question declared the stance I have tried to take in this study. I write about cosmetics out of an interest in the world of appearances, in the ways women have fashioned their looks to express their own sense of selfhood and social role. I have wanted to understand women's intentions as they began to use these mass-produced items, as well as the social and cultural forces that influenced their use. To do so, I have tried to be open to the different values, meanings, and purposes women have attached to beauty preparations. How could such throw-away feminine objects be the stuff of serious investigation, my aunt wondered. This book is my answer.
I am grateful to many institutions and individuals who have sustained me as I worked on this project over the years. The American Council of Learned Societies, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis generously funded my work, and the University of Massachusetts granted several research leaves. Many libraries and archives provided the source materials for a study that sometimes seemed boundless. I thank the National Museum of American History; Library of Congress; National Archives; New York Public Library; Indiana Historical Society; Procter and Gamble Company; Baker Library, Harvard University; Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College; Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College; State Historical Society of Wisconsin; Chicago Historical Society; New-York Historical Society; American Medical Association Archives; Hagley Museum and Library; and the special collections libraries at Duke University, Cornell University, Rutgers University, University of Iowa, and Vassar College. I owe a special debt to archivists Vanessa Broussard-Simmons, Wilma Gibbs, Ellen Gartrell, Marian Hirsch, Russell Koonts, Amy Fischer, and the tireless reference and interlibrary loan staff at the University of Massachusetts Library. I am also grateful to A'Lelia Bundles, who kindly permitted me access to the Madam C. J. Walker Papers.
Many individuals sent me clippings, directed me to sources, or shared their work with me, including Joseph Arnold, Natalie Beausoleil, Patricia