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How to Look Butch in Your Crew Cut
Long before Crew Cuts was the name of J. Crews adorable line of clothing for boys and girls, it was mid- century summers must have hair cut for boys of all ages. Also known affectionately as a butch...
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Beauty Bait During Wartime
In the fall of 1944 my mother Betty was a college freshman who had more on her mind than musty old history dates; it was dates of another sort that troubled her. However due to the war, she and the...
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Beauty, Brains, and a Bar of Soap
Sally’s Pretty and Sally’s Smart Would you dare risk the shame of “Cosmetic skin?” Sure you’re careful, never risking offending with halitosis, avoiding housewife- hips, pink toothbrush, B.O. and...
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The Real Housewives of the Cold War
Like most women growing up in the 1950s and 1960s I was fed a generous serving of sugar-coated media stereotypes of happy homemakers who were as frozen and neatly packaged as the processed foods they...
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Five Minute Face Lift
Want a more youthful vibrant expression? Chew on this! Forget expensive cosmetic wrinkle fillers and injectables like Botox. For a true non surgical age reversing technique-good ol’ American chewing...
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A Mothers Day Of Beauty
As a young child in the late 1950′s, I shadowed my mother everywhere she went. I was her Baba Looey to her Quick Draw McGraw, Boo Boo to her Yogi Bear, Tonto to her Lone Ranger.Within her sphere of...
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Ding Dong…Avon Calling
The lyrical sound of Ding Dong… Avon Calling was music to my mid-century mother’s ears. My father may have said he wanted to be a hands on kinda Dad but it was my Mother who had her hands filled...
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Ding, Dong… Avon Calling Pt II
Avon may be a coveted account on AMC’s Mad Men, but for many mid-century housewives, Avon was a coveted career. By the early 1960s Dawn Logan our neighborhood Avon Lady, was living out the ring-a-ding...
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Riveted by Miss Rheingold
New Yorkers went nuts for Miss RheingoldVintage Rheingold Beer Ad Miss Rheingold 1951 Elise Gammon For some mid-century misses the title of Miss America was the American Dream. But in 1948, for NYC...
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No Time to Tan
Vintage ad Elizabeth Arden Velva Leg Film Long before self tanners, and micro mist airbrush tanning sprays flooded the market, a retro a gal need only apply a good film of bronzer to give herself show...
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The Real Housewives of The Cold war
Like most women growing up in the 1950s and 1960s I was fed a generous serving of sugar-coated media stereotypes of happy homemakers who were as frozen and neatly packaged as the processed foods they...
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An Age Old Problem: Women and Aging
Limiting and less than flattering portrayal of older women once populated the pop culture landscape. Cougars circa 1974. Playboys “horny granny” cartoon by Robert Brown was a parody of the sexy...
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Women and Aging – You Can Survive
Having just turned 60 I have now entered DEFCON 2 in the war against aging. That is, if we are to believe the media who have been waging their own war against women and aging for years. After decades...
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Black Like Me
Exposed of lying about her ethnicity, Rachel Dolezan has gone through efforts to change her natural physical appearance – her skin darker, hair kinkier than the pale blond of her teenage years. Oops!...
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All American Nativism – Nothing New
Nativism is at the core of Trumps campaign and is one of the keys to his appeal, proving Trump really is a “Know Nothing” a direct descendant from the 19th century political party who trafficked on...
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Women and Beauty- Is there an Expiration Date?
Today I turn 64 and if I am to believe the media, I have long passed my expiration date of desirability as a woman. In fact to accept conventional wisdom about women, nothing matches their fear of...
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Beauty Parlor Memories for Mothers Day
A Mothers Day without my own beloved mother means it’s a day of beloved mother memories. When I was a pre-schooler, I shadowed my mid-century mother everywhere she went. I was her Baba Looey to her...
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Trump- A Wanna Be Breck Girl
Snarkily calling a rival a “meanie” and sulking about the condition of your hair are the whining of an insecure moody middle-school girl, not the president of the United States. But a pouting tween...
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The Problem With Aging Is the Problem
The real problem with aging is that we consider it a problem We don’t need to defy aging. We need to embrace it and not see it through the lens of decline. Or diminishment The images of “older women”...
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Does Beauty Have an Expiration Date?
“Beauty Expiration Date -Best Used By” Sally Edelstein Mixed media 10” x 12” Today I turn 68 and to believe the media, I have long passed my expiration date of desirability as a woman. But here’s the...
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