The Old Hollywood Way to Physical Perfection (The Literary Digest, 1937)
The old "flesh sculptor" himself, Donald Loomis, late Physical Director for MGM Studios, let loose with some 1930s tips as to how he was able to make all those movie stars look so utterly fabulous - some are quite useful (some are pathetic). "Symmetry is the objective of Hollywood body sculptors. For bust-reduction, Loomis has a simple formula: Jump up and down with no support. Exercise in which the arms are forced backward and forward horizontally are used to develop the upper chest..."
| Hollywood Discovers Plastic Surgery (Photoplay Magazine, 1930)
Published in a 1930 Hollywood fan magazine, this is the story of the earliest plastic surgeons and the rise of cosmetic surgery in Hollywood:
"Telling the actual names of all the stars who have been to the plastic surgeon is an impossible task. They won't admit it, except in a few isolated instances...It is only lately that a few of them are beginning, not only to to admit that they've had their faces bettered, but to even go so far as to publicly announce it."Click here to read about feminine conversations overheard in the best New York nightclubs of 1937.
| Helena Rubenstein on Youth, Beauty and Commerce (The American Magazine, 1922)
Before there were cosmetic surgery procedures, such as butt lifts and tummy tucks, there was Helena Rubenstein (1871 - 1965), who had a long and stunning career in the cosmetic business and who is remembered for once having said:"There are no ugly women, only lazy ones." In this interesting 1922 interview, the matron saint of cosmetics made some very bright remarks on the issue of beauty, glamor and vanity.
| Beauty as Duty: A Victorian Appreciation (Manners, Culture and Dress, 1870)
The thought that one's appearance should never be a burden for others is not entirely a Victorian concept, it was more than likely borrowed from the Greeks: "It is every woman's duty to make herself as beautiful as possible;and no less the duty of every man to make himself pleasing in appearance. The duty of looking well is one we owe not only to ourselves, but to others as well". Click here to read about physical perfection during the Golden Age of Hollywood.
| Timeless Advice Regarding Skin Care (McCall's Magazine, 1920)
Many tend to think that 1920s concepts concerning skin care are very different from our own -and in many cases they would be absolutely right; that is why we were so charmed to stumble upon this 1920 article written by the Broadway actress Suzanne Sheldon. The actress emphasizes 6 to 8 glasses of water each day, a sensible exercise regimen and washing the face each evening.
However, we had a good chortle when we read some of the period touches (that are unavoidable in 87 year old magazine articles), when she dispensed advice advocating the rubber bandaging of the jaw in order to remedy the growth of double chins.
| Low-Tech Beauty Aid (Sears & Roebuck Catalog, 1919)
Although these out-dated beauty accessories greatly resembled mule harnesses, they were nonetheless described as "complexion aids"; dreamed-up by the beauty industry of the early twentieth century in order to help win the losing battle waged against double chins and wrinkled foreheads, they were very popular.
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