Context
- Political context
To John Lukacs, Emeritus Professor of History at Chestnut Hill College, the historical beginning of the 20th century is in 1914, when the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, is murdered by a Serbian student in Sarajevo (Lukacs, 2013). The First World War starts in Europe, and the United States join in 1917. As Colonial Empires are involved, troops from all over the world are involved in the war, fighting for the dominant power.
After the war, the twenties are a time of reconstruction. Society is still the same, with its elites, its bourgeois and its poor. Women were mobilised during the war to work in factories and help war effort, but as soon as the war ended they went back to their previous position. Dubbed the 'Roaring Twenties', this decade is seen as a time when people tried to forget the war, and a time of economic growth. The krach in 1929 puts an end to that period and lets Europe enter a darker time of economic and political instability.
- Women in western society
- Women, fashion and makeup
Advertising cosmetics to women in the early twentieth century
In the early twentieth century, advertising consisted mostly of text illustrated by an image. When the image really was important, it was of course bigger, more detailed and precise, and could sometimes even be the sole element of the advertisement. In the marketing of beauty products to women, we find that most products advertised were soaps and creams, rouge and mascara in the 1920’s. Women shown in ads were beautiful and fair, overall idealised. One of the most striking features of such representations however is their realism: the artistic trends of the 1910-1920’s were not specifically relying on realistic rendering, however the images painted for the ads were. This shows a focus on identification: the woman shown on the advertisement must be beautiful but realistic, so that the consumer may relate to her. Moreover, this seems to be specific to beauty products : clothing, alcohol, objects, are not advertised with realistic images because the emphasis is on objects, style, trends, utility rather than beauty.
1910's - Kirk: 'Jap Rose Soap'
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This ad from the 1910's has a variety of interesting characteristics: it does not show a white western woman and therefore does not play on a possible identification of the consumer to the product. Instead it features a young Japanese woman, supposedly a geisha.
- 'pure, transparent' - 'precious oils' - 'so delicate, so exquisite, so refined' - 'purity, fragrance, health-giving' - 'soft, fluffy and glossy' It also uses science as an argument. It states that the product is scientifically good for the consumer and proved to be of high quality, by using comparatives and hyperbolic statements: 'Modern science cannot produce a more genuinely satisfactory toilet and bath soap'. It also emphasises the authenticity of the product as Japanese and therefore as a precious and exotic product: 'perfected by jealous care and long years'; 'embodying the original atmosphere of old Nippon'. The use of the Japanese term 'Nippon' instead of 'Japan' is meant to reinforce the authenticity. The notion of 'jealous care' is an interesting feature: it plays on the idea that Japanese women have secrets for beauty, and this creates curiosity and envy on the part of the consumer. |
1924 - Palmolive: "Most Men Ask 'Is she pretty?'
not 'Is she clever?'"
The tagline, with its emphasis on the pretty/clever opposition, is made to arise curiosity since this is obviously an ad for a beauty product. But the text that follows contradicts this first impression.
'Freshness, Charm' are stated as qualities women look for. Then, the 'Enticement' points to the idea of seduction. 'More Precious than Personality or Cleverness' is saying that charm and skincare are more important than personality. And finally the direct question to the consumer, 'do you seek it?', invites to further reading and identification. The larger text starts with another confusing statement, making fun of both women relying on pretty and women relying on brains. So far it is impossible to say if the advertisement is in favour of either one. What they offer is rather the revolutionary combination of both : "develop your beauty to bring out the sweetness of your personality" - women's personality being necessarily sweet. The result promised here is new happiness. The vocabulary used is a positive one: - 'precious' - 'sweetness' - 'happiness' - 'simple' - 'pretty' The direct addresses to the consumer take the form of questions, and then of advices in the imperative mood that are sometimes paternalizing - such as 'remember, you can, if you try' or 'Use powder and rouge if you wish. But never leave them on over night.' When the product is described, the vocabulary is generally one of sweetness : ‘soothing, softly,’ and simplicity: ‘that is all’, ‘the world’s most simple beauty treatment’ and opposed to 'costly beauty treatments'. They insist on the simplicity of their formula, which is then linked to a 'historical' use of said formula. 'millions since the days of Cleopatra' roots the product’s liability in history and links it to a well-known reference of beauty which is illustrated in the bottom left. This is once again an orientalist image that plays on stereotypes and uses the antiquity and exoticism of a practice as a guarantee of quality. The text then focuses on scientific-like explanations on how to use the product and why it is unique. The marketing strategy here is to explain how to use the product, and explain problems in an apparent scientific way. They denounce makeup as the source of blackheads, pimples, and ‘disfigurement’, which is highly hyperbolic just as the ‘must be washed away’ that follows. They link their product to science health by using words such as 'treatment', 'emollient', and promising 'youth prolonged' and 'fine' skin texture as if the product did more than wash and clean the skin. The argumentation that follows insists on the specificity of the product - 'do not use ordinary soap'. While being simple, it is not reproducible and its quality can only be guaranteed by the 'Palmolive' brand. |
The product is shown on the bottom right corner, right next to its price and practical informations, but also in the continuity of the text that explains how to use it. |
1928 - Bourjois: Manon Lescaut Face Powder
This advertisement is another example of a very confusing message. Bourjois is a French company, as mentioned in the poster to give an extra ‘chic’ to the product they sell, and they use here a French literary reference. Manon Lescaut is a tragically famous character from 18th-century literature. She is a beauty everybody falls for, but she is imprisoned, she is asked by her lover and her brother to sell her body for them to survive, she is described as frivolous, naive and conceited, and is often homeless throughout the novel. Eventually she dies in the American desert.
There is no French advertisement for this product – only American ones. The name Manon Lescaut sounds very French and this is probably one of the main reasons why it was chosen. The reference to a notoriously beautiful women is also a simple, efficient way to compliment the product (just like Palmolive makes references to ancient Egypt and Cleopatra), but a problematic one too: they make consumers identify to Manon, and even though she is beautiful, her life is miserable and tragic – but she is described as a seductive temptress, which is something we find in other posters as a enviable quality. The text on the right emphasises the idea of natural beauty and charm. It also uses the strategy of creating a problem – modern life makes it difficult to be beautiful - and giving a solution to it - the powder. There is also, like in the other ads we analyse, the idea of skill – Palmolive links it to intelligence, Maybelline to allure (see below). Beauty should be natural, but it also requires skills and secrets. By associating their powder to ‘the skilled woman’, they aim at creating a complex in the consumer : not using the powder means not being skilled. The images show the product, highly decorated and refined, and on the left we have a drawing. We can see a woman dressed in typical twenties clothing (a cloche hat, a straight dress right under the knee) talking affectedly to a man of some importance – given his uniform. It gives once again the idea that the woman is so beautiful that important men are attracted to her – just like Manon Lescaut. |
1929 - Maybelline: 'Your Eyes Should Be Your Most Alluring Feature'
The text under the picture reads "allure, the essence of life’s thrill", which can hardly get more hyperbolic: they are reducing life to a game of seduction, making it important to look good in life. The expression "most assuredly" is once again hyperbolic and the ‘your’ in italics is an emphasis on the consumer, who is then more likely to feel concerned and identify. The rest of the text focuses on describing dream-like lashes: ‘dark, luxuriant fringe’ is also hyperbolic and makes the lashes sound like a jungle of black hair. The "deep pool of loveliness" gets us back to the allure, back to seduction, with a play on the idea of getting lost in women’s eyes and therefore falling in love. Then, "bewitching" sums up the whole idea of a woman seducing and trapping men like a witch or mermaid. Finally "you must" is once again an order, to make the consumer feel like they are missing on something if they don’t buy the product. The poster is overall full of hyperbolic elements meant to sell the product. It also has a discourse towards women that makes them feel obligated to buy the mascara, while at the same time making them desire it by associating the product with the power of seduction.
At the bottom of the ad, the little image shows the same woman doing the same gesture, but a man is looking at her so we get the idea that she is seducing a man only with her eyes. The insistance on seduction makes an indirect emphasis on the male gaze – beauty is important because men are looking at you, and you should be concerned about them finding you pretty. |
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Conclusions
During the 1910’s, there were very little advertisement for beauty products and makeup that show images of women, mainly because ads consisted mostly of text in newspapers and very few had images, but also because makeup was considered subversive and characteristic of sex-workers, and women were supposed to give the illusion that beauty was natural and uncared for. This aspect of beauty is still very present in the 1920's: the posters we analysed put an emphasis on the naturalness, simplicity and purity of their product, on its historicity and authenticity, and on the way it emphasises women's natural charm and beauty.
In the 1920’s, makeup became more mainstream, primarly because of movies: in order to counter the poor contrasts of the image and the lack of color, actresses had to wear heavy makeup to emphasise their facial features. It was then picked up by urban middle-class women – the same women that cut their hair or wore it in the illusion of short hair, and had shorter, straighter dresses that fell just under the knee. The idea of women’s boldness we associate with the twenties is often linked to the fact that they gained freedom by working during the war, and also linked to a need for relief and laughter after the war. But after the war most women came back to the place they had before and a minority of them actually corresponded to our stereotyped vision of women in the twenties. Not every woman was wearing flapper dresses with short hair and khôl around the eyes, but it was nonetheless a trend, and this shows in advertisement that address women and their care for beauty.
The main themes we get in these posters are seduction, appeal, beauty as natural but emphasised through skills and knowledge, and 'scientific' claims and explanations. Advertisement was about selling quality products to women, who supposedly all want to look good and seductive. Overall, the woman portrayed is a white woman – fairness being praised as a crucial element of beauty –, idealised and appealing, who wants to look good for others - mainly men.
In the 1920’s, makeup became more mainstream, primarly because of movies: in order to counter the poor contrasts of the image and the lack of color, actresses had to wear heavy makeup to emphasise their facial features. It was then picked up by urban middle-class women – the same women that cut their hair or wore it in the illusion of short hair, and had shorter, straighter dresses that fell just under the knee. The idea of women’s boldness we associate with the twenties is often linked to the fact that they gained freedom by working during the war, and also linked to a need for relief and laughter after the war. But after the war most women came back to the place they had before and a minority of them actually corresponded to our stereotyped vision of women in the twenties. Not every woman was wearing flapper dresses with short hair and khôl around the eyes, but it was nonetheless a trend, and this shows in advertisement that address women and their care for beauty.
The main themes we get in these posters are seduction, appeal, beauty as natural but emphasised through skills and knowledge, and 'scientific' claims and explanations. Advertisement was about selling quality products to women, who supposedly all want to look good and seductive. Overall, the woman portrayed is a white woman – fairness being praised as a crucial element of beauty –, idealised and appealing, who wants to look good for others - mainly men.