ROUND THE TEA TABLE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 114, 17 May 1939, Page 2

ROUND THE TEA TABLE

(By

E.R.)

The Sale of » Mower. I A good little story is being told concerning the sale of a lawn mower. A well-known resident wno left Wanganui recently, sold up his household effects. Among the articles sold was a lawn mower which the owner had bought second-hand 12 years ago for 10s. After doing duty all that time it changed hands at 15s, and is now back in its original home.. Retaliation. I’ve just been reading a little tale about corsets that is rather amusing, but believe it or not, it is on record. It states that tradition insists that corsets were invented by a brutal butcher of the 13th century as a punishment for his wife. . She was very loquacious and he put a pair of stays on her to take away her breath. The punisnment spread and the women, in defence, made a fashion of it. Are You a Good Dancer? The season of dancing is upon us once again, yet there are dancers who bould not, by any stretch of the imagination, be called good dancers. Tnere are a few girls, out the majority of “not so good” dancers are the men. They seerri to be unconscious of the fact, and would resent their friends suggesting a lew lessons on dancing. They create traffic problems on the dance floor as acute amotor traffic on the street. Why nui have certificates for dancing similar to driving test passes? The tremendous pleasure derived by the large number of people should not be spoiled by th-e selfish dancers who fail to keep the ony-way traffic on the ballroom floor. Should there be “traHn. inspectors” employed for dances as well as for the hignway? There arc many more jay walkers in a ballroom than on the street, it is lai from pleasant to encounter the typ<. of bau dancer who cuts the corners, keeps his elbows at a positively dangerous angle, or his arm out at lull length, 'incy are usually too selfsatisfied to realise that they should learn to dance wen and know the courtesies oi the ball-room. It needs only a few selfish couples to spoil the pleasure of the many. The Modern Miss. Here’s an amusing story going the rounds:—Just recently a young man invited a young lady friend to have lunch with him one day in one of our well-known restaurants. A suitable date was arranged and on tne day appointee! the lauy in the case arriveci wearing a pair of slacks in a striking shade of blue and in a style similar to those worn by the jolly Jack Tars, only topped with an Eton jacket in place ot the blouse. Instead of receiving the usual admiring ! glances the girl beheict a scornful look on the face of her escort as he noticed her outlit. He intimated that a young man preferred to dine out with a girl who knows the time and place for correct dress. The modern miss was resentful of his attitude and told him he did not know how to behave. “Very well,” he said, “you ask me to dine witn you dresseu Ime that. Wnat would you say and do if I came dressed in a skirt and blouse ? I’ve half a mind to do it. Yet if 1 walked down the street dressed in such a manner the police would run me in.” Window Displays. Window decoration and display as a profession for men and women is comparatively new. It doesn't seem a profession that sets any any dangerous contest in motion between men and women. That is, there are now about as many women in the field as there are men. If you were to wonder whether men or women were better suited by innate talent for it. it would probably be women. Isn't it women who usually arrange the flowers in a home, hang up the pictures, put up the curtains, arrange the table decorations? Those little duties involve the fundamental principles of display. And, then, a shop window to be decorated to attract merchandise sales is just an invitation to a Roman holiday , for the woman who loves to changeall the furniture around in her own home once a month! The woman shopper has had a direct influence on merchandising and display. Department stores used to be j stodgy and uninteresting places, but if they were nowadays they’d b? empty, because women have discovered that it is much more fun to shop } in an atmosphere of drama or artistic display than the old unappealing ; background. And they make it . known that they like what they like! They may be looking for articles. t but they expect these articles to be , presented to them in settings that are ( original and exciting. And that’s ,

’ where the new profession is develop- ‘ ing apace. In our city there are < ; fair number of windows in the shop- ’ ping section that have particular? ' skilful window decoration. It is an interesting fact that more than half o< these window displays are unquestion- , ably the work of women. 1 The Quest of Beauty. ; In discussing the question ot beautj culture, do we pause to consider tha as far back as 3500 years B.C. womei ; were beautifying their bodies ant painting their faces? Delving int< 1 books we read that during the firs' - dynasty, placed at 3500 to 5000 B.C ' it was customary to make use of toile 1 unguents and crude cosmetics fo • purpose of beautilication. This i. ; proved by the many beautiful carvec r alabaster unguent vases which wer< ! buried with the dead kings who usee their contents. Tutankhamen's toml revealed many specimens of the earlj art of the cosmetician. These hat contained quantities of aromatic; which were still elusively fragran when found. Comparatively limitec : in number the constituents came iron Egypt and some imported iron Arabia. There is reference in th< Bible to perfumed oil and ointments The shells of some unidentified fruit provided the extract of one substance used, and myrrh, spikenard anc frankincense were of great importance, also thyme. The Egyptian ladies enhanced theii personal beauty by the employment of somewhat crude paints. These practices reached their zenith in the lime of Cleopatra. Egyptian tombs have revealect the highest degree of cosmetic art, especially in tne embellishment of the eyes. Henna was, and still is, much favoured for dyeing the finger-nails. It is written (fl Kings, IX, 30), that “When Jehu was come Jesrell, Jezebel painted her lace.” Nero, the Roman Emperor, personally used cosmetics liberally, ana his wife, Poppaea, made no secret of the artificiality of her toilet. Chalk and other ingredients were used for whitening the skin, Egyptian kohl for eyelids and lashes and a sort of rouge for cheeks and lips. The fashionable ladies of the Roman Court devised a method of bleaching the hair. The use of crude cosmetics was practised in Britain. Bathing the face in wine was a luxurious habit of elderly ladies of the Royal Court in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the younger women being content with a milk bath. Both sexes adorned themselves with cosmetics at Court. In the 17th century some drastic steps were taken to check was was evidently considered the downward moral trend, and a Bill was passed in Parliament forbidding the use of cosmetics of all kinds, paints, scents, artificial , teeth and false hair. Also included were high-heeled shoes, bolstered hips, stays and the like. It considered that these devices betrayed into matrimony His Majesty’s subjects. All disobeying the law had their marriage annulled. All of which did little or nothing to deter milady in the course of her quest for beauty. The vogue for cosmetics spread to Europe, and. the Empress Josephine used them liberally to please Napoleon. Since then the business of being beautiful has developed into one of the most important industries in the world.