Go Ask Alice, 1937

Celebrity advertising is nothing new. Although we might not recognize the name today, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, was a famous beauty in her youth.  Born in 1884, she became a fashion icon when her father became president at the start of the twentieth century.  She favored azure blue dresses, so much so that she inspired the song “Alice Blue Gown.”  In 1906, she married Ohio congressman Nicholas Longworth and lived the rest of her life in Washington DC.  Outspoken in her views, she reputedly had a pillow embroidered with her favorite adage:  “If you haven’t got anything nice to say about anyone, come sit here by me.” If you’re interested, you can buy your own copy.

Widowed at the start of the Great Depression, she fell on financial hard times.  That might explain this 1937 cigarette advertisement.  I admire her pepper and salt hair and subtle jewelry.  She was still quite a beauty at age 53, although I wonder why the stylists didn’t dress her in blue.

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