Sally Scott is a young woman ready to help America in anyway she can! Having enlisted in the WAVES, Sally takes a chance to help her old man neighbor determine if his newest invention really can aid America in the war, you see outside radios are not permitted, but Sally sneaks in this secret radio to try to test it out to see if it is as great as it's inventor hopes it will be! During her first few months as a WAVE Sally gets into some mishaps, meets new friends (and enemies), and experiences the battles of war all in the name of "DOING HER PART"!
This very Patriotic book for young adults is a juvenile sneak peek into what it was like for those who wanted to do their part to serve America during WWII - with added adventure.
You are sure to find this book on Etsy or Ebay in various condition for under $25. If there are none listed when you ready this, I am sure it will pop up again from time to time.
An easy read that gives adventure without being long winded. Patriotically inspirational.
**Note: For those interested in this book, but sensitive to language, this book was written at a time when Japan was enemies with America, so they are referred to as Japs a couple of times and the Black American Sailors are referred as "Colored Sailors" and their speech is spelled phonetically as it was perceived Black Americans spoke back then. These instances are very brief and do not carry out throughout the story.
In the late 19th century through the early 20th century, Richard Hudnut was an established perfumer, beauty and cosmetic line creator, and successful businessman from New York. He created perfume and cosmetic lines that were comparable to the quality that France was known for. Most notably his lines included, Violet Sec (1896), Du Barry (1900), and Three Flowers (1915). Though the history of Richard Hudnut, his family, and his other lines of beauty products are interesting in their own right, this post will be focusing on his Marvelous beauty line. Simply because it is from this line that I have created a small collection from.
In 1902, Richard Hudnut created Marvelous, a cosmetic and beauty line that started with a cold cream for women. A Marvelous perfume was created in 1908 and is associated with the cold cream. With just the little bit of information I could find on this cold cream, the description of it makes me think of the original Pond's cold cream that was mineral-based. It's intended uses were exactly what we know Pond's to do even today. It was to cleanse, soothe, and prep the skin. I know that mineral oil based cold creams are controversial today, but I have always had great success with them and could only imagine I would have enjoyed the original Marvelous Cold Cream as well.
The original packaging for Marvelous was what you would expect from a turn of the century design. Very Edwardian and ornate with gilded flourishes on royal blue and cherubs carrying a crown to show that this line was superior to any other.
By 1916, Richard Hudnut sold his business and from what I can tell retired until his passing in 1940. It was during the time of his retirement that the Richard Hudnut beauty and cosmetics lines really expanded into makeup. Sure there were a few makeup products prior to then, but not like what we have come to know with the Marvelous line.
It is in 1932 that the line of Marvelous products and packaging that I like to collect was introduced. Featuring stunning Art Deco geometric lines in silver and black with a thin red band this packaging gave it a (then) modern look. There were also the new designs that featured the kneeling woman holding a beauty jar. If you see packaging that is a solid black base with red banding -- that would be specifically from the British line of Marvelous!
Known for both makeup and skin care products, Marvelous was the lesser expensive line from the Richard Hudnut brand. It is thought that this was brought forth from the economical decline of the early 1930s. Most notably in 1936, Marvelous was promoted for eye matching makeup! These are the eye color based ads that come up most often during google searches.
Now that I have shared with you a brief history of Marvelous, I'd like to share with you my small collection. To start, I was originally just looking for empties to restore and refill with my favorite, current products. I was even considering color matching if I found some compacts with a bit of product still in them. However, it is through this that I discovered unused products that I just had to get my hands on as well!!
Most abundantly you will find the rouge compacts. These will be sold empty, with some product, or if you are lucky like me unused! My first 2 purchases came from either Ebay or Etsy, I don't remember which. The first one, which came empty, is a hinged compact that measures 1.5 inches wide. It has a mirror on the inner lid and features the iconic kneeling lady of silver embossed on a textured silver circle. This compact is slightly more domed shape than that of my unused compact. The unused compact has the silver kneeling lady against a black square with a silver arch and silver deco lines aimed at her. This compact comes with a mirror also as well as the original poof which has a backing of silver with RICHARD HUDNUT printed in red. The rouge has Richard Hudnut embossed still and from the bit of coloring that has transferred to the poof, we can see that this shade is a bright orangey red. I am unsure which shade of rouge this was for or if it was part of the eye color matching line as the sticker on the bottom has been lost to time. It's the only thing missing from this otherwise perfect compact. That is of course unless there was some sort of cellophane separating the powder and puff.
My next two purchases also came from Etsy and Ebay as well. The Dusting Powder Tin is probably the next most common item for sale. This container use to store powder that one would dust over the body to soften and scent the skin. Like one would use baby powder today. Again, I wanted to restore and refill one of these tins, but none were both in my price range and my acceptable condition. So I put off the search for a while. It then so happened that I decided to browse Marvelous products for sale again when I happened across a listing for a completely unused Dusting Powder tin. However what sold me was that it came with the original puff and information sheet! Then I saw the price! It was too good to be true! It was comparable to the prices of empties that are listed on both Etsy and Ebay! I did not waste a second -- I hit Buy Now immediately! Oddly enough it was within the hour of buying the tin, that I was emailed a discount offer on a Marvelous lipstick I had in my watched items for a bit of time. I was on such a buy high that I had to accept that offer and bought the lipstick too!!
Having received the tin, I was amazed at how pretty the puff was! It is soft with a pocket for you to slide your fingers into when using the puff. It even still has the original tag attached to it! I can only imagine that this is pretty much exactly what the Tati Beauty Blendiful is like. Folks went mad over this "new, innovative" product of hers, which goes to show you that there is nothing new under the sun. Of course, I can only speculate that it is similar as I have never handled a Blendiful and I realize that one is meant to powder while one is meant to blend powder and liquid makeup products. It is the information insert in the Dusting Powder tin that I was most excited about!! I learned more about what products were available and could see a color chart intended for use of the products not designed for the eye matching lines. I mean, there was a Marvelous deodorant!! Can you believe it?
The lipstick was always meant to be a fixer upper. Like the rouge, I planned on cleaning, restoring, and matching the lipstick that still remained in the slide tube. This one was a bit grody, especially since the oils and base had separated over the years and created an unsightly buildup. I am guessing this is what is causing the push lever to cease up. Hopefully once I am able to give it a good cleaning, this will work itself out as well. I am excited to swatch the lipstick and see if I can't find a match for the color. Unlike the other products I have, the lipstick retained its original sticker and is designed for the eye color line. It is labeled Patrician for Blue Eyes. Sadly, my eyes are brown/hazel.
It was when I was trying to finish up details in order to film a video sharing my collection that once again I came across another product for sale. This time it was an empty mascara case. I hadn't seen one for sale since my Marvelous journey started, so once again I snatched it up without hesitation. Unfortunately, this one came without its original brush, but I figure I could replace it if I ever come across another mascara case for sale. The mascara case would have originally contained a mascara cake. Like the mascara cakes sold currently by Besame. Only this one would have been long and thin with Richard Hudnut embossed on it. Just like the Besame cakes, one would wet the brush, rub it in the cake, and then brush that onto one's eyelashes. It was interesting to me that the case had a metal lid, but the bottom was all a molded plastic. The plastic was thick and sturdy. I thought for sure the plastic would have been an insert. They definitely didn't cheap out when it came to this. I am assuming the bottom was made out of plastic (as opposed to the full metal seen with the rouge) because of the moisture introduced when activating the mascara. The moisture would have definitely destroyed the metal had it been made from it completely.
That is it. As of the date of posting this, that is my small collection of Marvelous products. I look forward to growing and using (packaging not products) my collection. Please feel free to watch the video I made about these items as well. Let me know if you too collect Marvelous or any other Richard Hudnut line by commenting below.
I happened to find myself in Boulder City just outside of Las Vegas recently and while there, I stopped in my favorite antique store, Goatfeathers. I knew my budget was non-existing, so even though I saw many items I wanted to buy (and 2 items specifically I sadly left behind), I just knew when I saw this vase that I would never have stopped thinking about her if I left her behind.
When I antique shop, I like to do 2-3 passes. If I have never been to an antique store before, I like to take a quick run through, just to get an idea of how big the shop is and the layout. I then do a second pass (or in this case my first pass since I am familiar with this store) where I take my time. I look at everything that my eyes can handle and if there is something I am interested in, I snap a photo. That way, it gives me time to think about how much I really need that item, I can consider my budget, and then finally, I don't have to carry everything around. My final pass is that I go back to the items that I had snapped a photo of and grab it if I just have to have it.
I pretty much knew that I was going to leave with this vase, but I was still a bit hesitant because she was the majority of my budget. Plus, I am a cheapskate and this was more than I usually pay for items. I believe it was fairly priced, I just don't like to spend over a small amount. I saw her about 1/2 way through my pass through the store and thought to myself, if she is still there by time I get back, I will get her. Sure enough, she was there waiting for me!
There isn't much information on her. She is only marked with a JAPAN in red on the bottom. A reverse photo search (from my own photo) brings up 2 more vases, one in blue and one in pink. No other information.
I think she will make a nice brush holder for my most used makeup brushes.
Let me know, have you found any pretty treasures lately?
When many of us think of the classic autumn setting, we think of color changing leaves, crisp air, and for many, pumpkin spice everything. We tend to experience all that only up until Halloween and then November's fall gets overshadowed by the incoming Christmas season. Once the trick or treating is done, the tones of oranges, reds, and golds are exchanged for the winter wonderland schemes of red, green, white, and blue. A rushed change if you ask me being that winter doesn't officially start until the end of December.
Perhaps it is because I am getting older or even that I live in Las Vegas, but lately I want to hold onto each moment for as long as I can. I want to embrace and enjoy what is in front of me and not rush onto the next new thing. I mention living in Las Vegas, because let's face it -- we really don't have a traditional fall. Sure, we do have some color changing of the leaves and the air does get a bit cooler, but it is the middle of November and we are still seeing temperatures in the 80s.
It's this desire to keep hanging on to the idea of autumn that I wish to share with you some fall pinup inspirations. I like to live vicariously through these images being that we are still pretty green here -- well as green as a desert can be. I hope that you will enjoy these too and take a moment to stop and smell the pumpkin spice roses.
As great as 2020 was for me, I feel like it all caught up on me in 2021. It is because of this that I haven't posted in nearly a year. However, I couldn't let the whole year go by without sharing some of my Halloween photos for this year.
With no time (or extra funds) to build a costume, I decided to create the spirit of Halloween around me. I was inspired by the Halloween pinup photos of the 30s and 40s where the gals were spooked by the scary shadows behind them. I did a similar shoot back in 2009 with my ex. His photos turned out far nicer -- he is a professional photographer afterall. I hope you enjoy these. I am only posting a few censored versions here. The full set of 19 photos can be found on my OnlyFans.
