Beauty in the Jazz Age
This powder box featuring a lady powdering her face whilst having her hair arranged by her lady’s maid is a box of “Three Flowers” face powder by Richard Hudnut Cosmetics and dates from the 1920s, when makeup came into its own in the racy and risqué Jazz Age. The box’s red, lime green and gilt design offers no apologies or hides discreetly. It is very Art Deco in style and I’m sure it would have looked beautiful on some flapper’s dressing table in the 1920s. Made of thick cardboard, it’s amazing that such a pretty piece of ephemera has survived the ensuing years. It was in the excellent condition you see it in now when I acquired it, so perhaps it was used to keep treasures in by its former owners. It sits atop an advertisement for accessories in style in Paris from a 1925 edition of the French fabric manufacturer’s periodical “Art – Goût – Beauté” (“Art – Style – Beauty”).
This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a monthly challenge called “Freestyle On The Fifth”. A different theme chosen by a member of the group each month, and the image is to be posted on the 5th of the month.
This month the theme, “beauty” was chosen by Andrew ()
I wanted to choose this powder box because it represents beauty in several ways: the powder box itself is an item of Art Deco beauty, and the box’s purpose was to hold face powder for a woman of the 1920s to use to aide her beauty.
Richard Alexander Hudnut (1855 – 1928) was an American businessman recognised as the first American to achieve international success in cosmetics manufacturing. The company once maintained separate US and European headquarters on Fifth Avenue in New York City and on the Rue de la Paix in Paris, respectively. Early Richard Hudnut fragrances included Queen Anne Cologne (1880), Violet Sec (1896), Aimée (1902), DuBarry (1903), Vanity (1910), and Three Flowers (1915). Product lines include Du Barry, Three Flowers, Gemey, Marvellous and a highly successful line of hair care products. Richard Hudnut's beauty products were sold in department stores, an indication of their appeal to a more affluent and sophisticated clientele.
Beauty in the Jazz Age
This powder box featuring a lady powdering her face whilst having her hair arranged by her lady’s maid is a box of “Three Flowers” face powder by Richard Hudnut Cosmetics and dates from the 1920s, when makeup came into its own in the racy and risqué Jazz Age. The box’s red, lime green and gilt design offers no apologies or hides discreetly. It is very Art Deco in style and I’m sure it would have looked beautiful on some flapper’s dressing table in the 1920s. Made of thick cardboard, it’s amazing that such a pretty piece of ephemera has survived the ensuing years. It was in the excellent condition you see it in now when I acquired it, so perhaps it was used to keep treasures in by its former owners. It sits atop an advertisement for accessories in style in Paris from a 1925 edition of the French fabric manufacturer’s periodical “Art – Goût – Beauté” (“Art – Style – Beauty”).
This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a monthly challenge called “Freestyle On The Fifth”. A different theme chosen by a member of the group each month, and the image is to be posted on the 5th of the month.
This month the theme, “beauty” was chosen by Andrew ()
I wanted to choose this powder box because it represents beauty in several ways: the powder box itself is an item of Art Deco beauty, and the box’s purpose was to hold face powder for a woman of the 1920s to use to aide her beauty.
Richard Alexander Hudnut (1855 – 1928) was an American businessman recognised as the first American to achieve international success in cosmetics manufacturing. The company once maintained separate US and European headquarters on Fifth Avenue in New York City and on the Rue de la Paix in Paris, respectively. Early Richard Hudnut fragrances included Queen Anne Cologne (1880), Violet Sec (1896), Aimée (1902), DuBarry (1903), Vanity (1910), and Three Flowers (1915). Product lines include Du Barry, Three Flowers, Gemey, Marvellous and a highly successful line of hair care products. Richard Hudnut's beauty products were sold in department stores, an indication of their appeal to a more affluent and sophisticated clientele.