A Very Godey Birthday

Louise of Months of Edible Celebrations reminded me that today is Louis Antoine Godey’s birthday today – he was born in New York City on June 6, 1804 – so get out those party hats! But make sure that they are elegant and fashionable ones, for this is the man who started the first really popular women’s fashion magazine in America.

This of course was Godey’s Lady’s Book, which the self-educated Louis, the son of French parents who had fled to the Unted States after the Revolution, started in Philadelphia in 1830. He had worked up to being a newspaper editor, starting at age 15 as a newspaper boy in New York City. The first issues of Godey’s were mostly reprints of articles from French magazines, which helped to disseminate French culture and fashion in the US. By the 1840s Godey’s was one of the most popular magazines in the country. It remained so in the 1850s, though it had declined by the time of its final issue in 1898.

In 1837 Godey hired poet, novelist and editor Sarah Josepha Hale to edit his magazine. She was the author, most famously, of what is now known as “Mary Had A Little Lamb” – though its original title was “Mary’s Lamb.” She was the Lady’s Book editor until 1877, in which year Godey sold the magazine.

In honor of Louis Godey’s birthday, I am going to share with you a few of the many wonderful things I’ve found in his magazine – which was full of everything from fiction to fashion, recipes, household hints, and some of the wackiest Victorian crafts projects anyone could ever hope to see.

Here are some delightful hats that you might want to consider wearing to Godey’s birthday extravaganza:

And here is a very lovely house dress, from 1890, which begs the question: how much more does one have to dress up when one goes OUT of the house? Maybe you could use the fan to do a little light dusting…

I have already written a few Godey posts, so I’m going to give you the links to them here (and I do plan to write more, as I scan more crazy crafts):

Take A Pinecone and A Tambourine

A Greco-Japanese Costume

Godey’s Lady’s Pickle Stand

A Novel Newspaper Rack

Image of Louis Antoine Godey from Wikipedia.

Delightful Beautifying Oil

A confusing ad this, what with the sunset-on-the-prairies background – and the glam model in the foreground. Why is she out there? That’s a mighty formal getup for a wienie roast. And I also have some other questions/thoughts, that I am too lazy to craft into anything. So I’ll just number them and we’ll see where we are after that.

1. First of all the Revlon people seem to think that this is me. Um, it isn’t. So why not say: “HER – all gussied up with a faceful of Revlon…it took us three hours to get her ready, and three more to wait for the sun to set.”

2. I personally am not capable of “lovely radiance always.” Even saying “lovely radiance often” would really be stretching matters. I mean, in the morning before coffee (or even after, actually), the key words would not be lovely radiance.  “Crabby drabness”?  Now you’re talking! 

3. If there is “3 times as much beautifying oil” in this powder, how come it won’t be streaking or caking or anything? Because that is a LOT of oil.

4. Maybe radiance is a code word for oily sheen. But it wouldn’t sound so good to say “YOU – reflecting this oily sheen…always!”

Revlon still makes this, so I guess it does work pretty well. Such a funny name though.  A ‘love pat’ is when you punch someone softly on the arm or knee to encourage them, at least it is according to Urban Dictionary. I can’t see the dame in white satin and diamonds getting (or giving) a little friendly punch on the arm, though, can you? Unless the still photographer was hogging all the wieners at the campfire or something.

From Vogue’s Beauty Book, 1957.