Actress
Introduces
Popular, Affordable Cosmetics
“If you long for a lovelier, more alluring complexion,
give yourself a home facial tonight with Hopper White Clay Pack.”
--Fielden
Farrington
Lincoln, Me. (DG)—
The June 8, 1953 issue of Life Magazine featured an article on
Edna Wallace Hopper, who was a popular stage actress and singer during the turn
of the 20th Century.
In this article, Mrs. Hopper, in her 80’s at the time of the article,
performed the same role she began her acting career with in 1893.
It was to be the final performance of the Empire Theater in New York
City, which was scheduled for demolition.
It’s sad to learn about a landmark building falling victim to the wrecking ball,
but you might be wondering--- what does all of this have to do with radio
advertising?
As far as the Empire Theater and Mrs. Hopper’s acting career are
concerned--- nothing at all!
This article focuses on another line of work Mrs. Hopper was famous for.
During her lifetime, Mrs. Hopper had always maintained a youthful look, and she
also had some considerable sex appeal even in her mature years.
There was a printed ad in 1932 that said this about Mrs. Hopper: “She’s
over 60, yet college boys try to flirt with her.”
Of course, proper diet and exercise helped, but there was a definite
reason why men of all ages found Mrs. Hopper very attractive.
It was a line of products she not only used, but they also had her name
on them--- Edna Wallace Hopper Cosmetics.
In the confusing configuration that
made up American Home Products (the home of Anacin, BiSoDoL,
Black Flag, Aerowax, etc.), the Hopper Cosmetics line was
a part of that confusing configuration. Since the various divisions of American Home Products
were sponsors during radio’s golden age, the listeners heard about (at least) 3
different products that either had the Hopper name on them or was
discovered by Mrs. Hopper.
HOLLYWOOD NIGHTS
was a musical program starring Frank Luther.
It was on the air from 1931-1932 over the stations of NBC’s Blue
Network and sponsored by Kissproof Indelible Lipstick.
No, this lipstick doesn’t prevent is users from kissing (there
wouldn’t be very many customers if it did).
The product was named as such for a definite reason.
When Kissproof was applied on the lips, it was inclined to
stay on the lips for up to 8 hours without smearing and constant re-applying.
Its users put Kissproof on their lips and forgot about it
being there for the next 6-8 hours. Those
frequent trips to the powder room to re-apply lipstick were reduced to those
specific moments when a powder room was really necessary.
Instead of worrying if the lipstick will smudge over everything and
everyone, the woman who used Kissproof focused her attention to
the evening’s activities. Simply put, Kissproof Indelible Lipstick was
the best lipstick ever made--- even better than any lipstick Kissproof
came up with in the past.
The origin of Kissproof
Indelible Lipstick came from a lipstick discovery Mrs. Hopper found in
Paris. She sent this special
lipstick to Hollywood, where the actresses of the different movie studios used
it in their work. Kissproof,
the world’s largest lipstick maker at the time (early 1930’s), eventually
acquired the no smear formula from Mrs. Hopper and offered it to the general
public under the name of Kissproof Indelible Lipstick.
Since this lipstick didn’t smear,
there was a fear that it was too expensive for the women to buy.
Fortunately, Kissproof Indelible Lipstick was
affordable. Mrs. Hopper paid $2.50
for the original lipstick in Paris, but Kissproof Indelible Lipstick
costs as little as 50¢. Since 50¢ wasn’t unreasonable, the women who planned to
buy Kissproof were still faced with 2 problems.
The first problem was selecting from the 4 shades Kissproof
offered (Theatrical, Natural, Raspberry, and Orange).
When this difficult decision was made, there were 2 different Kissproof
forms to choose from (lipstick or lip and cheek rouge).
The Kissproof outfit can do so much--- there were some
things its customers had to do for themselves!
 Mrs. Hopper shared an amazing product
with the ladies in the listening audience. This product miraculously took the years off the typical
complexion. It was known as Edna
Wallace Hopper’s Homogenized Facial Cream.*
The ladies heard announcer James Fleming talk about
the wonderful things it did on the JOHN’S OTHER WIFE serial
program in 1941.
What sets Edna Wallace
Hopper’s Homogenized Facial Cream apart from the other facial creams
of the era was this product was a lubricating cream deluxe.
Twice each day, the woman applied Hopper’s on her face
and neck just like cold cream. Instead
of removing it at that very moment, Fleming advised to leave it on the face for
about 10 minutes. Instead of just
making residence on the woman’s face and neck, Hopper’s
lubricating oils went to work to remove the disgusting gunk, while leaving the
treated areas soft and with a lively tingling feeling.
For wrinkled and lined areas of the face, a little extra Hopper’s
was applied and left on these areas for an extra 8 minutes.
When the time was up, it was removed with a facial tissue.
The end result was a complexion that felt softer and looked younger.
 In 1949, the women who tuned in the
popular CBS serial THE ROMANCE OF HELEN TRENT heard
announcer Fielden Farrington talk about another popular product in the Hopper
Cosmetics line. Hopper
White Clay Pack* was known as “The 10 minute Beauty Miracle.”
This product was a real salon style facial that could be done at home for
a fraction of the cost. All it took
was 10 minutes to perform, once a week. The
woman applied Hopper White Clay Pack on her face and left it there
without doing anything else to it for about 10 minutes.
When the 10 minutes had expired, the woman suddenly rinsed her face.
When the water was splashed all over the place, the woman was definitely
missing something on her complexion--- something she could easily do without.
Hopper White Clay Pack removed dried skin, dirt, and other
forms of usually hard to remove gunk. The
pores on the face were tightened and any disgusting blackheads on the face were
loosened, so they could easily be removed.
A typical Hopper White Clay Pack treatment provided a
refreshing tingling feeling on the face, while the complexion was lovely to
behold.
If you think Mrs. Hopper’s products
worked well individually, imagine if they were used together.
The Hopper White Clay Pack magazine ads (like the enclosed
ad) actually encouraged it. If a
woman used Hopper White Clay Pack first and followed the treatment
by applying Hopper Homogenized Facial Cream, her complexion would
always maintain a young and glowing appearance.
From time to time, the 2 products were sold together in a special Hopper
Twin Treatment package. Instead of costing an arm and a leg, the Hopper
Twin Treatment package costs as little as 89¢.
That meant saving the arm and leg for something REALLY
expensive!
With her own youthful look, it was
obvious that Mrs. Hopper knew a good cosmetic product when she saw one.
For the millions of women who wanted to be beautiful within a reasonable
price, it was a good thing she did.
|
