New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-05-21
The ronet of a Pompellan Lady OF Fashion

This was the subject of recent lecture The
lecturer began by saying that he remembered
seeing picture, discovered in 1853 representing
gentleman entering the toilet room of Pompeiian
lady. He remembered the story of the minister
whom the people liked because he pitched into old
Nebuehadnezzar for his SINS but said nothing of
theirs so, if he should enter one of the toilet
rooms of a Pompeiian house, and should there see
an inlaid box containing white powder, and if he
should discover lady endeaYoring to place this
powder upon her face by means of a light feathery
brush, it should not be forgotten that he was
speaking of 1900 years ago, and not of scenes of
to-day. They don't do such things now. If he
should discover lady endeayoring to conceal the
loss Of her natural hair by means of the manu-
featured article, remember this was 1900 years
ago. They don't do such things now. The lee
turer then proceeded to his main subject and
opened by saying that, in all ages. woman is what
man makes her; men and women exist for each
other, and the reason that women adorn them
selves is to please man. Our girls of to-day are
no less eager to adorn themselves than were the
girls Of Pompeii; but the position Of woman
among US is entirely different While we have
many literary women, they had only few reading
| women.
In the words of the apostle the women were
made beautiful according to the flesh They need
| every exerti0n to conceal the existence Of
wrinkles-there are none nova days. They had
many rouges, washes, etc., to destroy the mark of
time, and in their endeaYor to preserve their com
plexion they were wont to battle in luxurious
became perfectly smooth Their toilet occupied
an entire half day at the swapping of the fingers
the servant came to the bedside to more thorough
/ ly awaken her mistress. First, her face must be
washed before any man was permitted to see her.
/ And not such washing as is undergone now, for
| the paste Of bread and milk with which the face
1 had been thoroughly covered the night previous
was to be removed so carefully as not to leave the
slightest redness of countenance. The teeth were
then replaced, the eyebrows penciled and the
i complexion improved.
4 Notwithstanding the comparatively recent dis
covery in dentistry, the teeth Of Pompeiians were
1 filled with gold.
i Brown, yellow, and even red hair, being scarce
red hair there is no such thing nowadays; it is
either gold or auburn,) were considered fashion
able then as well at the present time A species
the hair absolutely refused to change color it was
cut off. and the head supplied with a fashionable
tint This lis never done now.
i The Roman ladies knew, with ours, that secrecy
is one OF the charms OF their toilet. Their beauty
i was not of the class TO be handled, taken apart
| and put together again BY those whose eyes they
/ desired to please. Like the ladies' of our time
they attached value only to that which was for
| eign, and no kind of wash or rouge could be used
unless it had foreign name.
| When in grand toilet, a Pompeiian lady of
/ fashion glitteTed in real g0ld-not Attleborough-
/ and she had a great number of most elegant
Jewels. Some of the canoes are so delicately en-
graved as to require lens to see the design, and
how could these be engraved unless the Romans
| had magnifying glasses
1 The lecturer, before closing, noticed several
1 simiarities between Pompeiian lady's method of
/ dressing the hair and now in vogue with us, and
| illustrated the same with numerous drawings. One
had rats and mice skillfuly arranged; another had
1 fine waterfall