Eaton weekly Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1866-1875, 1871-02-23
Mysteries of the Toilet,

y
few words to say to that Boston girl
who asks the following questions of her
girls :i'lg,.5 stf 1904 et
Gould you love a man who wore
false hair on lis head when he had
enough of his own ?-who painted his
face and improved his form as you inn
prove (?) yours 2-who pinched his feet
with small shoes, his hands with small
gloves, his waist with corsets, and then,
as if he had not already deformed him
self enough, tied huge hustle to his
back, and thrust tiny mountains of wire
into his bosom ?''
1 am disguised with you, Boston, you,
or any other girl, who follows the fash
ions, and then rails about them; for
there is not a doubt that. you are the
very personifcation of style, from the
jute switch that surmounts Your era
MUM to the dainty French boots which
torture your tiny feet. / hold that it is
everybody's duty to look as well as they
can, or their circumstances will admit
of and what would be said of any girl
or woman who did not arrange her hair
after the prevailing style although
there are plenty of ladies who do that
with only their luXuriant tresses, with
out getting any credit for it, as every
one says, 'EWhat a splendid switch p
whose boots and gloves did not set neat
ly ?-who wore ilftting dresses And
suppose we do wear bustles When
they are properly adjusted, instead of
being a deformity, they are very becom
ing. There is nothing injurious about
them, and we must have some variety.
Women dress to please the men; and
there is not man in Christendom who
has the moral courage'to appear in public
with lady dressed, however modestly
and sensibly, if in disregard of the pre-
vailing fashion.
And when you come right down to
the nicely of the point, and talk about
getting up ones self to look pretty, the
men use quite as much deception. for that
purpose as the women, and quite as
much money. Your gentleman pays a
barber by the week to keep his hair and
whiskers in order, and to brush and
clean and fix him mp, and turn him out
in the morning fit for his place of busi-
ness, and at night presentable for the
evenings and a tailor by the year to
keep him well dressed. And you Just
go to these tailors-to the artist tail
ors u in Temple place, in your own city,
for instance-and see what they will
you, if you can persuade them to tell, of
stays and corsets, padded chests, shoul-
ders, and even legs, to which the I" tiny
of wire" which, perhaps,
some ladies wear-although, for my own
part, never saw such thing-are not
a circumstance.
Men quite as often use cosmetics as
women. They wash in borax and lemon
Juice; use endless quantities of glycerine
and sweet oil and can tell the girls Sc
crets about sleeping in kid gloves and
poulticing hands and face to make them
white. Perhaps You have not big
brother. l have, and big cousin, both
of whom delight in looking as irresisti-
BILE as possible; and some of the mystic
ries of the toilet into which these lords
of creation have initiated us girls would
you. Why, bless you, Boston,
we didn't even know there was such a
thing as "Pearltina until they told
US. "Most all the students use it, says
cousin Tom, who is at Amherst. "Can't
get along without tit makes them so
fair And then brother Jack tellswho
buys cosmetics at his drug store-andIit
is not the girls. =: - .--..- .,....-.
know for certainty OF more men
that paint their faces than do owomen-+-
really paint, pink and white and you
can't find one lady in five hundred that
does that. Almost every lady some
times uses a little innocent toilet pow
der, to counteract the effect of soap,
and makes no secret of it; but that
is very different thing from poison
paint.
Do you say it is only young clerks and
students that are so vain? You are
mistaken. Vanity is not confined to
class. have heard lady say, who for
years kept a large clearinghouse for
gentlemen, and at different times num-
bered professional men, railroad Off
cials, insurance agents, drummers, me-
chanics, etc., among her patrons, that
nearly every toilet table was supplied
with paint, and she knew they used it.
And no harm in it either, only this uni
versal painting makes one almost fancy
that Civilization is failure, and the
Caucasian played out" % s..r a.-.. j
like to see fair play. The men need
not blame the women for what they are
continually doing themselves. "Could
you love man who pinches his feet ~
l should just like to see Boston or any
other girl find man to love who does.
not wear boots full size too small for
him. Did you ever see a mans bare
foot? 1 wish you could see brother
Jacks. They look about as much like
a lady's soft, white, pretty, perfectly
shaped feet as they do like mud turtles.
Corns here, dislocations there, bunions
on the joints, and the toes piled up on
top of another, with the ends turned
under. And know, by the sly talk l
hear between him and his chums about
ointments and corn plasters, that he is
not an exception.
After making the few follies of the
gentler sex their own, in an aggravated
degree, these male bipeds assert their
manlIness by chewing tobacco, smoking
cigars-or worse, nasty pipe-by. stag
gering home several times a week the
worse for liquor, by keeping disreputa-
BILE company of the opposite sex to their
own, indulging in fast horses, betting at
races, PLAYING at billiards, and squander-
ing their money generally. And it is
very little appreciation the wives, moth
ers, daughters and sisters get for keep
ing themselves nice, pure, dainty and
pretty, aud for doing everything in their
power to make home pleasant and at
tractive for them. Boston had better
let the men fight their own battles, as
they are quite able to do, and if she has
anything smart to say, let it be on the
other side of the question. To be sure
her article would not stand so good a
chance of getting printed for anything
down on the women every editor will
give a conspicuous place to, and every
man will chuckle over and read it aloud
to his lady friends within hearing, and
mark the place and send it to those at
a distance. Whether my letter is read
or not, have freed my mind, and that
is one satisfaction to
A SPRINGFIELD GIRL.
In Carson county, Nevada, the other
day, 300 Cinnamon engaged in a street