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About Eugene register-guard. (Eugene, Or.) 1930-1983 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1960)
Vh Bad Merita mencan Queen of the 90s Can Still Command Male Adoration AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER ALTON F. BAKER Publisher ALTON F. BAKER JR. Editor ROBERT B. FRAZIER Associate Editor A. H. CURREY Associate Editor SERVICES Associated Press, United Press International, Audit Bureau of Circulations The Register-Guard's policy is the complete and impartial publication in its news pages of all news and statements on news. On this page the editors of the Register Guard offer their opinions on events of the day and matters of importance to the community, endeavoring to be candid but fair and helpful in the development of constructive community policy. A newspaper is A CITIZEN OF ITS COMMUNITY. EDITOR'S NOTE: America's first beauty queens would be ap . palled at the scantily-clad Miss America contenders of today. For the Gibson Girl, regal and romantic, swept through turn-of-the-century society in shirtwaist and ankle-length skirt, amid worship ful sighs from men. Strictly upper-class, she was first and fore most a lady, described here by an eminent author and editor. 10A EUGENE, OREGON, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1960 EAMS nCMVI MOMS HtWJaWl Salem's Surge a Guide, Not a Threat Salem is agog. The town's been hit by what may be a real blockbuster and re builder. A local realty development corpora tion proposes to raze all, or all but one of the buildings on a centrally located downtown business block and replace them with an $8 million major shop ping center. The new development would be comprised of structures ranging from two to six stories, and it would be com plete with parking space for a thousand or more shoppers' cars. Only recently one of the Salem papers was putting its editorial finger in Eu gene's eye by pointing out that the capi tal city's retail trade volume has been in creasing faster than has Eugene's this past decade. The Salem paper indicated that Eugene still is Oregon's No. 2 re tail trade center, but Salem is challeng ing for that position, and moving up all the time. "We have the stores," was the expla nation given for this claim. And the in ference pointed directly to the three large units of absentee-owned depart ment store chains which Salem has gained in recent years. Now, with the prospect of having a number of other first-rate retail marts added to its down town complex within another five years, Salem likely believes its superiority over Eugene is only a matter of time. Salem's belief just could prove true If. But that's a big "if." It takes payrolls to provide the buying power that builds a retail trade center. Industrial prospects for Eugene are, at the very least, equally as bright as Salem's. Furthermore, as a wholesaling center for all of southwestern Oregon, Eugene is in an envied position. Even at this moment, Lane County's total retail trade far exceeds that of Marion County. In fact, the combined sales volumes of Eugene and Springfield come close to equalling the entire Marion County total. It's obvious that Eugene and Spring field, too must keep improving their central retail areas if they are to avoid the sort of decentralization that eventu ally leads to downtown deterioration. However, with intelligent planning and thorough teamwork by the city admin istrations, their chambers of commerce and the owners of business properties, this can be accomplished. Salem is fortunate, indeed, to have private corporations acting as "angels" in initiating renovation of its business district. But, it should be remembered, too, that Salemites have been busily building a climate attractive to angels. Downtown traffic, parking and associ ated problems have been better attended to in Salem. Somehow, freeway access problems have been better handled there, and other beneficial highway de velopments have been worked out for Salem at state expense. There should be no inclination on Eu gene's or Springfield's part to fear what is developing in Salem. To the contrary. Lane's cities should recognize that they have their own opportunities greater than Salem's, at least in theory. And they Should be looking to Salem for useful ideas and guidance. ft ft Trade Names Editorial writers east of the Cascades have been writing about trade names, how they often are taken for granted as generic terms. Examples include scotch tape, levis, bvds, cellophane, case knife, kleenex and cat. A little searching uncovered an "Ho ratian ode," which was published in the old Bookman magazine in 1919. Brethren . In the high country, read and take note: Chipeco thermos dioxygen, temco sonora tuxedo Resinol fiat bacardi, camera ansco wheatcna; Antiskid pebeco calox, oleo tyco barometer Postum nabiscol Prestolite arco congoleum, karo aluminum kryptok, Crisco balopticon lysol, jcllo bdlans, carborundum! Ampico dysmlc swoboda, pantasote necco britannica Encyclopaedia? Hatfield Up? Forrest W. Amsden, executive editor of the Coos Bay World, is on leave in Washington, D.C., where he has a con gressional fellowship. He writes fre quently for his paper. In a recent issue he speculates that Gov. Mark Hatfield will seek Sen. Richard L. Neuberger's Senate seat this year. He points out, for one thing, that the governor's chances for the vice presidential nomination seem to have faded, along with Governor Rockefeller's chances for the presiden tial bid. Furthermore, he says, it may be the governor's last chance to leave the statehouse "before the state's fiscal roof caves in." Mr. Amsden is an able newspaper man. And he marshals good argument to support his speculation, which he admits is speculation. There can be no doubt that some pressure has been put on the governor to try for the Senate. However, we find it hard to believe that the governor would be so ill ad vised. Even without considering that in Mr. Neuberger, the governor would have an extremely vigorous opponent, the governor's position with the voters would suffer if he, again, sought to jump from one horse to another before the end of the ride. His opponents have made much of his running for secretary of state in the middle of a state Senate term and of his running for the governorship be fore he'd finished his term as secretary of state. We shouldn't think he could stand much more of that sort of criticism. On top of this is his record of publicly disclaiming intention to leave the gov ernorship before his term expires. Ore gon, he has said, needs continuity in the governship, which has changed hands all too often since World War II. He's right. Why doesn't he wait for Wayne Morse in 1962? , v : ft ft Still Waiting Caryl Chessman, probably the most widely known condemned man in the world, is still waiting. California's Gov. Pat Brown gave him a 60-day stay of execution. Some may criticize the gov ernor for this, some may applaud him. But it seems to us he gave Chessman the stay for the wrong reason. Apparently the state department asked the governor to do this, declaring that overseas interest in the case was high and that the execution of Chessman might result in demonstrations against this country when President Eisenhower goes to Latin America. Governor Brown didn't want that to happen. But what will happen now? Those who so strongly opposed the execution will have a feather in their caps. Will they not now demonstrate for a commu tation of the death sentence, instead of just a stay of execution? Far from pre venting demonstrations, we should think, the governor's delaying order is likely to inspire more. This newspaper for many years has opposed capital punishment as an un realistic and manifestly unfair method of dealing with a very few criminals who, often as not, are less of a menace to society than persons who are not exe cuted. The Chessman case is a good case in point. What has happened in the long and tortured Chessman case has hap pened in other less celebrated cases, too, although perhaps the process has not taken so long. The clever beat the rap, or at least delay the date of execution. The ignorant die. But the smart, the ones who get the delays, live what must be a tortured life, as the clock ticks toward a predetermined appointment with death. It comes strikingly near to being cruel and unusual punishment. Health Measure Linus Pauling, the Nobel Prize-winning chemist, speaking as a theoretical scientist, says a person could live for ever, "if you cut out smoking, don't chase girls, don't drive cars, don't fly in airplanes, never have x-rays and walk around in a lead shield against back ground radiation." As a starter, we're willing to give up the x-rays. Generations Apart There's a line in a Broadway play meant to belittle American status sym bols. It goes: "Two TV sets are no bettor than one!" Ah, but they are in households where there are both members of the cowboy and Superman-loving set and of that which enjoys the few good docu mentary and expository programs of fered on TV. By AGNES ROGERS In the dear, nostalgic days of the 1890s and early 1900s a vi brant, radiant young woman took the country by storm. She was the Gibson Girl, a brilliant in vention. She was lovely, ani mated, and unquestionably Amer ican. And today, though four change-filled decades have passed, more men are still in love with her than you might think. Why is her appeal still so po tent? She was far removed from our current notions of the ideal American woman. She was not particularly bright and not highly educated. She was not politically informed, and her social con science, in present-day terms, was dormant. She could not cook or manage a home, nor did she resemble today's pin-up girl, whose charms are so candidly revealed. Yet even now she evokes wor shipful sighs from men too young ever to have known anything re sembling her. One reason is that she was femininity incarnate with out being sexy. And nowadays, when sex is portrayed in such blatant detail, it is refreshing to be given the promise of future raptures rather than play-by-play accounts of bedroom romps. UNAVOIDABLE WORD In any discussion of the Gibson Girl there is a word, now taboo, that one cannot avoid. She was a lady. In fact, John Ames Mitchell, founder of the original Life, ex plained that one of the reasons he accepted the first drawings of Charles Dana Gibson was that he could draw a lady. The Gibson Girl represents the rosiest aspect of Society at a period in Amer ican life when Society was more clearly defined, less complex, and far more admired than it is today. Gibson himself, by virtue of his birth, his engaging per sonality, and his agreeable man ners, had the entree to New York's highest social circles and found the best it had to offer highly sympathetic. By "best" I mean a group of congenial peo ple of established family, inher ited wealth, and cultivated tastes, who employed their leisure in genuinely graceful (not "gra cious") living. The Society that Gibson ap proved of, and in which he was most at home, was the old guard scornful of public entertainers and of the attention of the press. A lady's name appeared in news papers just three times: when she was born, when she married, and when she died. That Society stoutly resisted the idea that PINUPS ARE NOTHING NEW A Design for Wallpaper, Suitable for a Bachelor Apartment FORE! The American Girl to All the World ALWAYS A LADY And Always Queenly and Impressive wealth and position are synony mous, confident that in itself it represented all that was best and most important in American life. And many people of less exalted position agreed. ' HIGH SOCIETY QUEEN It is hard to realize how wide spread was the interest in the doings of the socially prominent and how faithfully the magazines reported them. The American public read avidly and respect fully of the "at home" given by Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Vander bilt in Newport in 1902, where an illuminated midway had been set up with Negro dancers, a shooting gallery, singing girls, and other exhibits found in amusement parks, and at the far end, a theater where the New York cast and scenery of a cur rent Broadway musical, The Wild Rose, had been transported for the evening. The American public saw noth ing to censure in the fact that several New York hostesses were able to serve a dinner for 100 guests on a few hours' notice no informal buffet, but the custom ary seven- or eight-course affair with appropriate wines. Servants there were, to be sure, in task force strength, some large coun try places being staffed by as many as 50 or 60. These enter tainments were not paid for from expense accounts. The cost came from the host's private purse. A TIDAL WAVE It was against this glittering background that the Gibson Girl beautiful, queenly, confident moved in triumph. Yet, though her habitat was high society, she was a darling of the less affluent as well. She took the country by storm. In countless houses all over the land, prints of Gibson's drawings were hung on the walls and Gibson's long red picture books were on parlor tables. Manufacturers put "Gibson Girl" labels on all man ner of women's clothes. Spoons, plates, even wall paper were or namented with her face. Her serene likeness was burned THE ARTIST i'urrounded by His Girls (Sketch by Wllla Martin) 4 IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS Anywhere Along the Coast You'd Find the Gibson Girl through the cunning craft of pyrography into wood or leather table tops, glove boxes, and um brella stands. Songs were writ ten in her honor. Tableaux Vi vants, a favorite entertainment at bazaars, were based on a series of Gibson drawings. And together with this nation wide recognition of the Gibson Girl's charms came a tidal wave of emulation. Girls all over the country wanted to be as nearly like her as possible. They dressed like her; they wore their hair like her. Nor did the young men escape her influence. The Gibson man was usually clean-shaven, and strong-jawed. Many a luxuri ant moustache was shaved off. The Gibson Girl was tall. Young men stood erect to gain inches. MANY GIBSON GIRLS Just who was the original model for the Gibson Girl? Many people have said that she was Mrs. Gibson, the lovely Irene Langhorne from Virginia, one of four sisters of legendary beauty. It is true that after their mar riage, Mrs. Gibson often posed for her husband, but the Gibson Girl was already in existence. She was a composite, not an indi vidual. The artist's earliest models were often young society girls who were only too happy to come, carefully chaperoned, to the attractive young man's studio for a sitting. (The original Gib son Man, by the way, was Rich ard Harding Davis, Gibson's friend and author of numerous stories illustrated by the artist.) Everybody agrees that the Gib son Girl connotes romance. Love, courtship, and marriage are tho themes that engaged Gibson's liveliest interest. And he was truly romantic about his darling creation. It revolted him to think of a girl's being married off for money, especially to an old man, and this subject appears time after time. His fury was aroused also by those international alli ances in which American dollars were exchanged for a foreign title. A SMALL SECTOR It is often said that the Amer ican girl prior to World War 1 lived a pretty dull life and mostly indoors. Not so the Gibson Girl. As early as the 90s, we see her on the tennis court, on the golf links, on a bicycle, even driving a motor car. To be sure, when she went into the water at the seashore, she wore a decorous bathing suit (with the obligatory stockings). But she wore no bath ing cap. Either she never got her head under water or Gibson couldn't bear to hide her crown ing glory. Actually, by the turn of the century, the outdoor life was an accepted thing in upper class circles, chiefly along the eastern seaboard. So, when Gibson put a racket or a niblick in his hero ine's graceful hand, he was re flecting the mores of that small 'sector of the social scene that most interested him. In his pre occupation with romance, he was also quick to . see that these games offered ideal situations for unchaperoned but wholly re spectable association between the sexes. One of his best-known drawings, entitled "Is a Caddy Always Necessary?" depicts a young couple seated glumly on a bunker, hoping that their gangling young club carrier will realize their desire to be alone. Oddly enough, when the Gay Nineties are revived today in re vue skit or greeting card, the spectacle bears no resemblance to the Gibson Girl or her circle. All the men have handle-bar moustaches and - the girls are made up as Sweet Rosie O'Grady or Mamie O'Rourke. Very merry, very gay, but definitely low life. The Gibson Girl was just as defi nitely high life. Moreover, whereas these jovial modern re vivals from the Bowery are comic valentines, the Gibson Girl defies caricature. She remains as she was created, immaculate and be witching. To burlesque her would be sacrilege. (Copyright, 1960, American Heri tage Publishing Co., Inc.) AND IN THE INDOORS EVERYWHERE Cucid'j Invincible Army of the Gibson Girls MEMBER or THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Associated Press Is entitled ctuslvely to the use for republication of all the local news printed In this newspaper. StyA.M J-A.WASMAN" News Editor lU,?.ASER B"nM Msna.er i"VE, CIE Circulation Manager 5? MJl BER1"SCH Promotion W B. JOHNSTON JR. Auditor ARNE STROMMER ' Production
