Vh Bad
Merita
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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
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