"Grecian Bend a la Kangaroo"; advertising trade card for the Southern Home Journal, with illustration of fashionable woman in "kangaroo pose"
Atlanta, Georgia: 1870s. A trade card with illustration of woman in a contorted pose, spoofing the expense required for a woman of the time to be considered fashionable. "Grecian bend a la kangaroo" is a phrase found in the May 1872 issue of 'The Health Reformer" under the heading "To Make a Fashionable Woman": "Take 99 pounds of flesh and bones - but chiefly bones - wash clean, bore holes in the ears and cut off the toes; bend the back to conform to the Grecian Bend, the Boston Dip, the Kangaroo Droop, the Saratoga Slope, or the Bullfrog Break ... then add three yards of ruffles and 75 yards of edging..." On the front of this advertising card is an illustration of just such a fashionable woman in a contorted posture. The verso with advertising for the St. Louis News Company and a featured upcoming story by Mrs. Winstanley "The Peasant Girl" "ready on Wednesday, Oct. 28" in the Southern Home Journal. Below this text is a reversible trompe l'oeil illustration, showing two different male heads depending on which way the card is turned. 2 1/4 x 3 1/2" Very good condition. Item #16680
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