Gypsy Creams

Woman’s Weekly Archive

Robin Starch

Woman's Weekly / 11th July 1969

Spray starch is still sold, of course, but starched clothes have been out of fashion for quite some time. It seems that the ‘easy care’ revolution of the 1960s changed attitudes forever, and I’m not surprised. Who, after all, really wants to make their life more difficult?

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Night of the Hurricane

Woman's Weekly / 30th April 1965

Let me know whether you’re interested in the story that this picture accompanies, but I thought it was a rather lovely example of the type of line drawing that went out of use in magazines not that long after this was published. It certainly looks like an intriguing plot…

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No Stains Here!

Woman's Weekly / 4th July 1969

White. The brave woman’s choice. Although tampons are certainly less cumbersome than other methods of sanitary protection, it doesn’t protect against other symptoms, such as pain, tiredness and irritation with men making jokes about PMT. Mind you, the irritation with men lasts all month round…

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Kodak

Woman's Weekly / 11th July 1969

This ad captures a point in consumer camera equipment where flashcubes (disposable flashes) were beginning to be included with cameras, rather than a flash being seen as a permanently separate element. I remember my parents using flashcubes, but all of my cameras have had electronic flashes included. The references to ‘drop in’ films probably signify the start of film cartridge use for non-instant cameras, something I remember being very common in the 1980s. Digital cameras have solved this problem, of course.

The model for kids makes sense, but the model for women heavily implies that women aren’t interested in taking the best photos they can. This could all be waved away as quaint old sexism, were it not for nonsense such as this from Bic, Lego’s appalling ‘Friends’ range, or this ‘girly laptop’.

Remind me what year we’re in?

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Evans

Woman's Weekly / 18th June 1965

Well, as a plus-sized lady, this advert for the now well-known clothing store Evans (then D.H.Evans), was of great interest. It’s not a stand-alone advert for the store, but part of a slightly patronising feature for the ‘not-so-slender’. Hm. Of course, this might have been out of necessity, as a dress pattern is also included, presumably because the mainstream patterns weren’t designed for bigger women. I remember my mother (a plus-sized lady herself) telling me that Evans were awful in the ’60s, with frumpy designs, and this does seem to be a case in point. 10 years ago, I would have recoiled at that dress, but, now I’m in my mid-30s, I can start to see the appeal. Evans is nowadays part of the Arcadia chain, but, despite the recession, is still a major high street retailer. Even though, frankly, I still think it’s a bit rubbish. At least Evans’ heart is in the right place nowadays, with great plus-size models, rather than the rather niche, ashamed-of-itself image it’s giving in this piece!

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The Gracious Art

Woman's Weekly / 30th April 1965

What woman can resist the quiet pleasure of flower arranging? I don’t have any trouble doing so.

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Keeping It In The Family

Woman's Weekly / 30th April 1965

Ah, the past. Young heterosexual relationships are rarely policed in this fashion nowadays, of course, but we can’t make the same assumptions for everyone. It’s also worth noticing that there’s no mention of whether race is playing a part in the father’s reaction, but, to be fair, interracial relationships were very rare in 1965. Mary actually gives some good advice here, which makes a nice change. Her advice to the young woman being sexually bullied by her boyfriend’s father, although, is quite typical of the time. A quick web search does suggest that this problem still exists nowadays, but it is a good sign that the advice given is more empowering than Mary’s, and I do get the impression that it’s a bit rarer.

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My Kind of Cleaning

Woman's Weekly / 7th May 1965

Hell, yeah. Hence why I’m still in my dressing gown in the late afternoon.

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Letting Their Emotions Run Away With Them

Woman's Weekly / 28th May 1965

I found the third letter here fascinating. It seems as if the mother subconsciously wants to punish her daughter for the almost inevitable consequence of being deeply in love. It’s sad that society back then saw that as a possible response, as her daughter would probably have resented her mother’s wish for years afterwards, but fortunately Mary hints at the one upside of the Church; that they almost always ignored a bride’s bump for the benefit of the child being born into wedlock.

The Italian embassy request is a curious one. If it wasn’t for my mother telling me that she lost her virginity to an Italian labourer (of which there were many in the UK in the 1960s), I may not have noticed it at all. I wonder if a young Italian man had left more behind in Britain than he had imagined?

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Hilarious Health Claims of Yore

Woman's Weekly / 30th April 1965

I don’t know for sure whether Lucozade was regularly recommended for an upset stomach by the medical profession in the past, but my mother certainly gave me Lucozade when I was sick as a child. However, the Wikipedia entry states clearly that it’s not recommended for sodium and electrolyte replacement.

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