Rare & unique looking vintage Florodora Cosmetic Powder container for shops Florodora loose powder. Vintage c. 1910 see description

Rare Vintage and unique looking vintage Florodora Cosmetic Powder container for Florodora loose powder. c. 1910

It is nice to know a little back ground information about a particular item … that is part of the pleasure of collecting. One should always know something about their vintage treasures.

This is a RARE vintage and unique looking Florodora loose powder container that was named after a very successful play that first opened in 1899 in London, England for 455 performances. and in America in 1900 - 1902 - 1905 - 1915 - 1920 and 1931. The play was an Edwardian musical comedy.

After a long run in London, it came to America and became one of the first successful Broadway musicals of the 20th century. The first New York production of 1900 ran for 552 performances. After this, the play was produced throughout the English-speaking world and beyond. The show was famous for its double sextet and its chorus line of "Florodora Girls".The chorines were called "the English Girls" in the score, but they were soon referred to as the "Florodora Girls". They consisted of a "sextette of tall, gorgeous young ladies wearing makeup and clad in pink walking costumes, black picture hats and carrying frilly parasols.

When the Florodora girls sexily swished onto the stage, they instantly captivated male New Yorkers for no other reason than they were utterly stunning to look at. The men at the time (both young and old,) went wild for them. The Florodora girls were sex symbols before sex symbols became popular. More than 70 women played the roles in the first run of the play. Each of the young women were required to be 5 ft. 4 inches tall, weight 130 pounds and be very beautiful. When dressed in their finery and together in a line on stage ... they were breathtakingly stunning to look at. They left men desiring them and waiting at the stage door begging for a date with one of the girls. ..... There were a lot of "Stage Door Johns" waiting at the stage door after each performance .... many left broken-hearted if they were not very wealthy.

Because of their beauty, they were desired by many male admirers who persuaded the girls to leave show business and marry them. According to W. A. Swanberg: Each member of its original sextette married a millionaire .... which would be equal to a billionaire today. Which is sort of like many of the Miss Universe contestants who also marry millionaires because of their beauty. Helena Rubinstein (the creator and founder of the world-famous cosmetic line Helena Rubinstein Cosmetics,) once said "Beauty is power" ... beauty or sex appeal ... what ever name one may wish to give it ... it is a powerful draw to men .. sort of like a night light attracting a moth ... it is fatal.

Edna Wallace was born on January 17, 1872 and later trained to become an actress for the stage in New York City. She married a fellow thespian named DeWolf Hopper on June 28, 1893. He was a six-foot-tall handsome man and she was five-feet tall, possessed an hourglass figure and an attractive face that men found very pleasing to look at. They were said to present a “striking appearance on stage” whenever they appeared together. They starred together in the live theater for several comic operas. In 1898, five-years after marrying, they divorced (it must have been difficult to see who could look at themself first in the mirror first.) Edna was then 26-years-old and still a stunning and desirable beauty in the prime of her life and career.

In 1908 when she was 36-years old, she married a Wall Street broker named Albert Oldfield Brown (he later became the Shepard of the famous Lambs Club from 1922 to 1932.) They were separated when Albert passed away on March 5, 1945 at the age of 73. She then became the only woman to be one of the 36-member board of the L. F. Rothchild & Company (not only was Edna an attractive and successful actress but she was also smart enough to marry well … as the old saying goes … marry the first time for love … the second time for money.)

As a stage actress her most famous role was as Lady Holyrood in the popular musical 1900 Broadway “Florodora.” She was also later referred to as the “eternal flapper,” ... Edna must have been a wild party girl. During her theatrical stage and silent film career, she also created a cosmetic line of beauty treatments. It is not known if Edna Wallace Hopper actually used any of her own products. She claimed that the cosmetic products that she produced and promoted would keep and maintain ones youthful looking appearance, however, she was one of the first to have a face-lift!

Edna made numerous personal appearances giving beauty tips and promoting her numerous beauty creams and products. She always stated that her products were what kept her looking youthful appearing. The Edna Wallace Hopper products were later sold by the American Home Products Company and were quite successful. A few of her known products were: White Youth Pack, Florodora Powder, No Shine' Astringent Cream, Facial Youth Liquid Cleanser, Hair Youth Liquid, Youth Cream Powder, Light Face Powder, Fruity Shampoo, Cream Deodorant, Double Compact, Single Powder Compact, Rouge Compact, Hair Remover, Eye Bath, Wave and Sheen, Youth Hand Lotion, Eyebrow-Eyelash Beautifier, Tooth Paste, Liquid Nail Polish, shops Freckle Cream, Nature Lipstick, Beauty Talc, and Special Restorative Cream. These are all very rare vintage products that are hard to find today, especially in reasonable or good condition. Her business address was listed as: Edna Wallace Hopper, 536 Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois.

In 1953 at the age of 87, Edna performed the same role she had begun her acting career with in 1893, at the final performance at the Empire Theater in New York City. Also, the 1953 June issue of Life Magazine featured an article of Edna because it considered her a popular stage actress and singer during the early 20th century. Edna Wallace Hopper died at the age of 87 on December 14, 1959 in New York City, she was later buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.

Each vintage cosmetic has a unique and interesting story of its own.

This vintage item was previously part of the personal makeup collection of famed Hollywood makeup artist Ben Lane. Mr. Lane was the former Director of the Makeup Department for R.K.O. Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, and Warner Brothers Pictures and Warner Brothers Television. He was a makeup artist on a variety of classic films such as: The Good Earth, Gunga Din, Show Boat, and countless other films of the Golden Era of Hollywood. His last film before his retirement was the 1981 lovable classic film “Annie.” He was one of the original founders of the Motion Picture Makeup Artists Association (MPMAA,) which later in 1937 became the IATSE - Local 706, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Guild in Hollywood (the Film and Television union.) He was also a member of the Society of Makeup Artists (referred to as SMA on screen credits,) and an Honorary Lifetime Member of the International Society of Makeup Artists (also referred to as ISOMA – it is an International Association of Makeup Artists.) See the ISOMA Internet website: http://isomacosmetics.com/honors.htm to see pictures of Mr. Lane working and to read more about Mr. Lanes career under the heading on the left titled: ISOMA Honors.

Mr. Lane had a large unique collection of vintage Max Factor, Miners, Leichner, Steins, Chass. D. Hess, Zauder Bros, Warner Brothers, Westmore's of Hollywood, Chesebrough-Ponds, Colgate, Cutex, DeVilbliss, Don Juan, Dorothy Gray, Edna Wallace Hopper, Harriet Hubbard Ayers, Kurlash, Charles of the Ritz, Lady Ester, Lilly Dache, Marie Earle, Llouis Philippe, Luxor, Naylon by La Cross, Nu Masca, Park & Tilford, Ruth Rogers, Krypolan, Ben Nye, Bob Kelly, Hazel Bishop, Revlon, Maybelline, Shiseido, Mark Traynor, Makeup Center, Custom Color Cosmetics, ISOMA Cosmetics, and many more.

Mr. Lane also had other rare cosmetic products that were related to the beauty and film industry in his collection from his many years of working as a makeup artist in the entertainment industry of Hollywood ... such face foundations from the 1935 Elizabeth Arden “Screen & Stage” Cosmetic line (few people today know that this line existed after Elizabeth Arden spent millions of dollars manufacturing and promoting it, in. her quest to be the new Max Factor of Hollywood .... or the Elizabeth Arden of Hollywood. Ben Lane was one of Hollywood's premier makeup artists during the Golden Age of Hollywood movie making.

This is a nice addition for the vintage collector of cosmetic products and for the vintage collector of cosmetic movie memorabilia or for those that love items from a bygone era.

If vintage cosmetics could talk ... they would reveal amazing secrets and stories.