Instruction book on beauty culture / by Mme Ezella Carter, 3600 Wabash Avenue, Chicago, Ill. ; taught by Cora J. Washington, 10521 Arthur Avenue, S.E., Cleveland, Ohio ; Dr. W.M. Carter, Physician in Charge

Found In:

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library > Instruction book on beauty culture / by Mme Ezella Carter, 3600 Wabash Avenue, Chicago, Ill. ; taught by Cora J. Washington, 10521 Arthur Avenue, S.E., Cleveland, Ohio ; Dr. W.M. Carter, Physician in Charge

11446629

Description

Title: Instruction book on beauty culture / by Mme Ezella Carter, 3600 Wabash Avenue, Chicago, Ill. ; taught by Cora J. Washington, 10521 Arthur Avenue, S.E., Cleveland, Ohio ; Dr. W.M. Carter, Physician in Charge
Creator: Carter, Ezella Mathis, 1882-1934
Washington, Cora J
Description: "Madam Carter merged the entrepreneurial with the philanthropic ... [and] engaged in a door-ro-door sale approach, entering black women's homes and teaching them how to care for their hair. She consciously sought out not only well-to-do women with disposable incomes, but poor ones as well ... Madam Carter seized the opportunity offered by entering black women's homes under the nonthreatening guise of selling beauty products, and used it to do race work ... where she could act as a social reformer and establish herself as a true race woman ... After training other women in the beauty trade and in their role as racial uplifters, Madam Carter gathered her sales agents into 'Life Boat clubs,' appropriately named since the clubs 'were designed to save the people in the sections where [the agent] traveled.' These clubs were educational, industrial, and benevolent in nature." From Beauty and Business: Commerce, Gender, and Culture in Modern America, edited by Philip Scranton (New York : Routledge, 2001) p. 174-176.
Cora J. Washington was likely one of Madam Carter's sales agents.
Original wrappers. Ownership inscription: Ora Patterson. A second ownership inscription has been roughly erased and is undecipherable.
Prices for various hair products are listed on page 1, but most of the text is comprised of "lessons" and home remedies for taking care of the skin and hair of African American women.
Title from cover.
Extent: 24 p., [1] leaf of plates : illustration ; 18 cm.
Extent of Digitization: This object has been completely digitized.

Collection Information

Repository: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Call Number: JWJ Zan C2453 920J

Subjects, Formats, And Genres

Format: text
Genre: Pamphlets
Subject (Topic): Hair preparations
Hair--Care and hygiene
Hairdressing of African Americans--Equipment and supplies
Skin--Care and hygiene

Access And Usage Rights

Access: Public
Rights: The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement.

Identifiers

Orbis Record: 10886537
Object ID (OID): 11446629