ALL THAT ZAZZ

By Mary N. DiZazzo

Nails in the Limelight
(A nails in entertainment timeline)

Ciao bella,

Hope all my readers are enjoying summer. I know everyone enjoys a good read of interesting true facts. Well, here goes for this first column in the sizzling month of August.

1899 – Bebe Daniels stars in the stage production of The Manicure Girl. She went on to become a silent film star.

1920 – Screen stars preferred a waif-like look—short hair and slender figures. Nails are unpolished but the development of automobile paint leads the way for today’s nail enamels.

1925 – Beatrice Kaye, a manicurist at MGM, sparked the moon manicure in which the free edge and the lunula are left bare.

1929 – Prima ballerina Anna Pavlova does a Cutex polish ad.

1930 – The moon manicure thrives in various intensities of red. Ladies of the silver screen favor a look of cool sophistication and elegant grooming

1932 – Featuring a man getting a manicure on the cover of the December 17th issue of Collier’s Magazine.

1933 – Actress Dorothy Hess introduces the electric manicure set at the American Beauty and Styles Exposition.

1940 – A Norman Rockwell illustration of a manicure in progress appears on the cover of the May 18 edition of the Saturday Evening Post.

1940 – Rita Hayworth’s long red nails set a fashion trend. A softer oval shape polishes her glamorous look of a worldly seductress in red.

1950 – Vogue magazine advertises a kit containing nail polish, lipstick, and lip liner for $1.60.

1968 – Seventeen magazine’s cover girl features active-length nails polished in a light frost, not too different than what you might see on the magazine’s cover today.

Also in 1968 – Madge the Manicurist represents Palmolive dish-wash in a series of ad campaigns, allowing the spokeswomen to reach iconic status.

Stay tuned for Nails in the Limelight part II.

Buona giornata and God bless the United States of America!

[Facts are taken from Nails Magazine.]


Have you missed any of Mary's columns in the Post-Gazette? Read prior weeks' "All That Zazz" columns on her website www.mary4nails.com. She is a third-generation cosmetologist and owner of Mary for Nails, etc. natural nailcare salon in Andover, and a Massachusetts distributor of Kosmea brand rose hip oil products. She may be contacted at (978) 470-8183. She also sees select clients by appointment in Boston at (617) 742-6881.