"THEY DRINK COCKTAILS & SMOKE, CONDUCT IS SHOCKING!"

LUTHERAN MINISTER SAYS AMERICAN WOMEN NEED TO 'MEND THEIR WAYS'

New York City (JFK+50) On July 25, 1923, before setting sail for Germany on the Lapland, Dr. F.H. Knubel*, president of the United Lutheran Church of the United States and Canada, declared that the American female is at "the lowest ebb of her history."

The Lutheran minister, on his way to attend the church's world conference in August, said...

"American girls and young women should mend their ways.  They drink cocktails, smoke cigarettes, and altogether their conduct is shocking."

Dr. Knubel blames "the exaggeration of the true duty of women, namely suffrage and this new freedom."

*Frederick Hermann Knubel (1870-1945) was born in New York City to a German-born grocer.  FHK was educated at the University of Leipzig & served as the 1st president of the United Lutheran Church 1918-1944.  He gave the invocation at the opening of the 1924 Democratic National Convention.

SOURCE

"American Girl At Lowest Ebb" Says Minister," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., July 25, 1923, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

 

 

Flapper clipart

www.creazilla.com/

"1920S WOMEN ARE WEARING 'LOW SHOES'"

 FEMININE ANKLES ARE GROWING, SLOWLY, SURELY LARGER

Warren, Ohio (JFK+50) On June 13, 1922, the Evening Star reports "feminine ankles are growing, slowly, surely larger."

The "thickening" of the underpinnings of "the once weaker sex," the Star states includes "the flapper type" as well as "their grandmothers."

To back up this claim, the Star cites retail boot dealers who "say there is no doubt" of this phenomenon.

Why, you may ask, are women's ankles growing larger?  

It all has to do with the fashion of the day.  Women have been wearing "low shoes" for a year and a half which have resulted in straighter legs and thicker ankles.

JFK+50 NOTE

Vintage Dancer says "The pump with one (or more) straps and a modest 2 inch heel was the most popular shoe of the Roaring 20s."  Other styles included slip on pumps, walking Oxfords, and boots.  

Young flappers wore galoshes in winter.  In fact, it was the sound the unbuckled galoshes made when the girls walked down the street (flap, flap, flap) that resulted in the name "flapper."

SOURCES

"Shoe Men Gasp At Growing Thickness of Women's Ankles," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., June 13, 1922, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

"Women's 1920s Shoe Styles and History," Vintage Dancer, www.vintagedancer.com/

 

 

Hazel Dawn in "The Pink Lady"

LOC's Public Domain Archive

www.loc.getarchive.net

"GROTESQUE FEATURES TODAY NO WORSE THAN THE PAST"

PRESIDENT OF OXFORD COLLEGE FOR WOMEN DEFENDS FLAPPERS*

Chicago, Illinois (JFK+50) On February 25, 1922, Miss Eleanor Adams, president of Oxford College for Women, "defended the golosh-flopping, bobbed-haired wearer of knee-length skirts of the present."

Miss Adams, speaking  at a meeting of deans of women, said...   

"The socially grotesque features of today are no worse than those of other times.  Remember the merry widow hat**, 'balloon' sleeves***, the wire 'rat'**** of the...pompadour and the 'Boston dip' waist."

*flappers--young women of the 1920s who wore short skirts, bobbed hair, & were considered wild by the older generation.

**merry widow hat-- designed by Lucile for the operetta 'The Merry Widow' (1907) & popularized by English actress Lily Elise (1886-1962)

***balloon sleeves--long, puffed sleeves gathered at the shoulder & then puffed out & gathered back at the waist

****wire rat--term for extra hair saved & used for puffed up hair styles  

SOURCES

"Fashion History Of Details:  The Merry Widow Hat (1900s), The Fashion Follies, September 6, 2018, www.thefashionfolloies.com/

"Mama Was Some Flapper Too, With Her 'Rats' and 'Balloons," The Sunday Star, Washington, D.C., February 26, 1922, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/ 

   

 

The Merry Widow: Act 3, London, 1907

www.wikipedia.org/