Dublin Core
Title
Cutex Liquid Polish Advertisement, 1934
Description
The Great Depression was a great time for nail polish. In 1933, Cutex's advertising agent announced a 28% increase in sales since the onset of the Depression.
As someone who is very familiar with many different types of cosmetics, this doesn't surprise me, since nail polish is easy to apply and lasts for days, versus the required precision and repeated effort that is necessary to wear lipstick, eye shadow, or any other washable cosmetic.
This advertisement for Cutex nail polish from 1934 is particularly fascinating for two reasons.
First, because in bolded letters at the top of the ad it specifies that it's not only high society women who wear Cutex polish, but the wives of bankers. I highly doubt that the general public would have felt much sympathy or admiration for bankers and their wives, and in fact probably felt resentful. And yet, Cutex seems to have correctly betted on the fact that the average woman--while not necessarily fond of bankers' wives--would have certainly felt a part of herself that wished she had the same privilege and comfort as one.
Second, because at the bottom of the ad--presumably where the target audience would have just finished reading--the text emphasizes the product's relatively low price point of 35 cents. This statement seems to directly contradict the ad's entire presence of using banker's wives as models of Cutex customers, and yet it somehow makes sense.
In Grapes of Wrath, no matter how low the Joads got, they were always aware of their condition. This is exemplified by their experience in the Weedpatch camp, in which they begin to feel self-conscious simply by being around other people whose bodies and clothes are clean. The successful marketing tactics of Cutex and other corporations at the time seem to have relied on the desire of women to ease that same feeling of self-consciousness, if only for the amount of time it takes for a manicure to start chipping.
As someone who is very familiar with many different types of cosmetics, this doesn't surprise me, since nail polish is easy to apply and lasts for days, versus the required precision and repeated effort that is necessary to wear lipstick, eye shadow, or any other washable cosmetic.
This advertisement for Cutex nail polish from 1934 is particularly fascinating for two reasons.
First, because in bolded letters at the top of the ad it specifies that it's not only high society women who wear Cutex polish, but the wives of bankers. I highly doubt that the general public would have felt much sympathy or admiration for bankers and their wives, and in fact probably felt resentful. And yet, Cutex seems to have correctly betted on the fact that the average woman--while not necessarily fond of bankers' wives--would have certainly felt a part of herself that wished she had the same privilege and comfort as one.
Second, because at the bottom of the ad--presumably where the target audience would have just finished reading--the text emphasizes the product's relatively low price point of 35 cents. This statement seems to directly contradict the ad's entire presence of using banker's wives as models of Cutex customers, and yet it somehow makes sense.
In Grapes of Wrath, no matter how low the Joads got, they were always aware of their condition. This is exemplified by their experience in the Weedpatch camp, in which they begin to feel self-conscious simply by being around other people whose bodies and clothes are clean. The successful marketing tactics of Cutex and other corporations at the time seem to have relied on the desire of women to ease that same feeling of self-consciousness, if only for the amount of time it takes for a manicure to start chipping.
Date
1934