ABSTRACT
In the early twentieth century, the middle-class woman was the darling of the women's magazines, and the Ladies' Home Journal was the darling of the advertisers. The Ladies' Home Journal 's use of advertising in defining the American woman developed readily with Edward Bok at the helm and Cyrus Curtis in the background. This chapter focuses on two of campaigns, Woodbury's Facial Soap and Pond's Cold and Vanishing Creams. These particular campaigns demonstrate the contributions of the Thompson women copywriters and hence the Journal in promoting national advertising and a national definition of womanhood, in contributing to the development of the female consumer culture, and in acknowledging, giving voice to, and then selling short women's inarticulate longings. The initial Woodbury's campaign focused on specific cleansing treatments for common complexion problems: conspicuous nose pores, blackheads, blemishes, excessively oily skin.
