#topeka fashion

[brirobbins]

Love the saying on this shirt! Plus the color of it as well!

[julienbakerstreet]

ACD Holmes Ephemera Flatlay Full list of canon references under the cut:

From left to right, top to bottom:

Simpson's restaurant matchbook (The Illustrious Client, The Dying Detective) [Simpson's is still in operation and this is actually one of their logos]

Newspaper clipping from the text entitled "Singular Occurrence at Fashionable Wedding" (The Noble Bachelor)

Ticket for The Gloria Scott (The Gloria Scott)

Visit Reichenbach brochure (The Final Problem)

Il Trovatore Opera advert (A Scandal in Bohemia) [Consulted Klinger's Annotated Holmes for a list of contralto roles Irene could have played]

Shag tobacco (Holmes's favorite, referenced throughout) [Hugh Campbell's is a real brand of shag from the period!]

Sarasate ticket at St. James's Hall (The Redheaded League)

Lysander Starr for Topeka button (The Three Garridebs) [This is a deep cut but if there's two things I love it's vintage political buttons and the name Lysander Starr]

The Diogenes Club matchbook (The Greek Interpreter, The Bruce-Partington Plans)

Arthur Pinner's Franco-Midland Hardware Co business card (The Stockbroker's Clerk)

Bradley Cigarettes (Holmes notes them as Watson's favorite in The Hound of the Baskervilles)

Sussex honey label (The Second Stain)

Come at once telegram (The Creeping Man)

Hotel Dulong label (The Reigate Squires)

Dancing men cipher (The Dancing Men)

Keep away from the moor note (The Hound of the Baskervilles)

Red-Headed League membership card (The Red-Headed League)

Wessex cup ticket (The Silver Blaze)

Underground ticket (The Red-Headed League)

Everything is based on real vintage ephemera, albeit not quite period-accurate because Victorian design gets boring quick <3

Might post individual designs later, but if anyone wants a specific design let me know!

[cartermagazine]

Today In History

John Hope Franklin, American historian and educator was born in Rentiesville, OK, on this date January 2, 1915.

Noted for his scholarly reappraisal of the American Civil War era and the importance of the black struggle in shaping modern American identity, John Hop Franklin helped fashion the legal brief that led to the historic Supreme Court decision outlawing public school segregation, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954).

Franklin has had a distinguished career as a historian and educator. He has served as professor at Fisk University, Saint Augustine's College (Raleigh, North Carolina), North Carolina Central University (Durham), and Howard University (Washington, D.C.). Subsequently, he chaired the Department of History at Brooklyn College and has been John Matthews Manly Distinguished Service Professor of History at the University of Chicago, James B. Duke Professor of History at Duke University, Fulbright Professor in Australia, and Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions at Cambridge University, England.

His many awards include the Jefferson Medal of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (1984), the Clarence Holte Literary Prize (1985), the Jefferson Medal of the American Philosophical Society, the National Endowment for Humanities Charles Frankel Award in (1993), and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1995).

CARTER™ Magazine carter-mag.com #wherehistoryandhiphopmeet #historyandhiphop365 #cartermagazine #carter #johnhopefranklin #blackhistorymonth #blackhistory #history

[shouta-edits]

"Can I have a fashion kit for a Bubbles(powerpuff girls) fictive with medium/large sizes and kidcore/decora aesthetics? Thank you!! <3 " - anon requested

[twittercomfrnklin2001-blog]

Mandalay

Michael Curtiz’ pre-Code melodrama MANDALAY (1934, Criterion Channel, TCM) is sheer, unadulterated hokum, but it’s such expertly made hokum you may find it irresistible. It doesn’t start out that well. Although Curtiz and cinematographer Tony Gaudio do a great job of turning the Warner’s backlot into Rangoon, Kay Francis is supposed to be a carefree innocent at first, and that kind of casting never sat well with her. She’s a Russian émigré living on a boat with gunrunner Ricardo Cortez. When he takes her out for a night on the town, he even has to explain to her that evil Asian Warner Oland’s Jardin d’Orient is both a nightclub and a brothel. And, of course, you have to get past the now-outdated convention of casting Caucasian actors in the principal Asian roles while Asians are confined to bits and functionaries. Cortez is not the most faithful of lovers. To settle his debts with Oland, he trades Francis to him to act as the club’s hostess. At first, she rebels, but then the outgoing hostess (the wonderful Rafaela Ottiano) convinces her to use her position to “make men do what you want them to…And then you can laugh at them, just like one is laughing at you now.” And suddenly it becomes a real Kay Francis movie. When she makes her official entrance as club hostess in a dazzling sequined gown by Orry Kelly, it’s fashion as power. In a quick montage she’s shown getting men to give her all she wants, even as her eyes reveal the dying soul inside. There;s the inevitable redemption later, but even then, Frances’ great dark eyes seem to carry the weight of the world’s sins. Lyle Talbot is surprisingly understated as the alcoholic doctor who gives her a reason to improve, while Ruth Donnelly and Lucien Littlefield are funny as tourists, the wife trying to get away from Topeka, the husband unable to get it out of his mind.

[historicalfightingguide]

” James and Jess discuss online communities, parasocial relationships, and fashion of movement.

Murder Hobos:  https://www.audible.com/pd/Murderhobos-Podcast/B09YJZ261X                           https://sites.libsyn.com/411899/ —-

A desire line is formed from many people over time choosing not to walk the paved paths, but instead go the way that seems most expedient to them.  they are typically formed when planners don’t account for real human behavior.

——

About us! James is the founder and principal instructor of the Goliath Historical Fencing Academy. He began fencing in 2009, after being inspired by the film Reclaiming The Blade. At Goliath, he instructs several weapons systems including longsword, rapier, dagger, unarmed combat, quarterstaff and halberd. He has taught at private seminars at major fencing events in Europe and Canada as well as across the US.

—-

Jess Finley has had a sword in her hand for the past twenty years. Her initial interest was in stage combat, but not too long after beginning that pursuit began to ask “… but how did they really fight?” From that question, she branched out to German Medieval Martial Arts after being accepted as a student by Christian Tobler, who remains her mentor to this day.  

She is the head instructor at Ritterkunst Turnhalle in Lawrence, Kansas. She has taught and competed internationally as well as private intensives at her home.

 She also has a background studying Judo under the tutelage of Arden Cowherd of Topeka Judo Club.She is a published author, having written a book entitled “Medieval Wrestling” on the fifteenth century Master Ott’s wrestling treatise of German wrestling techniques.

 She also researches medieval clothing construction and fabric armor, and has presented her findings at the International Congress on Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo and published an article in Medieval Clothing and Textiles (Boydell and Brewer) on her study of a 15th century quilted armor.

Jess’s Patreon is http://www.patreon.com/jessfinley“

This episode talks of  just how strongly shame can impact our daily training practice and that of those around us. A very interesting conversation that can help us find healthier ways to train together.

For anyone who hasn’t yet seen the following links:

Some advice on how to start studying the sources generally can be found in these older posts

Remember to check out  A Guide to Starting a Liberation Martial Arts Gym as it may help with your own club/gym/dojo/school culture and approach.

Check out their curriculum too.

Fear is the Mind Killer: How to Build a Training Culture that Fosters Strength and Resilience by Kaja Sadowski may be relevant as well.

Another useful book to check out is  The Theory and Practice of Historical European Martial Arts (while about HEMA, a lot of it is applicable to other historical martial arts clubs dealing with research and recreation of old fighting systems).

Worth checking out are this blogs tags on pedagogy and teaching for other related useful posts.

Consider getting some patches of this sort or these cool rashguards to show support for good causes or a t-shirt like to send a good message while at training.

And stay safe

[topekaks]

Traumatic Brain Injuries

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) transpires when the head suffers a sudden blow, jolt, or penetrating injury, leading to damage in the brain tissue. This can happen due to accidents such as falls, car crashes, or sports-related impacts. When the brain is impaired, it can affect a person's thinking, memory, and behavior. The severity of a TBI can vary from mild concussions to severe brain damage. If someone in Topeka experiences a traumatic brain injury because of someone else's actions, seeking legal assistance is crucial. Contacting Fincher Law's Topeka traumatic brain injury lawyer or Topeka truck accident attorney can provide support in understanding legal options and seeking settlement for medical expenses and other damages. Don't hesitate to seek help if you or a loved one faces such a situation.

The Transportation System in Topeka, Kansas

Topeka, Kansas, has a helpful transportation system. People get around the city using cars, buses, and bikes. Many families have cars to drive to work, school, and stores. The city also has buses that travel to different neighborhoods, making it easy for people without cars to get around. For those who like to bike, bike lanes and trails throughout the city make it safe and fun to ride. Topeka also has an airport where people can fly to different cities for vacations or business trips. With these options, people in Topeka can travel easily and conveniently to where they need to go.

Kansas Museum of History

The Kansas Museum of History is a fascinating place in Topeka. Inside, you can explore the history of Kansas from a long time ago to now. There are cool exhibits about Native Americans, pioneers, and even dinosaurs that used to roam the land. You can see old artifacts like tools, clothes, and even a real covered wagon. There are fun things to do, like dressing up in old-fashioned clothes and pretending you're living in the past. You can learn about famous Kansans like Amelia Earhart and Dwight D. Eisenhower, too. The Kansas Museum of History is a fun and educational adventure for anyone who loves learning about the past.

Topeka Contemplates City Manager in Special Meeting

In Topeka, KS, the city manager plays an important role in making sure the city runs smoothly. They oversee daily operations, like managing city departments and making sure services like trash pickup and road maintenance are working well. The city manager also works closely with the city council to develop budgets and plans for the city's future. They listen to the needs of residents and businesses, helping to address concerns and make improvements to the community. Additionally, the city manager acts as a leader, guiding city employees and working to build strong relationships within the community. They work hard to keep the city running efficiently and make it a great place to live, work, and play.

Link to maps

Kansas Museum of History 6425 SW 6th Ave, Topeka, KS 66615, United States Head east 233 ft Turn left onto SW 6th Ave 0.8 mi At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit and stay on SW 6th Ave 4.6 mi Turn right onto SW Topeka Blvd Pass by Domino's Pizza (on the right in 0.2 mi) Destination will be on the right 0.7 mi Fincher Law Injury & Accident Lawyers 1263 SW Topeka Blvd, Topeka, KS 66612, United States

[thatstormygeek]

This is not pornographic. Sorry (not sorry), it's just not.

If a person who thinks this is pornographic insists we need laws to protect children from pornography, that person is not someone we need to listen to on the topic because they clearly do not know what they are talking about.

Katie Scarlett Calcutt was browsing a website at the Topeka-Shawnee County Public Library with her 9-year-old son when an advertisement for Britney Spears’ memoir appeared on the computer screen with an image of the topless entertainer using hands and arms to conceal a portion of her body. Calcutt said she was offended by casual availability on an internet website of what she considered pornographic images harmful to minors. “I thought I was safe showing a public library website to my son,” she said. “He was visibly disturbed. I felt violated. If this misjudgment occurred on a public library website, I am scared to imagine how the savvy entertainment industry, and worse, the extremely profitable and inhumanly exploitive porn industry, can find their way to the attention of my relatively sheltered son.”

One of the many reasons the US is *gestures at everything* is because we rush to make restrictive laws based on the imagined fears of white women. (I don't know this woman is white, but she's a conservative Catholic from Kansas, so it's good odds). Not to actually protect those women. But they provide a good cover for the discrimination the PTB want to enact anyway.

"I am scared to imagine how [insert boogeyman] would hurt my child" means "best enact legislation to prevent these imaginary fears from coming to pass!"

It's not clear from the article what site Calcutt was viewing. At first, I assumed she was using a library computer to surf the web, but her later comments imply the library is at fault for the content of the website. So either she doesn't at all understand how the internet works, or she was browsing the library's site or a related catalog site or something. It's a coin flip, honestly.

If the latter, unless she was specifically browsing in the children's area (I'd question an algorithm that puts the Britney Spears memoir - or most any memoir, really - into a page dedicated to children's books) the idea that the cover of a book appearing on a site presumably devoted to showcasing books is shocking is...what?

Also, what even would be the point of the "inhumanly exploitive porn industry" finding a way to your son, or other kids? The drug panic at least made sense in the whole "create a customer base of addicts" economic sense. Though I suppose that's why they go all in on the myth of porn addiction: that answers the question of why.

But, outside of conservative and anti-sex worker fantasies, the people making adult content are making it for adults. They aren't out here itching for the chance to show your kids their naught bits. It's not a thing that's happening.

Children are groomed and abused by adults online. I'm not denying that is something that exists and it absolutely is damaging children and needs to be combated. But that's not what this is about. Because if it were really about keeping kids safe, it would be based on what experts in the field say would help. Not the Catholic church.

Speaking of which

Chuck Weber, executive director of the Kansas Catholic Conference, endorsed the legislation and argued consumption of nudity or sexual content, particularly by children, was unhealthy. The state government should take a stand against the pornography industry for addicting youth to smut, he said. “It’s addictive, it’s destructive and it’s just one click away from our kids on their phones,” he said. “While parents are the first and best defenders of their children, society also has an obligation to protect the family, what we often call the ‘domestic church.'”

Nah, dude. I don't consent to being part of your church in any fashion.

[children-of-america-ff-blog]

Children of America Fanfiction

Idea

I first had this idea watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier, when I sat there and wondered, "what if S.H.I.E.L.D. or some other agency preserved Steve's DNA (in the form of sperm) to create some sort of superhero super soldier children?" Like, said super soldier children were raised and trained to protect America in the absence of their father. And I thought about it even more.

Eight super soldier children from the original Captain America, born in separate states, raised and trained to protect their state from all that can do harm. Over time, the other forty-two states learned to protect themselves in the event of a superhuman catastrophe, not relying on the eight super-soldier-protected states to help.

The Children

All eight super soldier half-siblings know and have met each other - in battle and in parks, cafes, and libraries - but live separate lives from each other. Each and every one of the half-siblings is believed to have developed their ability through their super soldier blood and from their father. From eldest to youngest, there are;

Aaron "Moose" Rogers - Known as Sergeant Alaska to the United States of America, Aaron is the eldest of Steve's super children and the most like him personality-wise. His birth mother surrendered him to the American Government, which - in turn - decided it was best for Aaron to be raised in Alaska. Therefore, he grew up protecting Alaska and its citizens from potential dangers. He has an inhumane tolerance for intensely decreased temperatures, having been able to live in the Arctic for a year and a half at 12 years old. He gets his nickname from his massive size, like that of a moose.

Ilya Illinois Rogers - Best known as Lieutenant Illinois, Ilya is the second eldest of Steve's children and similar to his father in the sense of humanitarianism. He believes if humanity has the will to be something, there has to be a way for humanity to become that. He and his mother were never close, and she was heavily against him joining the Chicago Police Department alongside being Illinois' protector. Ilya has the superhuman sense of lie-detecting - making him one of Chicago's best detectives. While he finds it hard to tell if his brothers and sister lie to him, Ilya can take a few seconds to realise a stranger is lying.

Vincent "Vinnie" Rogers - Typically (and simply) called Virginia, Vincent is the third eldest, but one of the least known of Steve's children. As he is a politician rather than a superhero, Vincent spends most of his time in his office or at home with his wife and twin children - or scolding his brothers and sister for breaking federal conduct during battles. Of course, none of them listen to him, with the exception of his two elder brothers, Aaron and Ilya. Vincent's charismatic ability means he only fights in battles if he's desperately needed - otherwise he's using his charm to convince the public to donate to local charities. He gets his nickname from his sister being unable to pronounce his name when she was a toddler.

Dominic Christian and Karl Rogers - Nominated the Super Soldier Twins, Dominic is known as Lieutenant DC of Virginia and Karl is often referred to as Sergeant Kansas, and are Steve's fourth and fifth children. Even though residing in different states, Dominic and Karl are often caught by the media catching up in Washington DC, Virginia, or Topeka, Kansas. Dominic runs a men's fashion magazine in his free time, whilst it is unknown to everyone (including the other Rogers children) what Karl's favourite pastime is. The Rogers siblings will sometimes call Dominic by his hero name because it is a shortening of his name to them.

Connor Rogers - The smartest of the eight super soldier children, Connor ("Lieutenant Connecticut") is the third youngest of Steve's children. Like his older brother, Vincent, Connor doesn't use his ability for superheroism - but for the lab, and his patients at the State Veterans Hospital in his hometown. His incredible intelligence has saved plenty of lives, more lives than he would have outside of the hospital and lab (in Connor's opinion - his brothers would disagree). Much to his dismay, his younger brother loves calling him "Connie".

Neveah "Noah" Carson Rogers - Known in Las Vegas and the rest of his state as Sergeant Nevada, Neveah is the second youngest of Steve's children, and his youngest son. He is the only known openly gay superhero, and regardless of what anyone else says, he is proud of himself. It helps that his brothers and sister are constantly supportive of him. The one part of him that he isn't proud of is his name, therefore he always tells people he introduces himself to that his name is Noah. His ability isn't incredibly identifiable, but he makes a point that he's stronger than all of his siblings combined. While boasting his strength, Neveah hasn't managed to crack his eldest brother's "uncrackable" (Neveah quotations it, Aaron insists it) skull - yet. He owns an increasingly popular club in Las Vegas; legally, of course.

Missy Sarah Rogers - The only super sibling with "captain" before their state or capital (Captain Mississippi), Missy is Steve's youngest child and only daughter. Thus, her elder brothers are typically protective over her; some don't entirely care about their sister's romantic life (Connor, Ilya), believe she's old enough to take care of herself (Vincent), think she's capable enough to protect herself (Dominic, Karl) or just can't handle the pout she gives them to get her way (Aaron, Neveah). She has the super ability to hear, see, smell and feel things from a great distance - and her sense of taste isn't that bad either. Her only issue is, her brothers won't play blind taste tests with her anymore!

Stories, Incorrect Quotes and Galore!

Now that the Children of (Captain) America have been introduced, I figured that we could do a Q&A, I could make short stories about the Super Soldier Siblings (we can find a new name for them), post incorrect quotes that would exactly be them, and whatever you'd like to see of them!

If anyone would like to make fanart of them, I can give you references and describe their appearances for you to make said fanart. But I cannot draw or make anything artistic that doesn't involve words to save my life.

[brirobbins]

Love all things Barbie? Check out this shirt!

[cartermagazine]

Today In History John Hope Franklin, American historian and educator was born in Rentiesville, OK, on this date January 2, 1915. Noted for his scholarly reappraisal of the American Civil War era and the importance of the black struggle in shaping modern American identity, John Hop Franklin helped fashion the legal brief that led to the historic Supreme Court decision outlawing public school segregation, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) and was instrumental in the development of African-American Studies programs at colleges and universities. CARTER™ Magazine carter-mag.com #wherehistoryandhiphopmeet #historyandhiphop365 #cartermagazine #carter #johnhopefranklin #blackhistorymonth #blackhistory #history #blacktwitter https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm6F9I6ulSc/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[theoldtimemoan]

L.F. Garlinghouse Topeka Kansas

[yesterdaysprint]

The Topeka Daily Capital, Kansas, September 29, 1903

[toposhirts]

Minimal Topeka City Map hoodie ( US Kansas )

Get it here. And show some love for Topeka ! Want another city ? Look here for thousands of city designs. Available in 15+ colours on t-shirts, hoodies, longsleeves and various other streetwear products. (c) Toposhirts and OpenStreetMap Contributors.

[antoine-roquentin]

obliquely, this is in reference to how formerly working class bastions in the midwest that used to elect socialists now elect republicans. if we all gave up the theory that LGBT people are normal, we might once again go back to the days where we elected socialists across the country. thomas frank, what’s the matter with kansas:

But its periodic bouts of leftism were what really branded Kansas with the mark of the freak. Every part of the country in the nineteenth century had labor upheavals and protosocialist reform movements, of course. In Kansas, though, the radicals kept coming out on top. It was as though the blank landscape prompted dreams of a blank-slate society, a place where institutions might be remade as the human mind saw fit. Maps of the state from the 1880s show a hamlet (since vanished) called Radical City; in nearby Crawford County the town of Girard was home to the Appeal to Reason, a socialist newspaper whose circulation was in the hundreds of thousands. In that same town, in 1908, Eugene Debs gave a fiery speech accepting the Socialist Party’s nomination for president; in 1912 Debs actually carried Crawford County, one of four he won nationwide. (All were in the Midwest.) In 1910 Theodore Roosevelt signaled his own lurch to the left by traveling to Kansas and giving an inflammatory address in Osawatomie, the onetime home of John Brown.

The most famous freak-out of them all was Populism, the first of the great American leftist movements.* Populism tore through other states as well—wailing all across Texas, the South, and the West in the 1890s—but Kansas was the place that really distinguished itself by its enthusiasm. Driven to the brink of ruin by years of bad prices, debt, and deflation, the state’s farmers came together in huge meetings where homegrown troublemakers like Mary Elizabeth Lease exhorted them to “raise less corn and more hell.” The radicalized farmers marched through the small towns in day-long parades, raging against what they called the “money power.” And despite all the clamor, they still managed to take the state’s traditional Republican masters utterly by surprise in 1890, sweeping the small-town slickers out of office and ending the careers of many a career politician. In the decade that followed they elected Populist governors, Populist senators, Populist congressmen, Populist supreme court justices, Populistcity councils, and probably Populist dogcatchers, too; men of strong ideas, curious nicknames, and a colorful patois....

For a generation, Kansas has been the testing-ground for every experiment in morals, politics, and social life. Doubt of all existing institutions has been respectable. Nothing has been venerable or revered merely because it exists or has endured. Prohibition, female suffrage, fiat money, free silver, every incoherent and fantastic dream of social improvement and reform, every economic delusion that has bewildered the foggy brains of fanatics, every political fallacy nurtured by misfortune, poverty and failure, rejected elsewhere, has here found tolerance and advocacy.

Today the two myths are one. Kansas may be the land of averageness, but it is a freaky, militant, outraged averageness. Kansas today is a burned-over district of conservatism where the backlash propaganda has woven itself into the fabric of everyday life. People in suburban Kansas City vituperate against the sinful cosmopolitan elite of New York and Washington, D.C.; people in rural Kansas vituperate against the sinful cosmopolitan elite of Topeka and suburban Kansas City. Survivalist supply shops sprout in neighborhood strip-malls. People send Christmas cards urging their friends to look on the bright side of Islamic terrorism, since the Rapture is now clearly at hand.

Under the state’s simple blue flag are gathered today some of the most flamboyant cranks, conspiracists, and calamity howlers the Republic has ever seen. The Kansas school board draws the guffaws of the world for purging state science standards of references to evolution. Cities large and small across the state still hold out against water fluoridation, while one tiny hamlet takes the additional step of requiring firearms in every home. A prominent female politician expresses public doubts about the wisdom of women’s suffrage, while another pol proposes that the state sell off the Kansas Turnpike in order to solve its budget crisis. Impoverished inhabitants of the state’s most scenic area fight with fanatical determination to prevent a national park from opening up in their neighborhood, while the rails-to-trails program, regarded everywhere else in the union as a harmless scheme for family fun, is reviled in Kansas as an infernal design on the rights of property owners. Operation Rescue selects Wichita as the stage for its great offensive against abortion, calling down thirty thousand testifying fundamentalists on the city, witnessing and blocking traffic and chaining themselves to fences. A preacher from Topeka travels the nation advising Americans to love God’s holy hate, showing up wherever a gay person has been in the news to announce that “God Hates Fags.” Survivalists and secessionists dream of backyard confederacies out on the lone prairie; schismatic Catholics declare the pope himself to be insufficiently Catholic; Posses Comitatus hold imaginary legal proceedings, sternly prosecuting state officials for participating in actual legal proceedings; and homegrown terrorists swap conspiracy theories at a house in Dickinson County before screaming off to strike a blow against big government in Oklahoma City.

the problem with this simple story is that social liberalism actually grew in lockstep with an economic policy tailored to the poor. in the 70s, the most common place to get gender reassignment surgery was at a catholic hospital in small town colorado. in 2010, in response to deep opposition in the town, the practice was forced to move to california. the second most common place was at a baptist hospital in oklahoma city, where such surgery was viewed as routine until a number of religious leaders decided to oppose it in the 70s. at the same time, many other religious leaders spoke out in favour of the surgery, saying that it comported well with religious tenets.

likewise, colorado legalized abortion in 1967, as did states like kansas, missouri, georgia, and north and south carolina prior to roe v wade. today, these states are considered anti-abortion and anti-lgbt hotspots, yet prior to the late 70s, compassion for such people was viewed as paramount in the life of america’s christians. so what happened? it clearly wasn’t an emphasis on the social aspects of poor american lives that shifted the political arena in favour of religious conservatism. rather, as thomas frank points out in the same book:

Nobody mows their own lawn in Mission Hills anymore, and only a foot soldier in its armies of gardeners would park a Pontiac there. The doctors who lived near us in the seventies have pretty much been gentrified out, their places taken by the bankers and brokers and CEOs who have lapped them repeatedly on the racetrack of status and income. Every time I paid Mission Hills a visit during the nineties, it seemed another of the more modest houses in our neighborhood had been torn down and replaced by a much larger edifice, a three-story stone chateau, say, bristling with turrets and porches and dormers and gazebos and a three-car garage. The dark old palaces from the twenties sprouted spiffy new slate roofs, immaculately tailored gardens, remote-controlled driveway gates, and sometimes entire new wings. One grand old pile down the street from us was fitted with shiny new gutters made entirely of copper. A new house a few doors down from Esrey’s spread is so large it has two multicar garages, one at either end.

These changes are of course not unique to Mission Hills. What has gone on there is normal in its freakishness. You can observe the same changes in Shaker Heights or La Jolla or Winnetka or Ann Coulter’s hometown of New Canaan, Connecticut. They reflect the simplest and hardest of economic realities: The fortunes of Mission Hills rise and fall in inverse relation to the fortunes of ordinary working people. When workers are powerful, taxes are high, and labor is expensive (as was the case from World War II until the late seventies), the houses built here are smaller, the cars domestic, the servants rare, and the overgrown look fashionable in gardening circles. People read novels about eccentric English aristocrats trapped in a democratic age, sighing sadly for their lost world.

When workers are weak, taxes are down, and labor is cheap (as in the twenties and again today), Mission Hills coats itself in shimmering raiments of gold and green. Now the stock returns are plush, the bonus packages fat, the servants affordable, and the suburb finds that the princely life isn’t dead after all. It builds new additions and new fountains and new Italianate porches overlooking Olympic-sized flower gardens maintained by shifts of laborers. People read books about the glory of empire. The kids get Porsches or SUVs when they turn sixteen; the houses with asphalt roofs discreetly disappear; the wings that were closed off are triumphantly reopened, and all is restored to its former grandeur. Times may be hard where you live, but here events have yielded a heaven on earth, a pleasure colony out of the paintings of Maxfield Parrish.

america's workers and small farmers were saved by the reforms of the 1930s, as frank explains, then crushed as the wealthy found out how to squirrel away their taxes (in part thanks to the collapse of the british empire), accumulate wealth away from prying eyes, lobby the government for preferential treatment, and between 1976 and 2000, triumph completely in the political domain. mission hill donates more money to politicians than the rest of kansas combined. unions are swamped in state politics, and see declining fortunes. as a result, neoliberal social atomization takes effect, which sees even workers demanding beggar-thy-neighbour policies. and when thy neighbour is socially distinct from you, it becomes easier to justify voting for such politics based on a survival instinct. the majority of the working class tuned out and do not vote any more. among the rest, low skilled working class jobs in highly stratified and inequitable cities vote democrat, hoping for some patronage from the white collar creative class voters they serve, while blue collar skilled workers tend to vote republican, devoid of any examples of class politics in their lives with the death of unions and hoping to keep their share of wages against their only opposition, the tax man.

ultimately, any socially liberal politics sustained by donations from rich big city donors is unsustainable. on the other hand, the notion that “woke” politics is holding back leftism is, save for a few clearly absurd situations (robin diangelo, for instance) also wrong. economic leftism leads to social leftism, because respect to the working class leads to respect for its identities. neoliberal atomization is a much deeper force than can be surmounted at the ballot box, even in a primary, but it is always an economic force first and foremost.

[dwellordream]

“Although the beauty industry claimed that American women everywhere were making up, the consumer surveys they commissioned show a wide spectrum of opinion about cosmetics and distinct patterns of use. Age, marital status, economic class, ethnic origins, and residence influenced women's relationship to the new mass market. Before World War I makeup had been largely a phenomenon of the metropolis. New York City led the country in the cosmetic arts, as it did in so many other forms of cultural expression. Helena Rubinstein recalled that when she came to New York in 1915 she "was shocked even then by the numbers of young girls who were excessively made up." Cosmetics firms perceived New York to be a distinct market at the heart of the fashion trade, where the latest styles circulated rapidly not only in high society but among working-class retail clerks and dressmakers. 

At a time when American women tentatively dusted on rouge, New Yorkers painted their lips, flourished compacts, and even bought mascara and eye shadow, considered the most questionable type of makeup. Women in other large cities followed suit. In Chicago, one industry observer reported in the mid-1920s, wealthy women applied makeup "very carefully and sparingly," while working women "use it in astonishing quantities." In contrast, makeup came only gradually to Main Street. "Such a small percentage use cosmetics to any considerable extent," exclaimed a surprised executive at the J. Walter Thompson ad agency in 1927. In Topeka, Kansas, and Columbus, Ohio, middle-class housewives had begun to use such basic skin-care products as cold cream and vanishing cream, following the regimen promoted by beauty culturists and advertised by Pond's and other mass marketers. A substantial minority had even started to rouge, although, as they reported it, only with a light touch. 

In contrast, poor and working-class wives interviewed in Providence, Rhode Island, and Chester, Pennsylvania, showed little use of any beautifier, let alone visible makeup. As late as 1933, low-income housewives, many of whom worked in factories and stores to support their families, did not so much resist beauty preparations as express indifference: Cosmetics were irrelevant to their lives. Cosmetics were even less prevalent in small towns and farming communities, where one-half of all Americans still dwelled in 1920. "Towns under 1,000 are hopeless," complained a Thompson investigator, since the general stores carried few beauty preparations, but in larger towns "up-to-date" druggists eagerly began to stock cosmetics. O. N. Falk's drugstore in Stoughton, Wisconsin, for example, sold mainly skin-care products and face powders before the mid-twenties, but then offered an enormous selection of brand-name rouges, lipsticks, and even complexion clay. 

Beauty shops began to surface in towns and villages, and mail-order sales served many rural women. Market research surveys even reported the occasional small-town woman who purchased Elizabeth Arden's high-priced preparations. Despite the availability of cosmetics, farm women indulged in skincare regimens sporadically and adopted visible makeup only reluctantly. Most cleaned their faces with soap and warm water, but a small number had begun to develop the "cold cream habit." Many used powder, which was believed to protect the skin from the elements. City women's rouge and lipstick were uncommon, and one correspondent reported in 1927, "mascara is just beginning to become a staple item in the smaller towns in the corn belt." It was not until the end of the 1930s that farm women's use of cosmetics approximated that of urban dwellers. 

A study by the Farm Journal of over two thousand rural families in 1941 reported that almost all women used face powder, two thirds applied cold cream and rouge, and more than half wore lipstick. Even so, the study excluded the class of "illiterates, negroes, or submarginal farm families'-one-fifth of all farm women-considered strangers to consumer culture by national advertiser. These surveys show, in a general way, that makeup use dropped as household incomes declined, especially among married housewives. However, age and activity, broadly defined, appear to be more important indicators of makeup use. Women over forty might use powder but few wore rouge and lipstick; in the Providence survey, not one woman over sixty used any of these cosmetics. Among women under age twenty-five, on the other hand, virtually all used powder daily, three quarters used rouge, and almost half wore lipstick. 

Visible makeup was especially pronounced among wage-earners and college students. At Ohio State University and Pembroke College in 1927, makeup applications constituted a daily regimen. A 1931 study of college women similarly reported that over 85 percent wore rouge, lipstick, face powder, and nail polish, and spent about twelve to thirteen dollars a year on these items. Young stenographers, typists, and clerks also applied color regularly to cheeks and lips, transforming the painted face into a business uniform. At Macy's, working women were "the largest consumer of units of rouge and lipstick," crowding onto the selling floor during their lunch hour, sniffing powder compacts and "pay[ing] anything for Tangee, Incarnat, Indelible or Rubinstein's lipstick." Even high school girls had begun buying cosmetic. The beauty industry embraced national advertising, believing it effectively identified previously unrecognized "needs" and showed Americans how to fulfill their desires. 

Mass marketers applauded the rising subscription rates of traditional "home journals" and the new confession magazines. In them, women could find page after page of cosmetics advertising, detailed instructions on cosmetic applications, and inspirational stories of beautiful women. According to market researcher Nell B. Nichols, women read beauty columns "religiously" and studied magazines "like textbook." Yet women's exposure to advertising was partial, their immersion in commercial beauty culture mediated and incomplete. The circulation of women's magazines varied greatly by economic class. In a 1923 study of Cincinnati magazine readers, 23 percent of professional and business families and 38 percent of clerical and skilled workers' households subscribed to Woman's Home Companion; in contrast, only 6 percent of those in low-paid working-class occupations-domestic workers, laborers, and factory operatives-did so. 

In 1930, while almost one-third of the wealthiest families in the United States (earning more than $10,000) purchased the Ladies' Home Journal, the number of subscribers declined steeply among the less prosperous. Even taking into account the fact that magazines were purchased on newsstands and frequently handed around among friends and neighbors, many women, especially among the poor, had little exposure to national advertising. Low-income women often ignored advertised national brands and looked for "specials" on cosmetics, "house" brands, and cut-price sales. At Bloomingdale's, an investigator contrasted the Lexington Avenue circle that bought on charge accounts with the Third Avenue crowd, mainly foreign born, who "have limited money and buy on a price basis." 

Many women redeemed the manufacturers' coupons that appeared in advertisements to introduce the brand. Consumers, however, often saw free samples as an end in themselves. "The kinds [of cosmetics] I really like are too expensive, so I don't buy them," observed one woman. "I depend on samples." Farm and small-town women also engaged consumer culture selectively. They purchased some of the same nationally advertised brands as urban women - Pond's creams, for instance-but also bought many mail-order and door-to-door brands not found in urban stores. "In several cases the leaders in city stores attracted little demand in the country trade," one study noted.'' Even in the 1920s many women continued to make their own beauty preparations, following recipes handed down in families or between neighbors. 

…Makeup circulated in familiar rounds of sociability: A sister would make a present of a box of rouge; a friend would advise another to put a little color in her cheeks. At first Rachel Neiswender "thought it was a disgrace to be seen with artificial color," but then her friends started using rouge and she gave in. Mrs. George Chambers received rouge as a Christmas present from a friend who "knew I would never use any if it wasn't given to me so I would make the start." Children, both young and grown, also persuaded women to take the plunge. The Topeka housewives frequently attributed their first use of rouge to the influence of daughters and sons. Mrs. Sidney Smith's seven-year-old daughter came home from school one day and asked her mother to make her cheeks "pink and pretty," and she complied. 

An elderly woman who had given little thought to such matters explained that "her children kept urging her to make the start" and her "thoughtful son" had even bought her a box of rouge. "She says she now feels as uncomfortable without it as she does without her powder," the interviewer stated. Advertising promoted cosmetics as a means of winning and keeping a husband. As a cultural practice, however, making up more often underscored women's ties to other women, not to men. Married women, at least, rarely mentioned husbands as the reason they began to use makeup. Although some spouses "approved the results," more often women identified men as the reason they did not wear cosmetics or hid their use. Men's letters to the Seattle Union Record in 1925 generally opposed the use of paint, and market researchers recorded male complaints about wives' beauty rituals. One woman, for instance, explained she did not use cold cream because her "husband objects to my fussing with [my] face when going to bed."”

- Kathy Peiss, “Everyday Cosmetic Practices.” in Hope in a Jar: The Making of America's Beauty Culture