Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 283, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 November 1920 — FAMOUS FRUMPS IN HISTORY [ARTICLE]

FAMOUS FRUMPS IN HISTORY

Proof That Feminine Beauty la Nat Always Necessary for the Acquisition of Fame. Beautiful women have their poets and their artist who do justice to their perfections, but some of the most famous women, either from their own or their husband’s talents or position, have been frumps, says London Answers. Mrs. Samuel Johnson was nearly twice the age of the celebrated sage of Fleet street; a widow, with several children as .old as the man she married. Lord Macaulay, in pis famous essay, says: “To ordinary spectators the lady appeared to be a short, fat,., coarse woman, painted half an inch thick, dressed in gaudy colors, and fond of exhibiting provincial airs and graces. But to Johnson his *Titty,’ as be called her, was the most beautiful, graceful and accomplished of her sex.” Caroline of Brunswick is thfr subject of one of . Romney’s most charming pictures. . Yet here Is a contemporary description of her from a diary printed many years after her “Her eyes projected like those of the royal family. She made her head large by , wearing an immense wig. She also painted her eyebrows, which gave her face a strange, fierce look. Her skin—and she showed a great deal —was very red. She wore very high-heeled shoes, so that she bent forward when she stood or walked. Her feet, and ankles were dreadful.” In the same diary appears a description of the famous Mme. de Stael, the most brilliant woman of her time: “Her face was that of a blackamoor attempted to be washed white. She wore a wig like a bunch of withered heather, and over that a turban, which looked as If it had been put on in the dark ; a short neck, and shoulders rising so much behind that they almost amounted to a hump.” Yet she had all the airs of a great beauty, and her salon was sought by all the wits and beaux. George Eliot, whose centenary has lately been kept, was an exceedingly plain woman. It was said that she had a massive head, but as a rule a massive head does not look very elegant on a slim, straight-down sort of figure. Besides, she cared nothing about dress, and would probably have been better content if, like Rosa Bonheur,, she could have got a special dispensation to “wear the trows.” Nevertheless, she was a most charming woman and a very good housewife. She’used to pride herself that she could turn from “Romola” to cookery.