"Plain Girls," Salt Lake Daily Telegraph, Dec 19, 1867

Dublin Core

Title

"Plain Girls," Salt Lake Daily Telegraph, Dec 19, 1867

Subject

Cushman, Charlotte Saunders, 1816-1876
Hosmer, Harriet Goodhue, 1830-1908
Beauty
Gender Norms
Gossip--Published
Praise

Description

Charlotte Cushman and Harriet Hosmer serve as examples of 'plain girls.' The original source of this text is the N.Y. Sun.

Credit

19th Century U.S. Newspapers

Publisher

T.B.H Stenhouse

Date

1867-12-19

Type

Reference

Article Item Type Metadata

Text

PLAIN GIRLS. – Plain girls undergo such a purgatory of neglect in this world that there must be a special Paradise for them in the future existence. All sorts of newspaper fun is poked at them; authors consider it their duty to apologize for them; and at home all sorts of weak wit is launched at them. But why? Why do mild young men think they are doing the handsome thing for their plain faced sweatheart when they say "Beauty is but skin deep;'' or, "Handsome is as handsome does!" 'The girl who don't slap the impertinent youngster's face for such an apology, is no sort of a girl. The bachelor who marries a plain girl because there is less chance of her over making him jealous, is a fool. The editor who said that plain girls were peculiarly adapted to be "the steady wives of a dull and steady mediocrity," was no reader of woman kind. Mother Nature is one of the most myterious of the secret powers. She writes the boldest truths in the plainest hand, and behind the plainest faces has planted the noblest minds that ever bloomed and made fragrant the whole earth. Upon thrones, on the stage, in the grand paths of literature, plain girls have reigned long and nobly. Plainer faced women than the Empress Catherine, Charlotte Cushman, Miss Hosmer, the sculptress, Mrs. Browning and Jean Ingelow – never existed. Plain girls have awakened extraordinary passions, too, in great men, and that historical fact is proof sufficient that Beauty alone does not rule the world. A recent writer has made a good suggestion. He thinks the world would like to know the history of celebrated plain girls, and the way they made their marks. "This is the age of Golden Treasuries, why not a Treasury of plain girls. We have Golden Treasuries of English poets, of French poets, of great la yers[?], of famous battles, of notable beauties, of American heroes, successful merchants, and of almost every sort of character and celebrity that can be conceived. What is wanted is a Golden Treasury containing the narrative of the most successful plain girls. And we see no reason why, to give reality to the story, the portraits of some of the most remarkable might not be appended." Brady and Garney[?] might furnish some from their galleries. – N. Y. Sun.

Location

Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, UT, US

Geocode (Latitude)

40.7596198

Geocode (Longitude)

-111.8867975

Social Bookmarking

Geolocation

Collection

Citation

“"Plain Girls," Salt Lake Daily Telegraph, Dec 19, 1867,” Archival Gossip Collection, accessed March 28, 2024, https://archivalgossip.com/collection/items/show/402.

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