If you’re familiar with advertising campaigns of the late 60s and 70s, you’ll recognize today’s article title as being borrowed from the Virginia Slims cigarette marketing strategy that was aimed at women. Since then the saying—which according to the American Heart Association is a registered trademark of Philip Morris, Inc.—has become a staple of popular culture.
When I happened upon the following scan on Flickr this morning, the popular ad jingle immediately popped into my head for a whole host of reasons. Check it out for yourself and see what you think. Then show it to some women in your life and see what they have to say.
Bessie Mecklem & Henry Clay Mecklem of East Orange, New Jersey
Image reproduction by: susieredshoes Source: Flickr
The photographer has written an interesting story about Bessie Mecklem to accompany this photo. It goes like this:
Bessie Mecklem learned the saxophone and was performing as a teenager; she appeared in hundreds of concerts in her lifetime. Bessie was the first saxophonist to record, at the Edison studio in 1892. Her father, Henry Clay Mecklem, often accompanied Bessie on a harp. This scan is on an 1895 flyer for a concert appearance in Montclair, NJ. According to her sister Eleanore, Bessie was the first female musician to perform in New York’s Central Park.
A couple of the many things that jump out at me about the flyer are:
- I am very happy that I don’t have to wear a dress like this when I perform in public!
- I am also very happy that women are now invited to attend public performances. I’d hate to have to stay home to clean the house and cook dinner while my husband goes out and attends a concert.
Yes indeed, we have in fact come a long way baby.
