1 111 1 mmmmmmmmmmm " mmmmm . I. tsWsMSMiM I . , . , all , I ft I , .
The Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page
Copyright, lilt, by ttta BUr Company. Great Britain Mt-hU Ritrv&
The Battle of the Blondes
ff
m aw
if W Hi1
mi,, i
Monna
Dolza
the
Celebrated
Paris Stage
Beauty in
the Blonde
Ranks, Who
Acknowledges
That Her
Dress Account
Alone
Amounts
to $40,000
a Year.
Paris, March 28.
NEVER in tbo history of tho
gradual emancipation of
women from tho form of
bondage naturally Imposed by their
sex have tho possibilities of beauty's
' independence in modern society re
ceived such emphasis as underlies
the current "Battle of tho Blondes,"
which centres in this world's capital
of beauty.
It may bo news to untraveHed
Americans, but It is uone tho less a
fact, that In tho other great Euro
pean cities, as well as In Paris, con
spicuous femlnlno beauty publicly
displayed as on the stage attracts
valuable tributes which may be ac
cepted without any loss of self-respect.
These are voluntary offerings
placed on beauty's shrine as acts of
porsonal homage to natural gifts
which glvo pleasuro to all beholders.
They bring luxury and independence
to popular stage favorites, and en
able the "prize beauty," during the
period of her reign, to accumulate a
fortunes.
That Is the capital prize which the
(blondes nro now struggling to wrest
from tho hands of the brunettes,
whoso great champion the ill-fated
Lonthelme held it for so long. As
Lanthelmo seemed to have no worthy
successor in tho ranks of brunette
beauty the blondes have entered the
field with the lovely and fascinating
Mile. Dorgero for their standard
bearer.
Standing on almost the same plane
of eligibility for the capital prize are
tho popular stage beauties, Mile.
Monna Delza nd Mile. Dastry. But
though they aro rivals for the first
prize they are uniting their Influence
against the brunettes, of whom Mile.
Renouardt is at present the most
redoubtable. If either Mile. Dorgere,
Mile. Delza or Mile. Dastry should
gain a signal victqry over Ml la.
Renouardt, so much tho better for all
tho blondes; tho brunette tradition
iwould have to yield to a new regime,
with tho chief honors and spoils safe
for tho rarer reigning type.
At tho present moment it is dirfl
cult to foresee what the outcome
-will be. The battlo is being proso
cuted with vigor, and has separated
the interested public Into two dis
tinct camps. . Tho theatres where tho
blonde leaders appear aro almost de
serted by adherents of the brunette
cause, 1 and vice versa. The two
camps navo not yet resorted to such
hostile measures as that of sending
delegates to hiss performances by
the leaders of the opposition, but it
Is noticed that purchasers of photo
graphs confess their allegiance la
that way quite as plainly as In the
choice of the theatres which they
patronize the glided youth and the
i
.1
What Becomes of
THE wonderful, figures of our fancy, the
heroes and heroines of the books -we
read and the pictures that delighted us
in childhood, what becomes of them?
Most of them lived In tho flesh and inspired
the writer or artist before we read the pages or
gazed at the picture. What has become of these
models for the characters as familiar to us 'as
the features of our mother's facet Vivian
Burnett was the little boy who sat for that
classlo of childhood, "Little Lord Fauntleroy."
Mrs. Prances Hodgson Burnett wrote the ten
der little story with her own little son In mind
for the Little Lord and herself for his mother,
whom he called "Dearest"
What has become of this little boy beloved
for bis white ruffled shlrtB, his velvet knickers,
bis blue sash and, above all, his long golden
curls that "Dearest" loved to twist about her
rich old beaux of
Paris buy photo
graphs of blondes or
of brunettes, rarely
of both.
" Tho latest of
Mile. .Dorgero" 1b
the demand of a
well-known banker,
or a fabulously rich
Ruslan noble exile.
to the astonishment
of the--dealer, who
remembers having
sold him dozens of
Lantholme poses.
"I am desolated, -mon
sleur," says tho dealer,
ibut my supply of Dor
gere poses is exhausted.
Of new poses of Mllo.
(Renouardt, however"
"Au revolr, madame, but
I stand with tho blondes."
And out walks a good cus
tomer who formerly had
no such prejudices re
specting the coloring of
stage beauties.
Tho sale of rlghtB In
their photographs is a
source of of 'great revenue
to these beauties. But
in other ways, too, tho
blondes are already gain
ing materially by their
battle with tho 'brunettes.
Respectful tributes to
their beauty in tho shape of Jewels,
automobiles, furs, luxuriously ap
pointed apartments, tables services
of monogramed silver and china and
inexhaustible accounts at favorite
dressmakers and milliners aro flow-
slender white fingers. It Is painful to relate
that there aren't enough hairs left on top of
the original Llttlo Lord Fauntleroy's head to
make a wilted looking curl.
The cruel truth is that the one time hero Is
bald. Worse than that he la that most unro
mantlo of human beings, a bachelor.
Little Lord Fauntleroy Is thirty-seven years
old. How fast heroes grow up I He hates the
character we all loved. Ho Is so tired of hear
ing people say behind politely screening hands:
"You'd never think of it to look at him, would
youl" The crown of his hatred for the char
acter was placed upon him at Harvard. It was
a crown of thorns, for the Harvard students
forced the young freshman to put on Little
Lord Fauntleroy clothes and march around the
campus in what he rudely termed "the blanked
duds."
But when Little Lord Fauntleroy grew up he
didn't grow very far. Like "Dearest," Ms
II
W1
8
Hi
It-
AH
Ms
'v
Mile Dorgere,
Photographed
as She
Appeared
at an
Afternoon
Reception.
Her Pearl
Necklace Is
Said to
Have Cost
$8,000.
dng In the direction of blonde beau
ties who never before received moro
than a diamond brooch in a bouquet.
No male resident of or visitor to
Paris can occupy a position too
exalted to bar him from worship at
Childhood's Idols
mnlhrtf. fin
r5
S8
mi
mi
o'eauty'a shrine. Royal princes, oven:
kings, on the contrary, have seemed
to consider it especially incumbent
upon them to be the chief payers of
tribute. Miserly as he was, the late
King of Belgium heaped favors upon
most of the prominent stago beauties
of his time. It will be remembered
how King Manuel of Portugal en
tered into rivalry with Alfonzo of
Spain in rendering luxurious the life
of Mile. Monna Delza, and remained
a victor on that field until the rising
fame of Gaby Deslys lured hlra and
his valuable favors in that direction.
Referring to Monna Delza, an ex
amplo of tho profit of being an
acknowledged stage beauty is found
in her recently published statement,
with details drawn from her own
experience, that It Js impossible for
a fashionable woman to dress on an
allowance of less than $40,000 a year.
This Is exclusive of Jewels and the
la nnna Irinrnhlr Iprb than medium
height Mrs. Burnett, now sixty, lives In a
country home at Plandome Park, Long Island,
surrounded by gardenB of blue flowers. Her
mood matches the flowers, for she Is heartily
homesick for England, which Is another dlsapr
polntment for while the real "Dearest" was an
American, the Actional ono Is an English
woman, and one Is as sick of hor exile as an
other. "Dearest," you remember, waB slender.
Mrs. Burnett Isn't.
You will have to go to Newark to see the
child who Inspired "Helen'B Babies." The
original of the tricksy elves who harrassed
their relatives Is a sedate young woman who
earns her living by lecturing to the women em
ployes of a large department store. Faith
Habberton, daughter of John Habberton, the
author of "Helen's Babies," lives with bor
parents at Westfleld, N. J, Mr. Habberton
till lives but his health Is precarious.
sap
Mile. Dorgere, Ac
knowledged Leader
of the "Battlo of tlio
Blonde" to Wrest
the Rich Tributes
Mo Beauty, Which
the Paris Beaux and
Gilded Youth So
Willingly Pay, from
the Brunettes, Who
Have for So Long
Had the Lion's
Share. She Is Pho
tographed in One
of Her Most Fasci
nating Stage Poses.
Mile.
Dastry,
Another
Paris
Stage
Beauty,
Who
Is
a
Standard
Bearer
for
the
Blondes.
many other expenses of a reigning
beauty.
But it must not be supposed that
the generous individuals who pro
vide most of the means of all this
luxury as a voluntary beauty trib
ute receive no personal recognition
in exchange. Their personal re
ward comes in subtlo ways which
appeal to tho pride of ovory fash
lonablo Parisian. They tako their
turns being seen riding or driving
with her in tho Hols or In bolng tho
guest of honor at iter llttlo dejeun
ers and petit souplrs, or In having
the entree to her afternoon recep
tions and "Ave o'clocks."
Better still, tho knowledge that
hundreds of Frenchmen read en
viously In the "causerle," or news
paper gossip, how the Marquis X.,
tho Viscount Z., or the Banker T
"waB observed yesterday at Long
champs as the cavalier of Mile."
A., B. or C, the real namo of tho
beauty in question helne printed
"Stand Aside Brunettes! It's Our
Turn Now!" The Battle Cry
in the Unique War
Now Being Waged in
Paris Which Has
Revealed the Enormous
Fortunes Showered
Yearly Upon the
Gay French Capital's
Acknowledged
Queens of Beauty
LssLhT' jLiJislsBsHsSK5sl!
A French Cartoon Symbolizing the
Respectful but Valuable Tri
butes Which Are Showered Upon
the Reigning Stage Beauties.
and hor costume described in "de
tail. As for the capital prizo for
which the blondes are bat
- tllng, It means retirement,
eventually, on tho Income of a
fortuno greater than that df
many a royal prlncoss. In
jowcls, equipages, houses and
lands, furnishings, art objects
and accounts at the dress
maker's and milliner's It may
amount to anywhere between
$50,000 and $100,000 a year.
ONE YEAR'S TRIBUTES TO
ONE BEAUTY
1 Pearl necklace $9,000
Diamonds, rubles and
emeralds, sot in rings' 4,500
Brooches, bracelots, etc 1,000
1 Limousine automobile 3,000
1 Touring car 5,000
1 Electric runabout ... 600
1 Silver table service... 2,000
Wine cellar stocked . . . 5,000
Dressmaker's account . 80,000
Milliner's account .... 8,000
Lingerie r.ccount 2,000
Furs 20,000
Miscellaneous gifts .... 2,000
Total $92,000
After a reign lasting four
years, this particular beauty
a typical case among at least
a score converted most of
her Jewels Into cash and re
tired to her own chateau, not
fifty miles from Paris, with an
income of 100,000 francs
$20,000.
Victory for the blondes
may mean an era of
even greater prosperity
for publicly recognized ooauty.
Science declares that the blonde
typo will continue to grow more
and more rare, for the reason that
It can porslBt through generations
only In cold and cloudy climates,
which mitigate pigmentation pro
duced by the sun's rays. More and
more humanity flocks to tho great
cities, and nearly all of these are in
comparatively warm and sunny
climes, favorable to tho production
of the brunette typo.
All of which adds to the Impor
tant of the present struggle for
recognized supremacy of blonde
beauty.
"Vivo la Blondel" cries one Par la
camp.
"Vive la
other camp.
Brunette!" cries the
There 1b no chance of Its being a
Mrawn battlo." That would be con
trary to tho Parisian temperament
But which side will win whethor
the blonde or tho brunette cham
pion will carry off the grand prize
as yet remains In doubt
