Artist Harrison Fisher

Harrison Fisher (right) in a November 1909 issue of the Post.

Harrison Fisher was known as “Father of a Thousand Girls” for his paintings of beautiful women. He was also the father of over eighty Saturday Evening Post covers.

“Lady in Oversized Hat with Flowers” by Harrison Fisher

August 7, 1909

Where, oh where did he find these hats? Harrison Fisher (1875-1934) was the son and grandson of artists, and by the time he was six, his father was teaching him about art.

Still in his teens, Fisher became a newspaper illustrator. In the days before photography was commonplace, newspapers depicted current events and stories in black and white sketches. Soon, however, it was clear that paintings of beautiful women were his forte and he found his ladies described as successors to the Gibson Girls.

“Paisley Turban” by Harrison Fisher

May 21, 1910

Much like the Gibson Girls, the Fisher Girls were the epitome of the All-American beauty with hourglass figures, delicate facial features and rich, lustrous hair. If you could see any of this beyond those hats, that is. This gorgeous paisley turban is from a 1910 cover.

“Woman in Hat” by Harrison Fisher

October 21, 1911

She was the American Girl, and being a Fisher model was the hot job. Fisher’s models ran in high society circles, motoring with millionaires and staying at luxury mansions. But one model was especially interesting…

“Big Black Hat” by Harrison Fisher

June 29, 1912

Her name was Dorothy Gibson. The story begins with a brief career as a vaudeville singer and dancer and continues with being Harrison Fisher’s favorite model. She’ll be covered in a Post web piece next week for something else she is famed for: she was a survivor of the Titanic. Believe it or not, her story grows even more interesting.

“Coffee and Conversation” by Harrison Fisher

January 20, 1912

It may be 1912, but this hat is worthy of Lady Gaga.

It is said that with his newspapers and magazines, such as Cosmopolitan, publisher William Randolph tried to keep Fisher so busy he couldn’t work for other publications. Indeed, he did most Cosmopolitan covers — nearly 300 — between 1913 and his death in 1934. It was Cosmo that gave him his “Father of a Thousand Girls,” nickname.

“Woman in Turban” by Harrison Fisher

October 21,1911

Fisher is reported in some sources to have an exclusive contract with Cosmopolitan magazine, which is either inaccurate, or the artist found a way around it, as he did over 80 Saturday Evening Post covers between 1900 and 1915.

Classic Covers: Harrison Fisher The Saturday Evening Post

But with so many choices, which treatments actually improve and protect the skin’s appearance, and which ones simply add a new wrinkle to the budget? The best way to answer that question is to look first at what it is you’re saving your skin from:

When outdoors, wear a wide-brimmed hat and tightly woven clothing that covers your body.

Block the Sun

Protecting your skin from ultraviolet (UVA/UVB) radiation exposure (including indoor tanning), extremes of heat and cold, and air pollution can significantly reduce your risk of wrinkles and skin cancer.

“Baby boomers didn’t know better and received a great deal of harmful sun exposure before sunscreens were available,” says Dr. C. William Hanke, an eminent dermatologist and past president of the American Academy of Dermatology. “Ultraviolet light causes malignant melanoma, as well as basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas, which are much more common skin cancers.”

Thankfully, broad-spectrum sunscreens protect against both UVA and UVB rays and are widely available today. They’re crucial for skin protection, and not just in the summer. While the sun’s UVB rays are strongest in the northern hemisphere May through September, UVA rays are present year round, penetrating windshields, light clothing, and office windows.

However, comparing the ingredients of one sunscreen to another can leave one bleary-eyed and confused.

“Check the product label,” advises Dr. Hanke. “Good broad-spectrum sunscreens have an SPF of 30 or greater and contain protective ingredients that include: avobenzone, ecamsule, oxybenzone, titanium dioxide, and zinc oxide.”

Choose a sunscreen that works best for you. People with oily skin may prefer an alcohol-based gel. Individuals with dry skin want a cream for moisture.

When applying sunscreen, don’t forget less obvious, but vulnerable areas, such as the ears, neck, and face—anywhere that is exposed.

“We see golfers in my clinical practice all the time,” says Dr. Hanke, who reports an increasing number of cancers on the lips, ears, and eyelids of outdoor enthusiasts who fail to adequately protect sensitive areas. “They golf for five or six hours at a time and need to wear sunscreens. The same advice applies to winter skiers as well.”

Clothing also adds an extra layer of protection. “Wear a hat,” stresses Dr. Hanke. “Men with hereditary hair loss who don’t wear hats are at higher risk for premalignant lesions and skin cancers—mostly squamous cell carcinomas—on their scalps. It can be a huge problem.”

When choosing sun-protective clothing, opt for dense, tightly woven fabrics.

“If you hold the hat or shirt up to the light and can see through it, so can the sun,” Dr. Hanke adds. “The hat should have a tight weave to protect the scalp.”

Today, most sporting goods companies, apparel stores, and online outlets sell sun-protective clothing.

Snuff Out Smoke

Aside from the serious health consequences, smoking and secondhand exposure is also bad for your skin—next in line to the sun in causing wrinkles. Nicotine impairs blood flow to the skin, accelerating the normal aging of epidermal tissue.

Keep It Clean

Science of Skin
Older skin is thinner and more fragile, and the deep layers 
contain less elastic tissue. Blood vessels are also less elastic, so that even minor injuries can cause bruising. The skin may be mottled with small, flat brown areas called lentigines (from the Latin word for lentils).

Young Skin: A thick outer layer and a large number of elastic fibers in the deeper layers help maintain the smoothness of young skin.

Older Skin: A thinner outer layer and fewer elastic fibers in the deeper layers result in skin that appears loose, with deeper creases and wrinkles.

Images reprinted from The Human Body, ©1995 Dorling Kindersley Ltd.

Facial hygiene is also critical. One of the first steps is choosing the right cleanser.

“If you have oily skin, you can use any soap you want, and it will probably not be irritating,” Dr. Hanke says. “The soap that I recommend for most people and use myself is plain white Dove. People with dry or oily skin can use it.”

For people with rough and scaly skin, occasionally using an exfoliant makes skin appear smoother and feel softer.

“As you age, dead cells build up on the skin surface,” Dr. Hanke explains. “Exfoliation removes the dead surface layer, and moisturizing helps keep skin soft.”

Cleanse your face twice a day—once in the morning and again at bedtime, then apply a moisturizer based on your skin type. For dry skin, opt for an occlusive moisturizer that covers the skin with a waterproof film through which water cannot evaporate or escape. For sensitive skin, some experts recommend applying a moisturizer containing soothing ingredients, such as bisabolol, a chamomile extract.

“As we get older, our skin is not the barrier that it once was,” says Dr. Hanke. “It dries out more easily. As a result, people need to moisturize their skin more frequently.”

Do high-end products equate with higher quality?

“Some inexpensive moisturizers such as Neutrogena and Oil of Olay are very good, as are some very expensive ones, such as La Prairie and LaMer,” notes the dermatologist. “Find one that works for you and does not irritate your skin.”

A word of caution: Don’t introduce too many products at the same time.

“Stick with one product line,” advises Dr. Hanke. “Different products can inactivate each other through chemical reactions and potentially irritate the skin surface.”

Rejuvenating Aging Skin

Innovations in anti-aging skin care are on the fast track to meet the growing demand of baby boomers (and their parents). From nonprescription “cosmeceuticals” to laser treatments, therapies are available that improve the skin’s surface texture, reduce irregular pigmentation, and help reverse the effects of sun damage.

Topicals: Typically used to address milder signs of aging. For example, retinol, a vitamin A compound, is the first antioxidant topical widely used in nonprescription creams and is the less potent cousin of tretinoin (Retin-A, Avage, Renova), a prescription-strength treatment for acne and fine wrinkles.The fastest growing segment of topical skin care, cosmeceuticals combine aspects of the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Cosmeceuticals influence the function of the skin with biologically active compounds (vitamins, oils, herbs, and botanical extracts). Botanicals, for example, contain antioxidants that protect the skin’s surface. William Beeson, M.D., clinical professor in dermatology at Indiana University School of Medicine and noted facial plastic surgeon, has researched a cornucopia of compounds that rejuvenate skin tissues. His research led to the discovery of unique properties in rosemary, an herb that contains a potent antioxidant called carnosic acid. After demonstrating clinical efficacy, Dr. Beeson and colleagues developed a formulation called Effulgere (effulgere.com) that penetrates the skin surface more deeply and helps “protect the skin from further damage by enhancing the skin’s lipid barrier, brightening the skin, and improving its texture and tone.”

Chemical Peels: A chemical solution—such as phenol, tricholoacetic acid (TCA), or alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs)—that removes damaged outer layers of the skin, revealing the healthier layers below. Wrinkles from sun damage, aging, and heredity can be significantly reduced by undergoing a series of peels that also improve irregular skin pigmentation and remove early skin cancers (actinic keratoses).

Lasers: Many laser treatments are now used to minimize wrinkles, scars, skin discolorations (freckles or “age spots”), and blemishes on the face, neck, chest, and back of hands by removing the outer layer of skin (epidermis). The treatment simultaneously heats underlying tissues (dermis), stimulating the growth of new collagen fibers that form smoother, firmer skin. One of the more popular areas in minimally invasive cosmetic surgery, fractionated carbon dioxide (CO2) laser treatment is performed under topical anesthesia on select areas of damaged skin. The outpatient procedure creates microscopic holes in the skin, which then heal with new collagen that tightens skin and evens tone. Newer technologies offer surgeons a greater level of control in laser surfacing, permitting extreme precision, particularly in delicate areas.

Fillers: These reduce the appearance of facial lines and wrinkles by “plumping” furrows and hollows in the face, giving the skin a more youthful-looking appearance. Fillers (Juvaderm, Restylane, Gore-Tex) are very effective at contouring specific areas on the face, such as around the lips, including long, vertical “marionette” lines that start at the corners of the mouth and extend down the chin. Botulinum toxin type A (Botox, Dysport) injections also diminish lines and wrinkles associated with facial expression, including vertical lines between the eyebrows and on the bridge of the nose, forehead lines and furrows, and crow’s feet.

Saving Face: Skin Care Tips The Saturday Evening Post

Once, the sidewalks of our cities were bobbing oceans of headgear: bowlers, boaters, bonnets, bretons, panamas, pork pies, and pill boxes. Then, mysteriously, hats were left in the back of coat closets, eventually making their way to attic trunks, then… oblivion.

But in the young century, hats were everywhere. Consider the below photograph from 1900. It shows New York’s Fifth Avenue on Easter Sunday morning, and not a single bare head.

Of course, this was the Easter Parade: the one day of the year set aside to display your best hat.

The parade had grown out of the custom of wealthy New Yorkers to stroll the sidewalks after church, there to mingle with their peers and display their family, clothing, and carriages. By 1883, the event had become an annual event where men and women would display their Easter best, particularly their crowning glory: tall, lustrous opera hats for men and elaborate, be-ribboned bonnets for women.

Naturally the event attracted crowds of citizens who weren’t among New York’s social elite. At first, they enjoyed simply watching the parade of fashion, but they soon were mingling with the fashionable set both in church and on Fifth Avenue. You can imagine the reaction of New York’s elite, as noted by a Post author in 1955:

“As early as the mid-1890s, the New York Time complained dismally about ‘visitors from the East Side, shop girls, clerks, and all sorts of “metropolitan outsiders” who had thrust themselves into the parade’ where they had no business. By 1897 so many ‘outsiders’ were invading the Avenue on Easter that churches began issuing admission tickets to their memberships. At St. Patrick’s, a group of eager females tried to beat some ticket holders out of their seats. They had got in via a ladder that some workmen had left near a window… After a brief but spirited fisticuffs, police came to the rescue of the ticket holders.”

Ah, those were the days — when New Yorkers fought crowds to get into church.

Inevitably, the parade of genteel fashion took on a more democratic character, and a carnival atmosphere with no definite purpose except celebrating Spring. As the Post article observes:

“Americans… are perplexed by the Fifth Avenue event because it has no apparent beginning, ending, organization or purpose. Swarms of people just show up from no place in particular, march — perhaps ‘trample’ is a better word — for two or three hours, then go home. The main promenade route is the eighteen short blocks on Fifth Avenue between 42nd Street and Central Park, centering at 50th Street, near St. Patrick’s.”

The 128th Official Easter Parade will be held this year on April 4th. It will look nothing like the photograph above. Fashion — hats, particularly, will be an important feature of the event. Many will be intended to amuse, looking something like parade floats for the head. But there will also be samples of New York’s millinery industry, which still clings to life.

In 1963, Muriel Fischer reported on the millinery market, which at the time was a strong, durable industry.

“Some 40 firms have been in the business for better than 25 years. (Yet few newcomers have entered the field in the past five years.) At least seven establishments loudly proclaim. ‘We’re the largest and the oldest!’”

It was one of the last, great years for hats, and the competition was intense.

“Millinery seasons are short and violent. The peak periods are the 10 weeks prior to Easter and the 10 weeks prior to Fall. Yet there’s never a lull. For if the industry isn’t making hats it’s planning hats, and it’s always busy talking hats.”

“Roughly 60 million units of millinery are sold per year. In the overall accounting, 80 percent are in the below-$10 category, only 3 percent in the over-$35 salon group.”

The article lists several of 1963′s most important hat designers:

“Sally Victor and Mr. John are generally acclaimed the crowned heads of couture’s royal family. Also include are Lilly Dachè, Adolfo, Emme, Chanda, the house of Hattie Carnegie, and a dynamic young newcomer called Mr. Halston.”

Just 30 years-old at the time, Halston was to become famous for his skills in draping the feminine form in solids of classical elegance.

“It was Halston who created the ‘Kennedy pillbox.’ He smiles at the recollection. ‘I made it for her long before the inauguration,’ he relates. ‘Funny thing is when she put it on she dented the top of it—pushed it in, I guess, holding it against the wind. lt was photographed that way, and soon I noticed all the women wearing pillboxes were pushing them in. Halston also made the large rolled brims Jackie wore to India. He estimates that ‘fifty percent of the downtown business was based on that hat that season.’”

In the highly competitive market of that time, hat-makers could only produce a few styles each year. They hoped that one of their styles would take off, but to ensure their profitability they stole designs from each other.

“In his race to prepare a line for the selling season, the 39th Street manufacturer often finds it expedient to steal. ‘How many designers do I have?’ chuckles Harry Samet. ‘Two who work in my place—and one hundred and eighty working for others. So they call us pirates. But we compliment them, don’t we?’

“Lilly Dachè agrees. ‘When they stop copying me, ah, then I am finished.’

“Piracy is encouraged by the Millinery Institute of America, an organization sponsored by the downtown manufacturers, the uptown creators and the Millinery Workers’ Union. ‘Let’s face it,’ expounds Charles Rothenberg, who heads the Millinery Institute of America. ‘It is the ability to copy down, mass-produce and render fashion at the lowest price level that makes the American woman the best-dressed female in the world.’

The institute seeks to encourage women to buy six hats per year. (Current estimates pinpoint the odd fraction of 2.8 hats per woman.)”

So what happened to America’s hats? One reason for their decline is their loss of usefulness. We no longer need to cover our heads in our brief walk between vehicles and buildings.

Some historians claim the hat died when hairstyles became more luxuriant. Others state that President Kennedy set a trend for hatless attire (although he definitely wore a hat on state occasions.)

Not a hatless soul to be found in 1880's 5th Avenue. (Library of Congress)

In fact, both of these factors were part of a larger influence. In the 1960s, American society broke with the tradition of serious attire. The trend-setters among young Americans didn’t want to dress for respectability as their parents had, but for comfort. They also wanted something that reflected their own generation. They wanted to advertise the studied casualness of youth in jeans, shorts, t-shirts, and athletic wear. The suit, the tie, and the hat became historical artifacts.

The hat has made a meager comeback in the form of baseball caps. But caps are nearly indistinguishable, and anonymous. The crown may proclaim a baseball team or a seed company, but they say almost nothing about the wearer.

In contrast, a hat is a prominent display of its wearer’s character and taste — and Americans generally aren’t comfortable making  such a bold statement.

The Fall of the American Hat The Saturday Evening Post