
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 9, 1995                   TAG: 9504110097
SECTION: HOMES                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GIBSON GIRL WOULD FIT IN FINE IN THE '90S

I was excited to see several good etchings of the famous "Gibson Girl" at an antique mall in Roanoke. If you don't know who the Gibson Girl is, allow me to introduce you to her. In 1886, at the age of 19, Charles Dana Gibson sold his first drawing to Life magazine for $4. Later, he became Life's top artist.

And in 1890, he introduced the Gibson Girl. A genius at recounting the American social scene, Gibson had a great love for American women and found himself sketching these women in many different social settings. Little by little, he created the ideal woman - America's Gibson Girl.

She had great wit, fashion, charm and wholesomeness. Gibson gave her courage and self-reliance. She loved to play golf, tennis and ride bicycles.

Alice Roosevelt was said to be one of the greatest living examples of what a Gibson girl stood for.

She danced till dawn, attending many balls and dinners. She smoked in public and was known to play poker for money. A liberated American girl and America loved her.

From 1890 to 1910, the Gibson Girl was what every girl wanted to be. Gibson had no idea how popular his creation would become.

She was a style-setter. There were Gibson Girl hats, skirts, shoes, corsets and pompadours. Her face appeared on plates, calendars, spoons and even wallpaper. Songs were written about her, "Why do they call me a Gibson girl?"

Gibson also created a man for her. He was clean shaven with big shoulders. Men were shaving off their mustaches and padding the shoulders of their jackets in hopes to look like him.

About 14 different books of Gibson Girl drawings were published, costing from $5 to $25. These books were displayed in parlors in almost every home. It has been said that some were discovered in the Imperial Palace in Russia.

The fad continued until the start of World War I.

The Gibson Girl symbolized all that was good about America. Full of spirit, decency and dignity. The type of idealism that made this country great.

It has been over a hundred years since the Gibson Girl was introduced, and I would like to think that we are all Gibson Girls - just a little younger.

Kathy Sue Grigg Grigg is an associate at Surfaces Inc. If you have ideas, questions or comments about her column, write to her in care of the Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010.

by CNB