White Shoulders and Tangee

In the cosmetics section of the Vermont Country Store, Mr. Hunter noticed a perfume that reminded him of one of his favorite Judy Blume books.  Well, wait, I think I was the one who read the Judy Blume books.  Anyway, as soon as I saw the boxes of White Shoulders perfume, I thought of Starry Sally J. Friedman As Herself.   Mr. Hunter wanted to record the moment.

Somebody with wooden shoulders contemplates White Shoulders.

I should have tried a little Tangee on Mr. Hunter's lips.
But imagine if it didn't wipe off!

A couple of weeks before we encountered this display of Tangee, an early brand of lipstick that apparently goes on orange and eventually changes color, we'd encountered a reference to Tangee in a Vogue article called "The Looking Glass," by Francine du Plessix Gray:  

"Remember Tangee?  It was a hideous orange-hued lip tint that turned pink and was then the rage among teenagers.  Having no compacts, we smeared it on haphazardly, and we must have looked ghoulish as we settled on our bar stools at Schrafft's to indulge in another ritual of our youth--the consumption of ice-cream sodas."

If you're interested in recreating the Tangee experience, you need only visit the Vermont Country Store online or in person.

Vermont Country Store

Weston, Vermont

September 2012

Official site for Tangee - http://www.tangee.com/

And a White Shoulders reference from Starring Sally J. Freedman As Herself, by Judy Blume:

     Sally sat on the Murphy bed and watched as Mom put some more rouge on her cheeks, went over her lips a second time and dabbed a drop of perfume behind each ear.  "You smell good," Sally said.  "Like Lillies of the Valley."

     "It's called White Shoulders," Mom said.  "It's my favorite... here, I'll put some behind your ears too."

     "Ummm... I like that," Sally said, wondering if Latin lovers would be attracted to it.  Maybe she'd try it out on Peter Hornstein.