HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1956-10-04, Page 2And still the weather makes
the news. Rain, thunderstorms,
rain end still more rain. It
really makes your heart ache
to drive through the country
and see field after field of
spring crop standing in water,
the heads almost certainly
sprouting and matted together..
Our fiats were flooded and
only a miracle kept the bridge
from floating away. Now the
weather appears to have clear -
although thunderstorms a r e
forecast again for tonight. We
hope the weatherman is wrong
—not only on the farmers' ac-
count but for the Exhibition
too. This was the day we
should have gone but we just
couldn't face the trip with so
much humidity in the air. So
we regretfully 'stayed at home.
For me it was not too great a
hardship as I had had a won-
derful outing over the week-
end—an outing that was most
unexpected . . . a trip to the
Lake Huron district where I
had never been before.
Some month ago friends of
Pretty Centerpiece
581
YY
a�„t.:•t?tfs t
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i•
ours mentioned having been to
Kiincardine for the weekend.
"Kincardine," I exclaimed, "I
have an, old school friend in
Kincardine." B y comparing
notes we discovere '1Iit'Mrs,
E, actually knew Ne leecause
she lived almost e sectlye op-
posite Mrs. E's Kincardine
friends. Although it Was quite a
coincidence I didnnot think
anything more about it until
last week when Mrs, E. phoned
me, said they were going to
Kincardine again and would 1
like to go with them. Would I?
There was only one answer to
that question, I had looked at
the place so often on the map
and wished I could tackle the
125 mile trip but 1 knew my
eyes wouldn't appreciate driv-
ing that far. But with someone
else driving—that was another
story. We left here about seven
in the morning and got to Kin-
cardine about ten. The weather
was perfect—actually!—and there
was hardly any traffic at all
Kincardine is a very nice little
town. Clean, tidy, good stores
and a fine residential 'area. And
.• of course there is the lake and
a wonderful freshness in e
air.• I noticed this particularly
on the Monday. Nellie and I
walked down town, leaving the
kitchen stove alight. When we
got back the house was stifling.
Had it been here the house
wouldn't have cooled off until
night. But there, with the doors
and windows thrown open the
the house was fresh and cool
in no time. It was wonderful.
One thing hampered our act-
ivities, neither Nellie nor I had
a car to get around with so we
couldn't go any farther than our
two feet would take us. One '
more instance of our dependence
upon four wheels to 'take us
around. During the night I even
toyed with the idea of hiring a
car next morning but it didn't
seem worthwhile as we were
leaving about one• o'clock.
Elegant centerpiece for your
dining table! A graceful swan
crocheted in pineapple design —
fill it with fruit or flowers.
Pattern 581; Crochet direc-
tions for swan centerpiece; body
about 12x6iie inches. Use heavy
jiffy cotton — starch stiffly.
Send TWENTY-FIVE CENTS
(stamps cannot be accepted, use
postal note for safety) for this
pattern to Laura Wheeler, 123
Eighteenth St., New Toronto,
Ont. Print plainly PATTERN
NUMBER, your NAME and AD-
DRESS.
Our gift to you. — iwo won-
derful patterns for yourself,
your home, - printed in our
Laura Wheeler Needlecraft
book for 1956! Dozens of other
new designs to order — cro-
chet,- knitting, embroidery, iron-
+ ons; novelties. Send 25 cents for
your copy of this book NOW • —
My friendship with Nellie
follows a rather unusual pattern.
We sat side by side during our
last year at school. We both
married Canadian service men
and we both came to Canada in
1919. For some years we were
out of touch with. each other.
And then one day I was reading
the "Homemaker Page" in the
old "Globe". One letter was
6' signed "Little Mother" and by
its contents I had a hunch it was
written by my friend Nellie. I
wrote to "Little Mother"—care
of the Homemaker and found my
hunch was right. We correspon-
ded for several years but drop-
ped it again during the Depres-
sion of the '30's—probably be-
cause we and our families were
both going through a period
that we didn't want to write
about. I wonder how much other
correspondence was dropped a-
round that time? Neither of us
knew what happened to the
other until we met at a W.I.
meeting in Guelph last year
no, I guess it was early this
year. Nellie has never been back
to the Old Country but she
knew that I had as my visit was
mentioned in our home -town
paper to which she still sub-
scribes. So she had news of me
but I still. had no idea what
had happened to her—not until
she inquired for me in Guelph.
All of which is a good illustrat-
ion of the far-reaching influ-
ence of a local paper, and also
of the Women's Institute as a
medium of renewing friendships
and acquaintances. Moral . .
keep up your subscription to
your home -town weekly and
never lose touch with the W.I1!
Never under -estimate the power
of either—their influence is
greater than you think. Haven't
I just proved it?
1.
VACATIONING -- Curious onlookers get a pock at Prince Rainier
and Princess Grace as the royal couple stand on the porch of
the former Miss Kelly's parents' surf -side summer home
French
Fashion Wien!
then toured America showing
rb
Ac' To � them on ono -bight stands.
Tickets of admission used to
The recent Paris fashion
openings marked the renewal of
fashion piracy, which — ever
since the first mass advent of
foreign buyers after World War
I --- has plagued the Paris cou-
ture„
The gravity of this problem
is, i find, little understood on
our side of the Atlantic, A col-
league remarked the other day:
"It's too bad the French can't be
more realistic about being cop-
ied." In her view the enormous
preponderance n ow a days of
American fashions must have
rendered copying insignificant.
But actually a great number
of styles, which we think of as
100 per cent American designed,
first saw the light in some Paris
couture salon. A certain amount
of copying, of course, is legiti-
mate: the right to reproduce has
been paid 'for by the manufac-
turer. Copying howeyer calms•
considerable financial loss each
year to a large number of repu-
table American firms, as well•
as to the French originators.
This being the case, • a short
history of style piracy and some
ways to combat it efficaciously
may prove usefuI..
The pastel modernistic murals
of Madeleine Vionnet's salons on
the Avenue Montaigne—not far
from Dior's present premises --
were in the early 20's punctu-
ated with admonitory texts:
-"The work of art is personal
property ... To copy is to steal
..." and others in similar vein.
M. Trouyet, Vi.onnet's famous
and formidable director, was a
leader of the fight against copy-
ists, and the daily press was only
allowed to view a new Vionnet
collection several weeks after
the first showing (when inciden-
tally it was no use to them) lest
their cables describe the --new
line too graphi.caily,
"This, however, was literally
"locking the stable door after
the horse has been stolen." In
those really bad old days, pirates
attended couture openings .dis-
guised as private clients or as-
sistant buyers, armed with a
photographic nye and scissors to
snip ,a surreptitious sample from
an inattentive mannequin's dress.
under pretext of examining the
fabric,
Paris was studded with mod-
erately priced dressmaker and
millinery shops in whose back
rooms one could get the latest
Paris originals at a fraction . of
the couturier's figure. They even
bore the couturier's own "grifie"
(the claw mark, as the specially
woven and copyrighted label is
called), which copyist purveyors
counterfeited by the yard.
Buyers' arrivals at the various
'Paris hotels were listed in the
daily papers, and the lobbies
were haunted by young men and
women carrying brief cases stuf-
fed- with couture sketches and
samples.;'/hey waited only for a
ned to follow an unscrupulous
prospective customer into some
secluded- corner to display illicit
wares,
As the time went on, fashion
bootleg gangs were organized.
Tecltnic'ves were perfected. I11 -
paid workers on the couturier's
own staff were .suborned.
Though personnel in"sensi- ,
tive'' jobs were searched before
leaying the establishment dur-
ing,the period in which the col-
lection was. being prepared, a
cutter, for example, could take
out ' a design in his head. At
home he could make a detailed
working , pattern with all indi-
cations as to execution, fabric,
and 'color. This could be re-
duced to microfilm by an • ac-
complice, despatched to foreign
manufacturers by air mail, and
Paris. innovations might appear
in a bargain basement — before
they made their bow in their
own designer's fashion parade.
Paris was periodically rocked
by some particularly flagrant
copy -scandal, which w o u l d
needle the couture into taking
special action. Indignation meet-
ings were held, fashionable vigi-
lantes• alerted, copy houses raid-
ed. But nothing much was ever
accomplished principally because
the only legal penalty was a fine
—negligible 'beside the enormous
profits piracy nets the pirates.
The small fry, caught by the
raids, did not even know the
identity of the "Big Shots," who
so gladly .paid their fines. So the
racket would start over again in
new headquarters, "'wtih new
agents and new faces.
There was just one period
when the Paris designers could,
and did, crack down effectively
on the style thieves That was
during World War 11 when the
Paris couture came under mili-
tary control.
As one of the luxury* inches -
tries,' the `dress business was
subject to regulations for con-.
serving the national ..resources,
the division -being headed by a
regular army major. And on
another front the designers were
protected by the famed
"Deuxierne Bureau" (nearest
French equivalent to the FBI.)
The bureau moved in because
many of the fashion pirates,
who had gained a more or less
solid footing in the Paris pic-
ture, were German. And it was
found that secret information
was being conveyed to the en-
emy through codes disguised as
embroidery or print patterns.
A certain fashion 'photogra-
pher, for instance, had been in-
stalled in Paris for 17 years. He
spoke perfect French and was
generally believed td be from
Lorraine. He. left Paris quietly.
for a vacation shortly before
the declaration of war in 1939.
He returned in '1940 with the
then victorious German Army
of Occupation, as a lieutenant
in a green uniform on a white
horse.
This lieutenant• was placed at
.the head of censorship ,of the
Paris fashion press. .He had a
,complete dossier on everyone in
fashion—with a big black mark
against the names of those who
had refused to use his photo-
graphs, or had otherwise offend-
' ed him through the years. He
took pleasure in refusing to
pass their articles, thus forcing
them out Of jobs, or even shut-
ting down their publications.
But to return to the pirates . .
responsible for the loss to cou-
ture coffers of .millions of francs
each season were the model-
renters, These were not, strictly
' speaking, copyists. They placed
big orders 'for Paris originals at
top prices. The catch was—they
be $100.00. Manufacturers not
only of garments, but of but-
tons, belts, zippers, accessories,
textiles, etc. could for that price
sketch, handle, and copy as
much as they could remember. '
Even when the couturiers dis-
covered what was happening,
they had no redress; what
model renters did with their
property in the United States
was outside their jurisdiction.
All known model -renters were.
barred forthwith from the top
Paris showings. Then they, too,
resorted to many subterfuges to
obtain their merchandise.
A model renter was the cen-
tral character of a wartime
thriller—sort of a minor Mata
Hari of the ruffle! This was
during the so-called "phony
war," when the French and
German troops' exchanged an
occasional grenade across the
Maginot Line and life in Paris
was adventurous, but not yet
really hazardous.
One model renter—let us call
her Miss Borrowby—alone had
braved possible perils to come
to Paris by clipper and attend
couture showings being held for
private customers. She hoped
no doubt to scoop the American
market with' some unique Paris
designs for which she 'could ob-
viously command her own price.
Miss Borrowby, whom I knew
slightly but not as a model rent-
er,. invited me to lunch. "Amer-
icans should stock together, these
days, there are so few of us
left in Paris," she said. "I am a
buyer, you know," she added.
"But I have -no longer a single
assistant. You attend all. the
openings anyway. It would be
a great favor if you would select
a few numbers for me -- get
them made up -in your size."
have been agitating for the
change of French law to include
a prison sentence for .copying.
They have also been trying to
work out international agree-
ments, which would be in the
interest of respected American
firms, as well, since it is obvi-
ous that the latter cannot sell,
for "ten grand" a number
which may be on bargain coun-
ters before they can get it into
production.
Meanwhile the fashion thieves
have continued to come up with
new tricks. A. smart "tourist"
may watch a style parade with
a miscroscopie camera conceal-.
ed in the handle of her slim.
umbrella. , One girl even car-
ried hers in a purse -sized per-
fume bottle.
A designer for a Seventh
Avenue (New York) dress
menu facturer recently got into
some Paris couture shows on
what appeared to be a bona fide
press card, The Frenchmen had
no way • of knowing that the
paper she "represented" was a
four-page, biweekly country
journal, . which serves a com-
munity of 300 registered voters.
The now thoroughly aroused
Paris couture syndicate and in-
terested Amer i.can opposite
numbers are considering meas-
ures to eliminate .such incident:.
—by establishing,, for inst'-egce.
one or more principled eresa
liaisons in Paris, who would be
like Caesar's wife, absolutely
above reproach, absolutely fait
in their dealings with both sides,
There may also be a committee
to screen applications for press
and buyers cards over in the
United States where extensive
and accurate information on ap-
plicants is easily available.
I explained to her that as a
member of the working press,
I could •buy nothing for resale.
She let the matter drop and I
forgot all about her.
That is, until I received an
urgent call from Schiapareili
letting me hi on an exclusive.
story. "Schiap", said Miss Bor-
rowby had tried to buy in all
the houses, but had been turned
down. Subsequently a young
American night • - club singer,
performing in one of the war-
time "blued -out caves," had or-
dered several evening gowns.
For her act, she said. -
"Schiap" made and delivered
them. As a matter of routine,
she had checked with Lucien
Lelong, president of the Paris
couture syndicate. The girl had
got a number of things there
also.
Further investigation showed
that she had .bought in every
leading couturier's . establish-
ment more clothes, as. Lelong
remarked., than she could wear
(or pay for out of her salary)
for years, A companion had
acquired a suspicious selection
of daytime outfits.
Here's where the Deuxieme
Bureau went into action. The
trail led to Miss Berrowby's
hotel. They surrounded it, but
Miss - Borrowby, mysteriously
tipped off, had flown. Literally
in a private, hired plane, head-
ed for Libson and the home-
bound clipper. Deuxieme Bu-
reau agents followed in a brace
of fighters. There was an ex-
citing (and close) chase over
the Pyrenees.
The a alerted Lisbon police
had no authority to detain an
American citizen. While trying
to get it, they did manage suf-
ficient delaying tactics to pre-
vent Miss B's getting her dresses
cleared. The bureau men ar-
rived just in time to see the
clipper disappear in the clouds,
the lady On board. The loot was
piled up on the strand. They
took it back to Paris. ,
It is such goings-on: 'that led
to the severe screeningof per-
sons attending the first show-
ings of Paris couture today.
These must present' their pass-
ports and each one a -special
identity card issued by the. Paris
couture syndicate. One must
pay the "dedit," a deposit, be -
fere being allowed to view any
show. If a purchase is made, the—
dedit is applied to it. If not, it
is. forfeited.
At Dior's the dedit is $1,000
to see the clothes, another $500
against the hats. The minimum
in some lesser houses is $600, •
For years the Paris couturiers
Thus, at long last, we may
look forward to the finish of
piracy in high fashion skies.
From the "Christian Science
Monitor."
Classic t-Ivori e
.17-4 Kr.
Sheath - slim lines, combined
with your favorite classic style!
Neat shirtwaist bodice; action -
back pleat below a graceful
yoke. Wonderful "go every-
where" dress for all your busy
daytime activities — choice . of
three sleeve versions for all -
seasons wear!
Pattern 4726: Misses' Size 10,
12, 14, 16, 18, 20. Size. 16 re-
quires 43/4 yards 39 -inch fabric,
This pattern easy to use, • sin"-
ple to sew, is tested for flt, Has
complete illustrated instructions.
Send THIRTY-FIVE CENTS
(stamps cannot be accepted, use
postal note for safety) for this
%pattern. Print plainly SIZE,
NAME, ADDRESS, STYLE
NUMBER.
Send order to ANNE ADAMS,,
123 Eighteenth St., New Toron—
to, Ont.
ake this delicious COFFEE LAYER CAKE!
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••:awe •.434••;• :`.:f w:%:`, G?ib;Js... ' d.� •r.
Sit together 3 times
•;i to/a e. once -sifted pastry flour
or 1'/z c. once -sifted all.
purpose floor¢
Y 2 tsps. Magic Bolting Powder
�• Cream
Yes tsp. baking soda e. shortening
Sanborn Coffee
•
s 2 tees. Insfonf Chose &
Gradually blend in
I e. lightly -peeked brown
Y1 Isp, salt .. sugar
•rs t/9 c, nranulated sugar
Add,part at o time,
l'•
2 well -beaten eggs
(sec nq well after each add,t,on•1.flavored frosting,
Combine '
% c. milk
' 'IA tsp. vanilla.
Add dry ingredients to cream
: mixture altefnately with milk, com-
bining after each -addition. Turn
into 2 greased 8 -inch round cake
pans, lined in bottom with greased
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minutes. Put layers of .cold cake.
together with thick raspberry jam
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E:'
You can depend on
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vA.•'afaR2d4.'.'•4i;