Glamour Days

As I was getting ready this morning and looking through my assortment of makeup items, I began to think about my mother. Maybe because it's Mother's Day weekend. Maybe because my makeup drawer is always a mess and never contains the same items.  Mama's was very predictable.

I remember when she was unable to get Maybelline mascara in the little red box with the brush.  That was the ultimate eye makeup for the 1950s.  Do you remember it?  To make it work well you had to spit on the brush and then apply.  Not too sanitary.  She bought it as long as she could find it and finally succumbed to the tube version.

She always wore Panstick makeup by Max Factor.  I tried it and found it a little heavy for  me.  I think a newer version of it is still available.

Mama kept the local Avon lady in business by buying endless tubes of Marvelous Mauve lipstick and nail polish.  Always the same color.

Ever notice how those old photographs from the 1940s and '50s look like our parents just stepped off an MGM movie lot.  Those were the glamour days.

For me, not so much. My makeup is not predictable, my brands are not constant, and the glamour part, no.

Why is it I can't tell you exactly what is in my drawer right now, but know the exact content of her top, center dresser drawer, how it smelled and where each item was placed?

It's a mama/daughter thing. I guess.

Marjorie Latham Dandridge