Elizabeth Arden

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Elizabeth Arden

Elizabeth Arden (born Florence Nightingale Graham; born December 31, 1878 or 1884 in Woodbridge , Canada ; † October 18, 1966 in New York , USA ) was an American cosmetics entrepreneur .

biography

Florence Nightingale Graham, the daughter of Scottish-English immigrants, spent her youth in poverty in a small town in the Canadian province of Ontario . She trained as a nurse, but later worked as an office worker and dental assistant.

In 1908 she moved to New York, where she worked as a secretary for the London cosmetics company Eleanor Adair . Here she acquired her first cosmetic knowledge in addition to her medical knowledge and opened her first beauty salon in 1910 with business partner Elizabeth Hubbard on New York's famous Fifth Avenue , where the Group's headquarters still stand today. She borrowed the start-up capital of $ 1,000 from her brother and, thanks to her success, was able to repay it that same year. The business relationship with Hubbard broke up shortly afterwards and Graham continued to run the salon alone. At first she mainly sold creams and facial tonics, which she had made by the company's own chemists from 1914 on. Later she developed a whole range of products and followed up with ever new products their idea of the "perfect beauty" (concept of total beauty) . This included gymnastic exercises, steam treatments, massages and, on request, a paraffin bath, a novelty at the time. Seeing a niche in the market, she set up beauty farms on two of her country estates in the US states of Maine and Arizona , enabling her affluent clientele to receive treatment over a longer period of time - including a specially designed menu.

In 1915 she married her employee Thomas Jenkins (1875–1970). A little later, branches of her first salon followed in Washington, DC and Boston . In 1922 she opened her first European beauty salon in Paris . During the Great Depression, the cosmetics company thrived and made around $ 4 million in sales per year. In 1933 she was divorced from Thomas Jenkins, settled him with just $ 100 and banned him for five years. Her competitor Helena Rubinstein made him her managing director after the 1939 deadline. Elizabeth Arden's second marriage in 1935 to the Russian Prince Michael Evanoff lasted only one year. Elisabeth Arden was one of the investors in the famous Hugo Gallery in 1944, which was founded by Alexander Iolas .

In 1946, Elizabeth Arden became the first woman to appear on the cover of Time Magazine. Her greatest hobby was horse racing. She ran an extremely successful racing team, which she named after her maiden name Florence N. Graham . The prize money alone brought her nearly five million dollars. The University of Syracuse in the US state of New York awarded her an honorary doctorate in law in 1949. In 1956, she opened the first men's beauty salon in New York.

The Elizabeth Arden, Inc.

Elizabeth Arden died of a heart attack in 1966 at the age of 81. Only after her death did the press find out her real age, as she always kept this a secret in order to give the impression of eternal youth. She died less than a year and a half after her rival Helena Rubinstein and left no children. Her net worth was estimated at $ 50 million. At the time of her death, her millionaire company comprised numerous factories and 220 beauty salons. With only $ 6,000 on loan, Elizabeth Arden built a brand name that is still successful today. In 1971 the brand was sold to Eli Lilly and Company , in 1987 to Fabergé , and then to the Unilever Group. Since 2003, Elizabeth Arden part of the US company FFI Fragrances that are in Elizabeth Arden, Inc. renamed.

Appreciation

In recognition of her pioneering work in cosmetic development, the French government awarded Elizabeth Arden the Order of Légion d'honneur in 1962 .

Movie

The Powder War , documentary, USA 2007 (The script was based on the book War Paint: Miss Elizabeth Arden & Madame Helena Rubinstein by Lindy Woodhead.)

literature

  • Doris Burchard: The struggle for beauty. Careers of the century. Helena Rubinstein. Elizabeth Arden. Estée Lauder. Complete paperback edition. Bastei Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 2002, ISBN 3-404-61484-4 , ( Bastei-Lübbe-Taschenbuch 61484, biography ).
  • Ernst Probst : Super Women 13: Fashion and Cosmetics . Probst, Mainz-Kostheim 2001, ISBN 3-935718-16-0 .
  • Nancy Shuker: Elizabeth Arden. Beauty empire builder . Blackbirch Press, Woodbridge CT, 2001, ISBN 1-56711-510-1 , ( Giants of American industry ).
  • Lindy Woodhead: War Paint. Madame Helena Rubinstein and Miss Elizabeth Arden. Their Lives, Their Times, Their Rivalry . John Wiley & Sons Inc., Hoboken NJ 2004, ISBN 978-0-471-48778-4 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Arden, Elizabeth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Graham, Florence Nightingale (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American cosmetics entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH December 31, 1878 or December 31, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH Woodbridge , Canada
DATE OF DEATH October 18, 1966
Place of death new York