Hope in a Jar cover art

Hope in a Jar

The Making of America's Beauty Culture

 Preview

Try for $0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Hope in a Jar

Written by: Kathy Peiss
Narrated by: Rosemary Benson
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $33.53

Buy Now for $33.53

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

How did powder and paint, once scorned as immoral, become indispensable to millions of respectable women? How did a "kitchen physic", as homemade cosmetics were once called, become a multibillion-dollar industry? And how did men finally take over that rarest of institutions, a woman's business?

In Hope in a Jar, historian Kathy Peiss gives us the first full-scale social history of America's beauty culture, from the buttermilk and rice powder recommended by Victorian recipe books to the mass-produced products of our contemporary consumer age. She shows how women, far from being pawns and victims, used makeup to declare their freedom, identity, and sexual allure as they flocked to enter public life. And she highlights the leading role of white and black women - Helena Rubenstein and Annie Turnbo Malone, Elizabeth Arden and Madame C. J. Walker - in shaping a unique industry that relied less on advertising than on women's customs of visiting and conversation. Replete with the voices and experiences of ordinary women, Hope in a Jar is a richly textured account of the ways women created the cosmetics industry and cosmetics created the modern woman.

The book is published by University of Pennsylvania Press.

©1998 Kathy Peiss (P)2013 Redwood Audiobooks Beauty, Grooming & Style Gender Studies Popular Culture United States
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What the critics say

"Incisive, lively. The model of everything social history should be." ( Los Angeles Times)
“In this lively social history of America's beauty culture, freelance writer Peiss traces the background and growth of the billion-dollar U.S. cosmetics industry over the past century. This is a delicious and serious look at a glamorous industry.” ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Hope in a Jar

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.ca reviews

Amazon Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Some Witch

Highly Recommended

A thorough examination of the beauty industry's place in our lives and our complicated relationship with it. Thought-provoking.

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!