Myrna Loy: “I’m a Helpless Prisoner!” — 1930

by Paula Bosse

This swooning ad for toiletries is filled to the brim with ellipses, exclamation marks, and a stunning photo of Myrna Loy. Enjoy.

“I’m a helpless prisoner! ” says Myrna Loy.

“I’m caught! … in a spun-silk web! I’m held … in a star-dust rapture! I’m captive to a lilting mood! But I love my captor … I’ll never escape. For this mood that’s captured me is Youth itself … a mood which stole from a perfume bottle and entered my heart … surrounded my soul … and I surrendered! See, here’s the bottle … there’s the name – Seventeen – but wait! Not a breath of it – unless YOU want to be carried away – too!”

Seventeen… not a perfume alone but a whole ensemble of gay toiletries!

The ensemble idea is smart in toilet accessories, too! … so Seventeen’s gay and lightsome fragrance has been breathed into each of these essentials: Powders … a face powder, bath powder and talcum … all charmingly packaged, all exquisitely soft, all faintly scented with Seventeen … a Compact, the smartest you’ve ever seen, in gleaming black … a Sachet, the subtlest way to perfume lingerie … Brilliantines, one solid, one liquid, to restrain straying locks and leave a fragrance that’s ever so elusive.

***

Sources & Notes

This Seventeen cosmetics ad is from a 1930 movie magazine.

See a 1931 Seventeen ad featuring Joan Crawford here.

This was very early in Myrna Loy’s Hollywood career — in this ad she was 24 or 25 years old. More on her life and career can be found at TCM.com, here.

Click pictures to see larger images.