Dorothy D. Deene was a commercial artist in Chicago in the 1910s, who also manufactured this mysterious Deene's Complexion Tea about the same time. The tea pamphlet is from the Duke University Emergence of Advertising in America collection, link here.She was born about 1882 in Illinois and was listed as an Artist, working from her Chicago home, in the 1910 census. Her father was Scottish and her mother either from Virginia (1910 census) or new York (1920 census). In 1920 she gives her occupation, curiously, as "Manufacturer, Wind Mills."
Deene writes in the tea pamphlet that her mother concocted the Complexion Tea. Mrs. Deene, "a great beauty," felt strongly that "constipation was at the root of most disorders of the human body." Not surprisingly, the tea's first ingredient is senna, which is a laxative. It also contained:
-buckthorn (a purgative)
-buchu (South African shrub used for urinary tract and gastrointestinal ailments)
- juniper (for urinary tract complaints and diabetes)
-couch grass (for urinary tract problems)
-anise (possibly for digestive problems, and/or for flavoring)
-coriander seed (flavoring, and as diuretic and carminative, i.e. re production of intestinal gas)
-and licorice root (flavoring, and can be used as cough and catarrh medicine)
In other words, this was very powerful stuff, even though Deene said that it was approved by the FDA. Deene assured the public that not only would they be cleansed internally (and indeed, that seems to be inevitable) - but that both men and women would become more beautiful and energetic if they drank this tea every day. Oh, and your complexion would improve, too, as per the name.
Men would see an improvement in their careers too, as the tea enhanced "business ability." As for women, they would have to be content with the beautifying aspects of the tea. Although the tea does seem to have been a plus in terms of Dorothy Deene's business abilities.
Duke's Emergence of Advertising in America collection also has an art booklet published by Deene which contains examples of her artwork, and more sultry photographs of her, here.
Please Note: For a fascinating in-depth look at this amazing woman, please visit Sharon Williams' wonderful Chicago History blog and read the post she has written about Dorothy Deene. It is just terrific!
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Dorothy D. Deene household, 1910 US Census, Chicago Ward 6, Cook, IL; #17/56, Series T2624, Roll 245, p. 217.
Dorothy D. Deene household, 1920 US Census, Chicago Ward 3, Cook, IL; #1014/51, Series T625, Roll 32, p. 262.
I wasn't able to find Deene in the 1900 census, and haven't found out about her manufacturing windmills, unfortunately. If I do, I'll come back and edit this.
For now, I'm off to research the amazing phenomenon of Ceiling Walking, which will be the subject of a post later this week. Stay tuned!
13 comments:
Margie: Miss Lidian, that sure does sound like our Special tea! Not only does our tea help our complexion, it makes everybody else's complexions look good too.
You come have tea with us soon.
This blog is amazing, and now I can't stop reading. I love these quirky parts of history, so much so that I stumbled your first post. Thanks for sharing all this coolness!
xo!
Miss Margie and Miss Edna - I very nearly mentioned your Special Tea, which was on my mind as I wrote about Miss Dorothy's concoction. But I did not like to presume! I feel that yours is the far superior tea, in any case.
Sanctity of Life - Thank you so much, your kind words mean a lot to me. :)
personally I am imagining awful stomach cramps with this tea. Laxatives = OUCH. haha
Yeah, business ability would soar with increased production between pit stops LOL!
Complexions would be permanently smiling with relief that the pit stop was made safely, yet again.
There's a "weight loss" tea at my local Asian grocery store that's pretty close to Deene's Complexion Tea.
Trust me, I was smiling, too!
Sandi - Yes, I think it would have been very hard on one at best, and maybe dangerous at worst.
Jayne - That's true, those weight loss teas have some of this stuff in them. That's a really good point...
Sounds that special tea would have sitting on the throne...too often. Margie and Edna's "special" tea is a hot toddy....beware:)
Spending half of one's life in the bathroom probably contributes to a good complexion through the avoidance of sun damage! www.satisfiedsole.com
That is some scary sounding tea!!
Alicia - I think I would prefer a cup of Miss Margie and Miss Edna's tea any day! :)
Pam - It would keep you inside the house, yes.
Hairball - It sure is.
OK, Lidian. Now you are in my territory - Chicago! JUST KIDDING! Nice piece on Dorothy. I've got a little more on the little lady that I'll post in a couple days. You always have wonderful posts. I love that you love history and make it so readable.
Sharon - This comes under the banner of the traveling exhibit (which is what makes being a dime museum so convenient!)...But yes, by all means I defer to you on all things Chicago.
And that was a fantastic piece you wrote on DD, please follow the link above everyone to read it.
I really appreciate that, Lidian. You see, there is a big difference between our two blogs. People read yours! As I said, I had the material but just hadn't gotten around to writing a piece. This was kind of fun - you write half and I write half. Cool.
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