A Free Jar of Royal Beauty

An anonymous (and multi-tasking) clairvoyant advertised in the spring of 1899 in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle with the enticing offer you see at left.  You would be enlightened about "full names"* and every "exact thought or question on your mind" but you could learn to "control and fascinate anyone you love or meet" - quite a useful Svengalian talent.

But wait: there's more! This clairvoyant/palmist was also an agent for Royal Beauty Toilet Articles and Face Bleach. You could get a FREE jar of Royal Beauty Cream with every sitting. And then after you learned how to fascinate people with your mental powers, you could beautify your outer self with a manicure (25 cents) or "superfluous hair removal," which no doubt involved tweezers and pain.

*With the exception, of course, of the name of the clairvoyant, because the Eagle reader in 1899 did not have the clairvoyant power of digitized newspaper searches. She worked under the names Lady Gonzalez and Zingarra, the Mexican Gypsy, Queen of the Mexican Tribe. Note the same address in this ad (at right) from 1898. In 1900 the anonymous palmist at 236 Bergen is offering a "Hindoo secret" and October 1898 she offered an "Egyptian talisman." She changed names and ethnicities fairly often. In December 1898 (citation below), Lady Gonzalez offered Royal Beauty Cream and manicures as well as her name.

Clicking the link above will take you to an earlier post I wrote about the fabulous Lady Gonzalez, who had, among her other attributes, a fancy diploma in her parlor.

Selected ads from Brooklyn Daily Eagle, concerning clairvoyants at 236 Bergen near Nevins:

May 21, 1899, p. 34 (Royal Beauty ad)
Oct. 18, 1898, p. 18. ("Egyptian talisman")
Jan. 3, 1900, p. 5. ("Hindoo secret")
May 31, 1899, p. 4 (Lady Gonzalez and Madame Sabina)
Dec. 18, 1898, p. 27 (Lady Gonzalez offers Royal Beauty Cream)