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Flapper Jane Leona's mom was a "true" flapper! As some of you know, before her passing, I was part-time caregiver to Granny, aka Leona. She wasn't MY granny, but that's what I use to call her. I called her that because for the most part, she acted like a granny. Even though she was blind, and couldn't walk without the assistance of a walker and myself, she had this spryness to her that was quite evident in the many stories she told me about her life, and that of her mother, Jane.
When she was up to it, we'd sit out on the deck with gin spiked lemonaide, where she'd tell me about her mother. Granny was born in 1921, her mother was 26 at that time. But prior to Granny's birth, Jane was a true flapper. From the clothes she wore, right down to her makeup. As Granny put it, in today's language, she would have been called slutty. Granny can remember her mom, sitting at her dressing table, getting ready for a night out on the town, and telling me that her most prized possesion, was her ruby red tube of lipstick. Nobody touched it, execpt Jane. If she caught little Leona getting into her things, her behind would get a good swat. Leona learned at a young age, that mother's things were not to be messed with. Especially that lipstick. It went everywhere flapper Jane went. Because it the 20's, it was perfectly alright for a flapper to apply lipstick in public. *gasp* For Shame!
I asked Granny, What is a "true" flapper? And that's when the story got interesting.
"A true flapper", granny said, "smoked, drank, danced, and voted. She cut her hair, wore make-up, and went to petting parties. She was giddy and took risks. She was a flapper." "Damn", I said. Granny went to to tell me that a flapper's most prize possesion was that tube of ruby red lipstick, which in the 20's, sold for about ten cents. Ten cents? Holy crap, today a tube of good lipstick can set ya back 10 dollars!!
Granny went on to say that even though this was all a shock to Jane's parents and some of the older generation, Jane always felt flappers broke away from the Victorian image of womanhood. They dropped the corset, chopped their hair, dropped layers of clothing to increase ease of movement, wore make-up, created the concept of dating, and became a sexual person. And they voted! They created what many consider the "new" or "modern" woman. And Jane liked that. And so did her husband. They were married for 54 years.
After granny told me this story, I could see that from a young age, Jane taught her daughter to be a "new" and "modern" woman. It was apparent in Leona's zest for life, and her true belief that women have come a long way, baby!
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