Television advertisements often involve short narratives. Print ads can carry implicit stories, too. This one for Thomson's Glove Fitting Corset is full of delicious details for an imaginary 19th C female artist. The window overlooking rooftops, the geranium on the sill, the rough wooden wall, the propped-up canvas on the left. Ah, Bohemia. But the fancy overhead lamp, the potted plant, the bow at the artist's neck, her hair: Ah, fashion. And the circlet with a crescent moon on the sculpture's head: Diana! What to make of it all?
Well, I doubt that any serious female artist ever sculpted a clay bust of a corset, nor was she ever dressed so prettily while she worked. Presumably, the advertiser wanted to associate corsets with a La Bohème sort of glamor. We can dismiss the picture as the basis for an episode in a realistic story, but as the way into attitudes for characters in a period piece? Maybe. Or, wait a minute, what about a story with a female artist who makes a living as a commercial painter in advertising? Maybe she creates a series of ads with female artists at work.
This image, comes, incidentally, from Linehan Corset Company & the Linehan - Conover Company, an article at a website called the City of Corsets, Worcester, Massachusetts. It really was the site of major corset manufacturing. For year, my husband and I lived there, while he worked for the American Antiquarian Society. We were tickled to learn that the Society stored a set of old catalogue cards in corset boxes because they were exactly the right size. Now there's story, too! (Once upon a time, there was a librarian, who …)
Addendum: I've just found another bust of a corset-wearer on an advertising card!