Magpie Tales Week 9 (Click here to visit others through the portal)

The women said, “Slap on a little lipstick and you’ll feel better!” All the movie stars had red lips. All the beautiful women in the movies and in those magazines we looked at over the counter at the Sun Drug or at JCMurphy Five and Dime.  Betty Ann was a lucky one; her older sisters, Arlene and  Delores bought those magazines and she could see them at home.  Never mind TV it was black and white back in those days, lips didn't matter.

I could not wait to get my first lipstick; I remember it today so many years ago, fifty or so. It was Tangee Natural and gave a slight tint to the lips. Not so much as a real color to say, “Read my lips.” Tangee was our initial step to the world of makeup and glamour that surely awaited us beyond our early teen years. It was the only selection all our mothers allowed, the tube of preference. Did every mother own stock in that company? Tangee was not much more than a slightly tinted Chapstick, but we wore it with pride.

The Ridge Avenue drugstore up the hill from our junior high school displayed delicious devilish Revlon lipsticks. We girls of the 50’s looked longingly at the tubes on display. We busied ourselves and saved our dollars from babysitting until we could buy our first very own tube of something scrumptious, a vibrant red “Cherries in the Snow.” We stashed those cherished tubes in our lockers at school, slathering our lips as soon as we arrived at school. Blowing kisses to each other and to the occasional boy with our garnished lips. By the time we headed home our lips were back to Tangee Natural and all was well. Ahh we were on our road to glamour.

Until, the parent teacher conference when Mrs. Terwilligear said, “Why does Patty slather her lips with that atrocious red paint? Why don’t you get her a tube of Tangee Natural? It would be so much more becoming than that painted mouth”

None of us, least of all yours truly ever imagined we’d be outed by our Eighth Grade English teacher. We lived in our fantasy world of “what happens at school stays at school", years before Las Vegas adopted the phrase as its motto. My mother was shocked or maybe not; but she was never one to beat around the bush, she confronted me as soon as she returned home “So where were you getting that red lipstick you’ve been wearing at school?” Busted and too sheepish to deny it. Denial would have meant a story and I never could react fast enough to Mom to make something up. End of my ruby reds; didn’t matter that it was my own babysitting money earned for such a purchase as this; down with the tube! Afraid to test my independence further, I surrendered my tube of Cherries in the Snow to Mom the next day after school as ordered. My friends and I were up the same creek in the same boat and so we regressed to Tangee and secretly savored that day when we might be able to have those red lips again! That walk home from school the next day was a sad one for all three of us, “What do you think your mom will do with the lipstick?” " I don't know and I'm not going to ask, the sooner she gets over it the better for me." 

Today I smile recalling my early episode of the lips. I have an array of lipsticks, few of which I ever remember to smooth on. When I do treat my lips to something like this, my new favorite Black Honey, which is lighter, more neutral on my lips than in the tube, the lipstick is soon gone with the first cup of coffee or bite of toast. I seldom keep lipstick on. Actually I use a gloss or a lip balm for the moisture; where is that Tangee natural when I would like to use it! We have come so far that the circle is complete and I would be willing to close the loop back at the beginning.

This has been my girly tale  based on actual life events; I was there and lived to tell about  it!  This is week 9 of our Magpie  endeavor,  created by Willow and enjoyed by many of us out here in the blogosphere.  To see how others used this week's photo prompt, click above on the title and  then click on any of the other Magpie participants.     I', loving this new Magpie Stamp...though it  looks more like a crow or raven to me :)