You know who oughta have a commemorative Canadian postage stamp in her honour? In fact, I’m thinking a pair of commemorative stamps would be more fitting. Anna Taylor. Never heard of her, right? Well, Anna Taylor was a Canadian and an inventor. Given the phenomenon her invention is responsible for, I’d have thought she’d be as famous as Laura Secord. Despite the impact of her invention, however, Anna Taylor is a mere footnote in history. Taylor’s claim to fame is that, in 1911, this Canadian woman patented the very first glue-on false eyelashes. After years of experimentation, Taylor had contrived to add snippets of human hair to a small, crescent-shaped strip of fabric which could then be glued onto the upper lash line. Yes, Anna Taylor is the Canadian responsible for, even a century later, women all over the world happily sporting what appear to be dead tarantulas on their faces.
… this Canadian woman patented the very first glue-on false eyelashes.
Admittedly, Taylor’s invention isn’t in the realm of Banting and Best, but you see more evidence of her breakthrough than you do of the discovery of insulin. In fact, her invention can be downright distracting. Several times a week I find myself pondering the face of some sweet, young thing with a thatch of synthetic palm fronds sweeping over her cheeks. Clearly, the intention isn’t to enhance the eyelashes. No, what a megaphone is to a whisper, these fake lashes are to natural lashes. A marine biologist I know says that false eyelashes constantly remind him of the baleen plate of a whale; giant filters capable of catching krill. For me, it’s garage doors. So many of these false eyelashes look and function like bulky garage doors.
So what are eyelashes, anyway. According to ophthalmologists, eyelashes have a job to do. They keep unwanted stuff, like dust, out of the eye. And similar to cat’s whiskers, they also provide a trigger warning and can protect the eye when objects get perilously close. Britain’s Journal of the Royal Society’s Interface, a peer-reviewed journal that covers the interface between life sciences and physical sciences, has discovered that eyelashes also behave as an air filter for the eye and reduce evaporation by as much as 50 per cent. Ophthalmologists generally advise that we not muck about too much with our eyelashes. We risk all sorts of damage and infections. Be that as it may, long being touted as the window to the soul, we simply love mucking about with our eyes.
… burnt cork, various minerals, fireplace soot, animal fats and antimony.
Egyptian women, as well as men, enhanced their eyes using “kohl”, a concoction that could include burnt cork, various minerals, fireplace soot, animal fat and antimony. Antimony is considered a “semi-metal” and exposure to it can cause heart and lung problems. Eye make-up was often central to spiritual practices and also very fashionable so people were prepared to assume any risk.
As aesthetic adornment is a cultural universal, every culture dabbled in home-made enhancements of the eye employing everything from lampblack to berry juices. It wasn’t until the early 19th century that Eugene Rimmel created the first commercial mascara from his shop on Bond Street in London, England. His eyelash darkening formula was pretty straight forward: a simple concoction of coal dust and the newly discovered petroleum jelly. It wasn’t long after that, in America, Thomas Lyle Williams’ offered by mail order a similar product named after his sister, Mabel. The success of that product would spawn the cosmetics behemoth, Maybelline.
Fads come and go. Just as the American automobile once boasted exaggerated fins, hood ornaments, and elaborate paint jobs, cosmetic enhancement is the same. Both men and women are subjected to the vagaries of fashion and we all wince when we revisit our high school yearbooks. From handlebar moustaches to mutton-chop sideburns, mens’ facial hair has often gone on a wild ride. Women are particularly subjected to fashion and fetishization in our appearance. Thankfully, after reaching pontoon-like dimensions, the duck lip mania seems to have finally subsided. And I’d wager that false eyelash craze is starting to wind down … but it makes me wonder, what fresh hell awaits us?
This week’s question for readers:
IS THERE A FASHION TREND THAT MAKES YOU CRINGE? WHAT TRENDS DID YOU SUCCUMB TO IN YOUR YOUTH?
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Submissions to last week’s question:
DO YOU HAVE A BIRTHDAY CAKE TRADITION?
My paternal grandparents were Ukrainian immigrants and English was their third or fourth language. Spoiling us with food, drink, and pin money was the language they used with their grandchildren. The birthday cake that Baba made always included a little wax envelope with a $20 dollar bill in it. If it was your birthday you cut the cake until you found the money. It wasn’t “mad money”. It was hard earned, hard saved, by frugal people who made sacrifices to make sure their children and grandchildren had a better life. Our parents quickly advised the birthday boy or girl what they’d be spending the money on.
Randy Berswick
In 1969 we had a large Diplomat cake from the Bon Ton Bakery for our wedding. Pretty much shocked the traditionalists in the family, but a hit for all the 75 attendees! We then continued to order one for our anniversaries and birthdays until the bakery closed. Luckily, over the next 50 years we were always able to find an Italian bakery that could supply a special Saint Honore Cake – which is really the original Diplomat!
Diane Muir
For as long as I can remember our family’s birthday cake of choice was a banana cake with caramel icing. My mother likely found it on an Edith Adam’s Cottage column in The Vancouver Sun back in the day, and although most of us were chocolate aficionados, there was never a chocolate cake substitute for our birthday banana cake. The caramel icing was decadent and we always fought over who got to lick the bowl! I still make it for my grown up kids today!
Loren Plottel
We didn’t have much money when young, but we always had the choice of our birthday cake. Mine was white cake with chocolate icing (and still is) – always homemade. As a matter of fact, I am on my way east to celebrate our surviving brother’s birthday with my three sisters. It’s not the presents that count, it’s the presence, and families are special.
Claire Robertson
When I was growing up, my mom hid money in my birthday cake. She wrapped up coins in wax paper – a nickel, a dime and a quarter. It was always a thrill to find some money while eating a piece of cake. Funny that I ended up having a career as an investment advisor.
Barb Nicoll
Your column on birthday cake was delicious! My son requested Black Forest cake every year, and as you describe, Dutch process cocoa made the cake better along with my concoction of sour cherry filling. Now in his thirties, he prefers a hazelnut torte. So does his younger brother who loves hazelnuts – but gladly eats any homemade cake for his birthday. I’ve enjoyed lots of cakes baked for my birthday, but sometimes I bake myself a simple banana cake slathered with buttery rum sauce and whipped cream. Yum!
Catherine Disbery
Our family is longing for the chocolate log dessert. For over 50 years this birthday treat has been created by senior and junior family members. The log relies upon Christie’s thin chocolate wafers which are no longer available. They are a casualty of the pandemic, manufacturing cutbacks, and the general trend to store-bought treats. We have tried substitutes, but none have made the family favourite taste, or look as it should. We miss this perfect ending to our birthday celebrations. We now fondly remember the famous treat and are now tasting it in our dreams. How sweet they are.
Bonnie Kyle
My wife and I recently had some chocolate cake at The Feast on Salt Spring Island, which was the best chocolate cake we have ever had. It was drizzled with honey, olive oil (yes!), cocoa-infused sea salt and adorned with three types of basil, including chocolate basil. It was insane!
Michael Provenzano
We celebrate four birthdays over six weeks in summer, mine and our three boys’, now 24,29 and 33 years-old. Every year, two of them ask for the family recipe chocolate cake, first baked by my mom. The youngest asks for a carrot cake. My cake is usually a Betty Crocker chocolate cake mix baked by them, with special icing. Every birthday is special and deserves a cake. Family tradition is very important to us. My husband’s birthday is in February and he also gets a cake.
Elizabeth du Toit
Thirty-five years ago, I was lucky to find my new groom. His birthday was drawing near, and with his eastern European roots, I appreciated that his cake desires were different from mine. I needed a cake that paid homage to his roots, a cake that would be an exemplary taste akin to the classics of his youthful pastry shop. This sensibility meant no buttercream, no cakey layers, preferably something nutty, airy and light. Not being used to this type of baking wasn’t going to deter me. Thankfully, I found a cake recipe in a cookbook from my son’s school. My husband’s birthday would be celebrated with this cake: three macaron-influenced layers, gorgeously nutty from ground, toasted hazelnuts, with those light and airy layers nestled between generous piles of mocha-flavoured whipped cream.
I’m still making this charming cake for him every birthday, as I’ve done for 35 years!
Jo-Ann Zador
For decades, I’ve made my husband a spice cake with an outrageous amount of maple buttercream frosting (two cups of dark maple syrup are used). The neighbours thoughtfully remind me that it’s almost time to make The Cake, lest I forget to bring them a piece. I love making that cake for him. It is a beloved birthday tradition here.
Shelley Crowley
When I attended nursing school over thirty years ago, my friends gave me a chocolate cake with white icing for my birthday. I didn’t have the heart to tell them the tradition was white cake with chocolate frosting. I was simply touched that they even remembered my birthday cake preference, although they got it backwards.
Heidi Wiesner
For birthdays I always make a chocolate cake with boiled icing.
I have never been totally happy with my chocolate cake recipe. Would you consider sharing yours? It looks amazing.
Jane Loftie
THE cake … my husband, each of our children, their spouses and, now, four grandchildren expect me to bake THE cake to celebrate their birthdays. The chocolate cake recipe and its exterior icing have varied over the past 40+ years but the layers are filled with icing that starts with cooked flour and milk, and that is always the same. Those who know look for seconds a few hours later or the next day when, they say, THE cake is most perfect.
Julie Halfnights
I read your article in the Vancouver Sun re: your chocolate cake. Sounds great! (although I’ll likely leave out the coins this time – but did enjoy finding them in my cake as a kid!) Would love to surprise my wife…Would you share the recipe?
Howard Green
My mother was a good baker but she couldn’t make a good chocolate cake to save her life. When I was young I would ask for chocolate cake for my birthday and every year she would produce a pale, dry cake saved only by the thick, fudgy chocolate icing. I knew I had hit rock bottom when she thawed out a Sara Lee chocolate cake for my birthday one year. Then she tried a recipe for cream puffs and I realized that they were much better than her chocolate cake so every year after that I would ask for cream puffs topped with her thick fudgy chocolate icing. Since her death, I have continued to make eight big fat cream puffs with chocolate icing for my birthday which I share with friends and neighbours, in fact I usually have to make two batches. What could be better?
Anna Bentley
My parents met on a blind date in Vancouver in 1941 while my naval officer father was posted at HMCS Discovery in Coal Harbour. They hit it off right away but my dad then got promoted to an officer rank and was posted to convoy duty on the North Atlantic, based in Halifax. In January 1942, he proposed to my mother by telegram. She accepted. He had three days leave in early March so off she went by troop train to Halifax and they were married there on March 07, 1942. I inherited the wedding cake knife (stolen from the Lord Nelson Hotel (and I use it every day). As they kissed good-bye on the dock, my mother realized she had nowhere to live.
Halifax was full to the brim given it was wartime. Mom recognised another war bride on the dock who was from Vancouver. They decided to search together for a home where the men could have a place to come to while on shore leave. My mother’s friend was Barbara Maquire. Her mother-in-law sent this recipe to Barbara with instructions for her to bake it for Barbara’s hubby, Eddy, on his birthday. It is made from basic ingredients that were easy to source during wartime rationing but they had to save up their coupons. Apparently this cake recipe was a long-time family birthday tradition. It was made for Eddy’s birthday and enjoyed by all. So much so that my sweet mother wrote it down and all of us in my family would go on to have one on our birthdays. May “Mrs. Maquire’s” chocolate cake have a long long life.
Peter Gordon
Birthdays were always celebrated in our home growing up in the ’40s and ’50s and, with the advent of Angel Food cake mixes back in the day, they became my go-to for a birthday cake. While my mother always included a few coins wrapped in wax paper in her scratch birthday cakes, I didn’t put them in the angel food cakes. I made them for my husband’s two daughters and ultimately, his first grandson from his first birthday forward. One day when he was perhaps five or six years-old, he excitedly exclaimed “Oh, a Wishing Cake’!” when he saw his birthday cake. Love the fresh take from children on things that we take for granted.
Myrna McRae
Our family tradition is to buy a fresh fruit cake from TnT bakery, as we all like them for being less sweet. Would you share your chocolate cake recipe?
Sherrie Y