Monday, June 26, 2017
News of Yore 1927: Modish Mitzi Creator Jay V. Jay Unmasked
[this article appeared in a number of newspapers in 1926-27; this particular version came from the Springfield (MO) Daily News, January 11 1927]
Jay V. Jay Not One Alias, But Three
Talented New York Girls Are Both Authors and Characters in "Modish Mitzi" -- Popular Fashion Feature
"Modish Mitzi," the clever fashion strip starting today in the Springfield Daily News is the work of three New York girls -- two fashion writers and an artist. They are Laura Johnson, who is the artist; and Virginia Vincent and Jeannette Kiekintveld who divide the task of gathering information, working out ideas and writing the stories. "Jay V. Jay" is their triple signature.
Not only are they the authors of "Modish Mitzi," they are the characters as well.
"It makes the drawings more human," explained the Jay V. Jays. "Laura Johnson insisted upon being the heroine so she could give herself all the clothes she liked best. Virginia Vincent is Pretty Polly because she's two years younger than the rest of us, and she is pretty and she likes fluffy, frivolous things to wear. Jeannette Kiekintveld is Adelaide the Catty Blonde because she is blonde, but she is allowed to have very stunning clothes to make up for the slur on her disposition."
But though neither Mitzi no Polly nor Adelaide looks as though she had ever had a serious thought, these three young business women have thorough knowledge of fashions --- and fashions are a serious business.
"Modish Mitzi" is a successful fashion artist who has done illustrating for many of the best known magazines and largest firms in New York. "Pretty Polly" and "Adelaide" between them have piled up a really formidable amount of experience in writing about fashions for newspapers, magazines, importers and fashionable shops.
"What are the things one must know about fashions?" repeated the Jay V. Jays. "Dozens of things. How they come and why they go. When they are fads and when they are styles. What stays in New York and what goes all over the country. What is becoming to whom. That's only a beginning.
"Fashions," concluded the Jay V. Jays with a collective smile, "fashions are our business and we are not modest -- we think," they said firmly, "that we know a great deal about them."
Labels: News of Yore
