Hearken back if you will to the middle of the eighteenth century. You
know what the ladies looked like. Powdered wigs. Twin bosoms pushed
and squeezed till they each mimicked the size of the Hindenberg. Ruby
red lips. Fluttering eyes. And oh yes… of course… a quite visible
black beauty mole often situated below one corner of the lips.
Question: Are those moles–or beauty spots–situated there where
they’re situated through accidents of nature… or are they placed
there by design? And if they’re placed there by design… is there
purpose behind these placements? These can be deep and troubling
questions which can easily torment the sensitive soul.
Not to fret mes amis. Elucidation is just around the metaphorical
corner. First and foremost… those moles are strategically placed
there by design. However… look closely next time you see a movie
dating back to that era … and you will note the moles are not
always placed in the same spot. Oh why oh why is that, Benjamin? Pray
do tell us.
Oh all right then. Here is it. These moles… made of black taffeta,
or velvet, or paper… were applied to faces, neck, and breasts…
sometimes to hide a skin flaw… but most times to signal a special
message to an intended loved one. Perhaps an invitation to a tryst. A
roll in the hay behind the gray mare while the others danced to the
boogie-woogie of the day.
There was back then… to put it simply… an exact language of
beauty spots known only to the debauched elite. A spot on the
forehead depicted majesty. On the corner of the eye: passion. On or
near the lip: coquetry. There were more but they’re not mentioned.
I–as a member in good standing of the hoi-polloi–would not be privy
to this info. But one can extrapolate. On the bosom: How about a
twosome? On the arm: In back of the farm? On the butt:…well… how
would one go about seeing a beauty spot so well placed in the middle
of The Queen’s Ball?
Quite often… while attending such a function… a lady in question
might have placed her mole near her lip as a lure only to suddenly
realize in a flash of inspiration that Max over there was not so much
a Don Juan as an insipid little twit… and she might do a tad better
with that handsome Pierre with shoulders that reached from column to
column and an exquisite mustache that would be sure to tickle her
fancy. She needed a bigger mole with better placement.
Fortunately… she had her Spot Box with her… a box no
self-respecting seductress would be without… which contained a
variety of beauty spots sorted for each and every secret desire.
Velvet for a high spirited liaison. Paper for a casual dalliance.
So… question is… what does such a Spot Box look like? Ah. I have
one for you… made of gold and diamond by a jeweler called J=er=emie
Pausier and bearing the monogram of Empress Elizabeth dating back to
the late 1740’s. For the poorer folks who want to dally in
dalliances… a simple plastic pill box from your local drug store
will do. That and little licorice chewing gum and you’re in business.
But I don’t know. This lacks certain je ne sais quoi… don’t you
think?
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at http://www.tyler-adam.com where you
will scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that
says Current Tidbits… click it… and you will see represented on
our pages an image of The Spot Box belonging to Empress Elizabeth made
by Jeremie Pausier.
And there ya have it.
That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark