Women's Business Summary
"Women's Business" is an essay written by Ilene Kantrov about successful women entrepreneurs in the United States. The essay begins by discussing the business methods of Lydia E. Pinkham, who became well-known for advertising a traditional remedy for female weakness and promoting women's rights, temperance, and financial reforms. She also offered advice to women on diet, exercise, and hygiene, and included testimonials from women who reported being cured by her product, known as Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound.
In the following century, other women followed in Pinkham's footsteps, including Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden, who competed in the cosmetics industry and attracted attention through their marriages to European aristocrats. Arden also offered facial treatments and practiced and advocated for yoga, while Rubinstein published a book on the benefits of eating raw foods. Margaret Rudkin and Jennie Grossinger were also successful women entrepreneurs, with Rudkin producing additive-free wheat bread for those with asthma and Grossinger running a hotel in New York known for its food and entertainment. Gertrude Muller, another successful woman entrepreneur, invented the "toilet seat" and included booklets on childrearing with her product, one of which was even distributed by doctors. Finally, Annie Turnbo Malone, a black female entrepreneur, developed a hairdressing preparation business and established a school to train agents in her system of hairdressing, while also advising women on hygiene, thrift, and other homely virtues.
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