Magical Transformation through Consumption

"Jody believed in magic," writes Marnie Ellingson in "The Real You."  For Jody, what makes magic possible are her frivolous party shoes, which give her a "shiver of anticipation" as she awaits male companionship at a party hosted by a family friend. While party shoes are the consumer good that make the magic of heterosexual courtship possible for Jody, she is generally attractive and well-groomed.  Readers of Jody's story in the Ladies Home Journal are likewise encouraged to find magical tranformation through consumer goods. This advertisement for Noxema facial cream promises users beauty, self-confidence, and an "exhilarating tingle" very much like that which Jody enjoys while wearing her impractical party shoes.  

In "The Real You," Jody attracts the attention of Dr. David Silver because she is beautiful and charming. Among her physical assets is "her shining brown hair." But Jody also succeeds because her character embodies the traits promised to users of Prell Shampoo.  She is lively and spontaneous without being "neurotic," and she childishly complies with David's masculine authority.  

In Ellington's story, Jody easily attracts David's notice upon their first encounter, but she struggles to hold onto his affections on subsequent occasions. Thus the story, like this advertisement for FRESH deodorant, speaks to young women's anxieties about holding onto male attention once it has been aroused. Both story and advertisement dramatize the high stakes for young women in search of marriage in the 1950s. While "The Real You" assures readers that they can hold a man's interest if they are true to their fanciful selves, FRESH deodorant offers readers a product that will mask unpleasant characteristics such as odor and stain.