MINER'S STYLE SHOW DRAWS LARGE CROWDS
The Butte Miner, Butte, 1920-09-24, p.3
Summary
"CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE." Page-3 jump for the front-page style-show coverage (first night, Thursday Sep 23 1920). The page-3 column carries the model-by-model descriptions. **Murphy-Softley models appearing (first night):** - **Miss Neita Parmenter** — bathing-suit segment. Orange and black bathing suit; orange and black bathing cap and socks with black shoes. "The suit was of excellent style, and Miss Parmenter carried herself with unusual grace." - **Miss Edna Gillis** (representing the Murphy-Softley firm) — afternoon dress segment. "Gowned in an unusually smart afternoon frock of black satin trimmed with steel beads. With this she wore a moleskin coatee (with a squirrel collar), and the fashionable lace boa. An imported hand- bag of metallic cloth contrasted effectively with the rich fur of her coatee." - **Miss Lucille Staebler** (representing the Murphy-Softley store) — evening-gown segment. Wore an evening gown of pale yellow taffeta, with an overskirt of silk tulle, very effectively draped and caught up on one side. - **Miss Edna Gillis** AGAIN (also a model for Murphy-Softley) — dancing-frock segment. Wore a beautiful imported dancing frock of lake blue tulle. Bodice of sequins running down to narrow points at the knees. Loose sleeves of tulle fall to the elbows; overdrape of tulle fashioned over a skirt of satin. Gorgeous fan of burnt orange ostrich feathers completed the final touch. - **Miss Edna Gillis** AGAIN — wore a handsome evening gown of rose color, trimmed with ostrich feathers; over this a gorgeous Hudson seal coat. Other firms named in the column: Hennessy's (Marion Forvilly, Lorna Dailey, Nadine Randel, Marian Forvilly w/ Pekin blue hat, Mrs. J. O. Ford); Sheehan's (Orpha Briney in black velvet with bands of hand-wrought tin amber beads); Weinberg's (Dreda Finley, Mary Lee Cose, Mrs. Dalley's gown experiments); Home Supply (Lucille Lapp); Gillis store (Clara Stork, Edna Gillis); Mattingly's (sailor hat). School clothes from Hennessy's. The piece ends on the announcement that "New gowns and different women's apparel will be displayed at the style show tonight at the American, concluding the exhibit for the fall of 1920." ARCHIVE SIGNIFICANCE. **(a) Murphy-Softley had THREE named models on the first night** — Neita Parmenter (bathing suit), Edna Gillis (three outfits: afternoon, dancing, evening), and Lucille Staebler (evening). The 1920-09-25 second-night coverage I previously processed had Lucille Staebler as the emcee — so Staebler is a Murphy-Softley salesperson who modeled the first night and emceed the second. (b) Edna Gillis is a previously-undocumented Murphy-Softley model (three named appearances). (c) The page is OCR-clean enough that the FULL model-by-model descriptions are recoverable; this is one of the richest single-clipping descriptions of early-Murphy-Softley merchandising in the archive.
People
- James Joseph "James J." Murphy (b. 1883 Ardgroom; d. 1938 LA)(as printed: Murphy-Softley)role: store proprietor implied · family confidence: 10 flag
Also mentioned
- Miss Neita Parmenter · murphy_softley_bathing_suit_model_first_night
- Miss Edna Gillis · murphy_softley_three_outfit_model_first_night
Previously-undocumented Murphy-Softley model. Three named outfits in the first-night column: afternoon frock + dancing frock + evening gown. NOTE: text also says she modeled for 'the Gillis store' — distinct establishment owned by the same family. So Edna Gillis crosses brands on a single night.
- Miss Lucille Staebler · murphy_softley_evening_gown_model_first_night
First-night model for Murphy-Softley; emceed the second night per the 1920-09-25 clipping. Murphy-Softley salesperson with stage presence.
- Miss Marion Forvilly · hennessys_bathing_suit_model_first_night
Print form 'Marion' on first night, 'May' on second-night clipping (1920-09-25) — same person, OCR/typesetter drift.
- Miss Lorna Dailey · hennessys_school_clothes_model
- Miss Nadine Randel · hennessys_peter_thompson_dress_model
- Mrs. J. O. Ford · hennessys_pelisse_orange_to_pure_white_color_gradient_model
- Miss Orpha Briney · sheehans_black_velvet_with_amber_beads_model
- Miss Dreda Finley · weinbergs_navy_brown_serge_model
- Miss Mary Lee Cose · weinbergs_jade_green_chiffon_model
- Miss Lucille Lapp · home_supply_company_circular_pleat_brown_skirt_model
- Miss Clara Stork · gillis_store_seal_coat_model
Places
- Butte, Montana (primary)
Themes
Story threads
Tags
- candidate_family
- color
- evidence_primary
Source type
news_item, business_notice