War Paint: Madame Helena Rubinstein and Miss Elizabeth Arden : Their Lives, Their Times, Their Rivalry

I know what wages Beauty gives
How hard a life her servant lives

—W.B. Yeats

BOTH MADAME RUBINSTEIN AND Miss Arden will have remarked with glee at Charles Revson’s embarrassment when The $64,000 Question became embroiled in the great quiz show scandals of the late 1950s. Producers were accused of rigging questions and feeding answers to the winners before the shows went on air. Even President Eisenhower got swept up in the criticism, calling the furore ‘a whole mess’ and demanding an inquiry. Charles denied any knowledge of such things, explaining to the Congressional House subcommittee investigation that his brother Martin had been in charge of the show. Flanked by one of the most expensive lawyers in America, Charles and Martin struggled to cope with the committee questions.

Charles was asked, ‘You made a lot more from these shows than any of the contestants, didn’t you?’ He replied, ‘Yes, we did.’ He was then asked, ‘Since you have branded these as deceitful practices, have you made any efforts or thought of any way to make restitution of that money to the American people?’

Charles Revson looked blank for a second or two, presumably caught on the hop, trying to understand if this meant he had to give customers refunds on their lipsticks. ‘I would not truthfully know how to answer that question, sir,’ he said, wincing as it was made quite clear that, in Washington at least, they felt the Revson brothers had profited from the racket, for which Shirley

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