2. Educating women by sharpening their sensibilities

Vitamins occupy an important place in the advertising universe of Diário da Tarde. They are mostly related to women's health and sexual energy. They are usually found in different versions of relatively long texts. In these texts, women's energy is closely linked to the male character and of the woman.

Iron is considered a source of female stimulation. The title is "Red Blood Calls Red Blood," and the subtitle is "For a happy married life, both spouses need to be equally vigorous." "Nuxated iron provides rich blood and vigorous energy." From the long article that follows the advertisement, some excerpts stand out:

RED BLOOD CALLS FOR RED BLOOD

Dreams of marital bliss quickly fade when the physical condition of one of the spouses diminishes their ability to enjoy married life. Marital love depends, in its broadest sense, on the vigor and attitude of the spouses.

The greatest enemy of lasting happiness in marriage is anemia, weakness, and blood depleted of red blood cells, which cause a loss of energy, strength, ambition, perseverance, and overall vitality, all of which result in the failure of the hopes of both spouses, giving rise to all kinds of misunderstandings and jealousy. (...) (^{Diário da Tarde, 1920}, p. 7, emphasis added)⁴.

The emphasis on the couple's physical health is highlighted by the idea that good blood is important for staying young and having healthy children, which is necessary for new generations. Youth is found in the marital relationship. "(...) the idea that young people are physically strong and fit, and that they are ready to take on challenges, is part of a common national belief that is full of chauvinistic optimism: Brazil, a young nation with a bright future (...)" (^{Schpun, 1999}, p. 27).

The advertisement is aimed at couples, as the text emphasizes the strength of marriage and the happiness that comes with it. The vitamin can influence your emotions and mood. Love depends on the iron in the body. This affects the quality of relationships and how they're maintained. The advertisement talks about love and marriage, but it also uses the term "human body" and ends with the following message:

Weak men who had lost hope of regaining their lost vitality and who lacked the energy to enjoy life, were completely transformed after a short treatment with Nuxated Iron. Women who had seen their faces become pale due to poor blood circulationand suffered from nervousness that made their lives miserable found themselves rejuvenated with calmer nerves after taking Nuxated Iron. (Diário da Tarde, January 21, 1920, p. 7, emphasis added).

Men and women must renew themselves and regain the youthful energy needed for the modern world and for life in Curitiba. "It's time for the strong and the healthy." This is supported by Spanish medicine, and it would be effective not only for maintaining marriage but also for successful motherhood. The same advertiser later says that vitamins are good for women.

It is worth mentioning that in the early 1900s, there were many advertisements with women as the main focus. These advertisements appeared in newspapers and magazines that were usually for women⁵. In the 1920s, women were considered the main characters responsible for keeping their marriages and their health in the broadest sense of the term. A healthy marriage was one that focused on improving emotional and sexual relationships, which resulted in healthy children. This was important for improving the Brazilian race according to the eugenics ideas that were popular at the time. Eugenic science says that improving the race through marriage and medicine would be in line with its ideas. According to this science, the goal would be to create a "pure and strong race" (^{Schwarcz, 1993}, p. 231). This idea is shown in the following advertisement, which links health to beauty as a condition for sexual enthusiasm and energy.

Source: Diário da Tarde newspaper, 05/19/1920, p. 2.

Figure 1 Advertisement for vitamins 

In addition to the title and long subtitle referring to rosy faces, fieriness, and the charm of women, this text mentions the benefits of iron use, similar to the previous text. Since it is not possible to provide the full text and the images that illustrate it, it is worth mentioning a radiant female figure accompanied by a doctor and a prostrate woman on a sofa in the background, indicating suffering. It appears that she did not benefit from the vitamin intended for healthy procreation and combating the degeneration of the race.

^{Conceição (2012)} points out in her work on women in advertisements in Curitiba newspapers and other print media in the 1920s that the education of women regarding health through medicine was a constant and widespread practice through articles and advertisements for medicines. This was also part of the logic of an expanding capitalist format. Advertising serves as a stimulus to consumption, informing and changing representations and habits. In other words, it educates. Medications, consumption, and health incorporate beauty standards as elements of female strength and vitality.

The dissemination of hygienist discourse during this period promoted the idea that beauty was synonymous with health. Being healthy meant having firm skin, a firm belly, and firm breasts. In short, it meant maintaining a youthful appearance (^{Schpun, 1999}, p. 100).

In a process like this, the press constructs meanings by promoting practices that serve certain social interests. In the picture below, a white woman represents the mother breastfeeding her child. The child must grow up healthy by ingesting a fortifier and organic regenerator, which strengthens circulation and produces new vital energy. This is done to prevent rickets in children. Procreation was not enough; healthy offspring were necessary for the maintenance of the race and, consequently, of society. The goal was to combat what was considered the mediocrity of the body and, consequently, of the race: the generation of malnourished beings who were prone to ailments and marginalization.

Source: Diário da Tarde Jornal 01/30/1920, p. 3.

Figure 2 Lactiferous⁶ 

Scott's Emulsion was advertised as a vitamin that could give women in Curitiba vitality. As an iron supplement for strengthening breast milk, it was part of a universe of medical resources that modern women in Paraná could use to maintain their youthfulness, robustness, and fertility. Advertisements for medicine put medical practices at the center of attention as a result of an emerging professional and socioeconomic class at the beginning of the 20th century.⁷ Notably, the year 1920 occurred during an intense debate about improving the race and caring for new generations who were theoretically healthy and free from future epidemics. Additionally, propaganda acts on subjectivities, targeting emotions, feelings, perspectives on life, and social relations, or, as ^{Pesavento (2005)} puts it, sensitivities. With this in mind, the following advertisement articulates the female condition in terms of attractiveness and happiness.

Source: Diário da Tarde journal 05/11/1920, p. 2.

Figure 3 Health, Vivacity, Good Colors 

In fact, by appealing to women's sensibilities and linking vitamins to happiness, vitality, and robustness, advertising creates social needs by constructing meanings. One example of this is the way vitamin advertisements emphasize the rosy female face, which obviously attracts the opposite sex. The women represented in advertisements are usually pretty white women with delicate features and a particular language. According to ^{Pacheco (2012)}, the language of advertisements has changed over time from informative to persuasive due to an increase in products. Added to this is the idea of creating practices and signs that, according to ^{Chartier (2011)}, become part of a social identity based on the intentions of social groups.

Once again, the white woman is portrayed as the ideal of feminine beauty promoted by medicine. Beauty must come from within and be organic and physical because it is the source of a woman's happiness. This would be one reason for male attraction, mainly because she is considered to be of low intelligence. To achieve this, women needed an adequate body. ^{Soares and Barros (2014)} point out that, in their study of advertisements in women's magazines at the beginning of the 20th century, these magazines were a means of prescribing beauty and health for women. However, beauty should not only come from within⁸; other methods were necessary, as seen below. First, ^{Vigarello (2006)} notes that cinema renewed the imaginary world with images and models of appearance. From then on, physical presence had to impose itself immediately and serve as a source of attraction, with a range of requirements.

2. Artifacts, accessories, and women's clothing

Advertisements in the newspaper Diário da Tarde feature women's artifacts and are made up of images of upper-class women, as can be seen below. The women are young, white, and elegant. They also represent a standard of beauty associated with French bourgeois culture, where hats symbolize elegance. According to ^{Roche (2000)}, fashion has learned to play with different types of language, such as advertising. This sets consumption in motion by targeting female sensibilities and demarcating a social hierarchy, modes of behavior, tastes, and the delicacy of the bourgeois woman from Paraná.

Women left the home and took to the streets, entering different social spaces and presenting themselves as modern. In line with this perspective, it became necessary to present oneself socially according to the dictates of the modern woman. According to ^{Vigarello (2006)}, the beauty market opened up to a woman who was different from those at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. A new woman was emerging physically. In figures 4, 5, and 6, she is represented as slender with an elongated neck and delicate features. This was characteristic of the post-war period, when wearing a hat was associated with going outdoors, elegance, femininity, and social life. It was also considered a component of beauty in its various forms. The hat became synonymous with embellishment, status, and socioeconomic position, and was no longer an accessory for protecting the head.

Source: Diário da Tarde Journal, 01/30/1920, p. 2.

Figure 4 Model hats 

Source: Diário da Tarde Journal, 06/11/1920, p. 2.

Figure 5 Silk stockings 

Source: Diário da Tarde Journal, 05/11/1920, p. 2.

Figure 6 Louvre store advertisement 

Source: Diário da Tarde Journal, 03/01/1920, p. 2.

Figure 6 Lady 

In this way, sensitivities associated with women's vanity are linked to the modern woman's sense of fashion, beauty, and well-being. According to ^{Roche (2000}, p. 261), this artifact, as part of clothing aesthetics, brings together morality and consumption, symbolizing the union of material culture with aesthetics. As a component of beauty, the hat is an element of consumption due to the possibility of acquiring it. In this sense, hats were part of what ^{Vigarello (2006)} called the beauty market, which emerged at the end of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Hats were featured prominently in the fashion section of the Revista do Globo between 1929 and 1939, as revealed in Scholl's (2016) study. They were considered essential accessories for complementing women's clothing. Several models were used in the 1920s⁹. Although the author indicates that the cloche model was the most widely used during this period, the advertisement above shows variations of this model.

Hats were part of women's attire and symbolized elegance and refinement. They manifested sexual, religious, and social elements, as well as places of social belonging. Dressing was the result of meticulous procedures related to the body and its display.

The illustration in the advertisement below is dedicated to women's stockings. In it, two women carry several boxes of the accessory. This also refers to the commercial and sociocultural changes in urban Curitiba at that time. According to ^{Cruz (1996)}, advertisements from the early 20th century not only provided space for the market to diversify and sell its products, but also introduced a new language. Furthermore, "the periodical press presented itself as a fundamental focus for the formulation, discussion, and articulation of cultural concepts, processes, and practices, as well as the dissemination of its projects and products" (p. 83). Advertisements contribute to creating and disseminating representations. In this case, they show ways of conceiving of and educating women as being connected to their times through the way they dress. Stockings are an accessory that embodies feminine elegance.

The hats, stockings, and other advertised products symbolize women in the modern, sanitized urban space - a model to be followed at the beginning of the 20th century. As an accessory, stockings represent female vanity and are a symbol of elegance and social status. This type of press contributes to the construction of women's identity by promoting these sensitivities. Women embracing boxes of silk stockings indicate not only possession and consumption but also belonging and the desire to enjoy life's finer things. In the "web of meanings," this symbolizes possession and status in one's overall appearance and social standing.

In the previous two advertisements, as well as the next one, there is a reference to "To the Louvre,¹⁰" a reference to the store where this type of product was sold. However, it also refers to Paris, indicating the model of civility and culture at the time. Elements of French culture were still present in Brazil, influencing women's fashion, style, and behavior. This process began at the end of the 19th century (^{Conceição, 2012}).

The stores designed a system that united production and consumption. The latter was intended for the public and was where the relationship between goods and consumers took place. The store sold gloves, socks, ties, jewelry, travel accessories, perfumes, furniture, drinks, cutting and sewing materials, and ready-made clothes. In short, it was a "magical space" where the desires and dreams of an expanding bourgeois culture circulated. Furthermore, this type of establishment contributed to significant changes in women's social practices by reconfiguring social life through consumer culture (^{Muller, 2021}, p. 124).

Thus, the advertisement for stockings also refers to the interpretation of consumption, as well as incorporating other elements related to the feminine and domestic universe, such as fabric for dresses, slippers for bathing, mosquito nets, and products related to the demands of the home.

Although this work mainly covers occurrences from the year 1920, it should be said with Prinski (2020, p. 8) that,

Important changes affected women's images in the 1920s. As young women became more educated, opportunities for paid work grew, and women began to find jobs in stores, offices, and primary schools. As a result, "respectable notions" began circulating increasingly on the streets, inspiring poets and composers and helping to transform the meaning of old ideals of modesty.

Indeed, clothing was fundamental to appearance and civility in the first half of the 20th century. In this regard, as mentioned above, cinema offered parameters for fashion and modernity, providing indicators of beauty and modes of femininity¹¹.

The women whose images appeared in advertisements represented resourcefulness, especially when it came to seasonal clothing. These women were young, slim, and elegant.

Women's sensibilities are also conveyed in advertisements in the newspaper Diário da Tarde under the heading "white clothes." ^{Muller (2021)} defines this as "women's underwear intended for white, bourgeois, heterosexual, non-elderly women" (p. 28)¹².

The Louvre store used local newspapers to advertise its products. Several advertisements from 1910 to 1920 indicate that white clothing was one of the store's specialties. In August 1915, the store reported having a workshop for white clothing of all kinds for women, men, and children. It was the "only workshop of its kind in this square" (^{Muller, 2021}, p. 76).

White clothing was also sold in stores such as Taborda & Irmãos and O Conto & Companhia. These stores mainly appealed to women's tastes. In the above advertisement, the lightness of white is translated into underwear, appealing to women's sensibilities. Women's white clothing, consisting of nightgowns, petticoats, and headdresses often made of expensive fabrics and lace, were weapons of female seduction and signified cleanliness.[2] This type of advertisement was linked not only to women's delicacy but also to household chores, such as napkins. In this sense, emphasis should be placed on representing the delicate, youthful woman from a privileged social background who is not disengaged from her responsibilities at home. ^{Roche (2007)} notes that, at the turn of the 20th century, domestic administration and the ideal of a housewife were compatible with the care given to social representation for the ruling classes. For this reason, girls had to learn what constituted their social appearance to carry out their roles in the family, including maintaining the cleanliness of their clothes and owning an abundance of white garments, which helped confirm their social status. Additionally, since these garments were the first to touch the body, they had to be made of delicate fabrics.

Advertisements were also used to promote cosmetics and reach sensitivities. Like the writing of beauty manuals, they were created by men who imposed standards of feminine beauty and representations (^{Chartier, 1990}). In other words, they offered an understanding of how reality is perceived, constructed, and presented to women. ^{Grieco (1991}, p. 87) points out that, at the beginning of the modern age, cosmetics were considered essential accessories alongside rice powder, perfume, white clothes, paintings, and creams. They were considered a sign of vanity and an incitement to luxury. Cosmetics emerged alongside the printing press in the mid-15th century and were disseminated in manuals, books, and pamphlets.

Cosmetics are important accessories in the world of appearances. They draw attention to women's sensibilities. A "distinguished, well-mannered lady" uses rice powder. Cosmetics and white clothing are part of what ^{Roche (2007)} called the "culture of appearances." Since they are linked to the body, it is impossible to separate them from culture. The various types of cosmetics and their uses are specific to different cultures. Modern, educated women should use them carefully to avoid appearing vulgar.

^{Higonnet (1991)} points out that at the beginning of the 20th century, different expressions came to the fore, including women expressing their creativity,

Western designers fed off an economy of consumption and expansion. Advertisements used images to show the effects of merchandise, which were not always caused by the product itself but were strongly linked to new feminine ideals (^{Higonnet, 1991}, p. 407).

Cosmetics were one of them. As mentioned, they were indirectly associated with the press in the 15th century when recipe and perfume books written by men began to circulate. These books reinforced an oral tradition from the Middle Ages in which beauty criteria were imposed on women by mothers passing their knowledge on to their daughters. Cosmetics became a social construct linked to social position (^{Grieco, 1991}). According to the author, cosmetics

Paint was the "clothing" of the visible parts of the body. It distinguished the person who wore it, just as expensive fabrics, fine clothes, and adornments revealed their owner's wealth and status. Cosmetics were a fundamental accessory; an elegant woman didn't feel dressed without them (^{Grieco, 1991}, p. 90).

Above all, this author is referring to a period between the 15th and 17th centuries when cosmetics were used excessively. This practice was criticized by churchmen, moralists, and doctors. Later, in the 17th and 19th centuries, cosmetics became associated with feminine beauty, lightness, and delicacy.

Throughout the history of beauty, cosmetics have been a necessary tool for achieving beauty. When women entered and left the workforce at the beginning of the 20th century, they were expected to be pleasant to look at, which required elegance and posed challenges in maintaining beauty. ^{Vigarello (2006}, p. 147) points out that "this means resizing instruments: mirrors, powder boxes, lipsticks, and perfumes suitable for any time of day; women's purses; and various accessories." Beauty must be reconciled with life outside the home.

In other words, modernity has broadened and democratized beauty techniques (^{Vigarello, 2006}). With this democratization, the concept of an "ugly" woman disappeared. Maintaining beauty became central to the normative discourse directed at women. However, there should be no excess in the use of beautification methods. For example, excessively made-up women would be considered vulgar. Excessive makeup could characterize a woman as a prostitute. Well-done makeup could distinguish a woman as being synonymous with good taste, refinement, and sophistication (^{Schpun, 1999}).

However, we cannot separate vitamins, accessories, artifacts, and clothing from thei relationship they establish with the body, as they act on its external composition, as part of the protects it and, at the same time, displays it.

In addition to the elements that make up life and its social order, it is worth noting the construction of the body as a support for ethical principles (restraint, abstinence, moderation, discipline, frugality, persistence) on which aesthetic principles were built (such as good taste, elegance, beauty, health, cleanliness, morality, hygiene, sexuality, pleasure, eroticism, and naturalness) (^{Matos, 2010}, p. 92).

In fact, advertisements as cultural practices are producers of emotions desires, as indicated above, directly aimed at women's sensibilities, ways “[...] through which individuals and groups perceive themselves, appearing as a stronghold of representation of reality through emotions and the senses” (^{Pesavento, 2005}, p. 1-2). In this way, the press contributes to this type of production, since it is a means of disseminating it.