My January 4 book talk for IRISH EYES with New York Times bestselling author, Fiona Davis at the Barnes and Noble Upper West Side in Manhattan was a magical evening in every way!
Nearly a week later, my Irish eyes are still smiling, which leads me to…
((brace for tenuous segue))
… Dimples!
Apparently, there is a new-to-me beauty trend on TikTok wherein beauty-conscious influencers are using a wearable device to create symmetrical, Mario Lopez worthy dimples. Today’s “Dimple Maker” is a cherry-shaped tool with a curved wire and pearl-like balls on the ends that pinch the inner and outer sides of the cheek to create the desired indentation. The effect is temporary, though there is some concern in the medical community that overuse could lead to long-term nerve damage and scarring.1
Those seeking a permanent solution can pursue surgery, known as a dimpleplasty.2
I am NOT making this up. Double pinkie swear.
Considering I own underwear older than the typical TikTok user, that I spent all of 2023 clueless to this new, hot trend doesn’t especially surprise me. But I was sufficiently intrigued to do a bit of historical sleuthing and here is what I discovered…
… Beauty devices to create dimples aren’t new at all!!!
The modern dimple-maker dates to February 1926 when Mrs. E. Isabella Gilbert received a patent for her Dimple Maker.3 In the below photo, Gilbert demonstrates her invention at the National Inventors Congress held in Springfield, Massachusetts in September 1936.4 She would spend nearly two years making the rounds at similar conferences.
Gilbert’s original patent application, filed in July 1921, describes “certain new and useful Improvements in Dimple-Producing Appliances,” suggesting that there were other such devices already in existence.5 (A 1978 newspaper advice column credits the first U.S. patented dimple-maker to Martin Goetze of Berlin in 1896).6
Gilbert’s device came with the following instructions:
“Wear dimplers five minutes at a time, two or three times a day, while dressing, resting, reading or writing. Look into the mirror and laugh. There will be a semblance of a line where you should always place the dimplers until your dimples are made.”7
Gilbert was granted a second patent in 1937 for what she called the “Dimpler Deluxe.”8 Her claims for the new device included improved circulation, removal of double chins and wrinkles, and restoration of “youthful contours.”9
Interestingly, I wasn’t able to find a photo of Mrs. Gilbert sans either version of her device.
By 1947, Gilbert’s apparatus was making the rounds again, that time as part of a traveling American Medical Association exhibit on medical “phonies and frauds.”10
Gilbert’s dimple-making publicity tour de force had been brief but lucrative. Modeling her device got her into 600 newspapers around the country. Within eighteen months, she had made $12,000 in dimple-maker sales, the equivalent of $247,330.83 today, not counting the boom in her Rochester, New York beauty business from all the free publicity.11
Whether dimpled or dimple-less, let’s all keep smiling, shall we?
You can pick up a signed copy of IRISH EYES at these booksellers:
Barnes & Noble Upper West Side, Manhattan
Barnes & Noble, Brick Plaza, NJ
Book Culture, Manhattan (2 locations)
The Corner Bookstore, Manhattan
Posman Books Chelsea Marketplace, Manhattan
Thunder Road Books, Spring Lake, NJ
The Comfort Zone, Ocean Grove, NJ
Also, find IRISH EYES on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, Target, Walmart and wherever books are sold.
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https://nypost.com/2023/10/18/smiling-influencers-love-the-dimple-maker-but-it-could-cause-permanent-damage/
https://people.com/dimple-makers-are-trending-what-you-should-know-8364749
The “E” stood for Evangeline. https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2019/05/28/rochester-inventions-include-patented-dimple-making-machine/1256745001/
Oakland Tribune, 02 Sept 1936, Wed, Page 38. Sourced from newspapers.com
https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2019/05/28/rochester-inventions-include-patented-dimple-making-machine/1256745001/
“You Asked Us.” The Province, 09 Sep 1978, Sat Page 77.
https://boingboing.net/2022/10/20/1936-device-claimed-to-create-dimples-in-users.html
The Daily Oklahoman, 10 April 1938, Sun, Page 55. Sourced via newspapers.com
Daily Herald, 19 June 1937, Sat. Page 9. Sourced via newspapers.com.
The Selma Times-Journal, 18 Dec 1947, Thu, Page 9. Sourced via newspapers.com
The Courier-Journal, 05 Jul 1938, Tue Page 4. Sourced via newspapers.com.
I had heard about the new trend, and I'm not surprised there was one on the market a century ago.
Congratulations on all of your success with IRISH EYES. I still need to read mine.