Today in 1919 (or, by some accounts, 1922), the birthday of Veronica Lake, a movie star whose iconic hairstyle won over millions of fans… even when she gave up that trademark look to help the US win World War II.
She was born Constance Ockleman in Brooklyn; her mother enrolled her in acting classes, hoping it might be a kind of art therapy after the then-teenager was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
She was renamed Veronica Lake in Hollywood, and though she claimed that her early acting was “so lousy that you could put all the talent I had into your left eye and still not suffer from impaired vision,” she wowed audiences anyway, thanks to what became known as the peekaboo hairstyle.
Lake said her hair just naturally grew that way, mostly covering her right eye, but it was lush and glamorous and by the 1940s she was a big star.
Women all over the country were trying to emulate the peekaboo hair.
And that probably would have been fine any other time, but in the 1940s the US was in World War II, and many of the women who were trying to achieve the Veronica Lake look were also heading to jobs in factories working for the war effort.
Anyone working an assembly line with hair that covers one of her eyes would have to keep flipping the hair out of the way, which would slow down the essential work.
Or, worse, if one of those peekaboo haircuts got caught in a machine, it could throw off the entire production line (not to mention hurt the head attached to all that hair).
So, in 1943, the US government asked Veronica Lake if she would give up her iconic hairdo for the good of the nation, and she agreed.
First, she posed for a magazine photo that showed how painful and upsetting it was to get hair caught in a piece of machinery.
Then, she demonstrated a new look in an informational film produced by the Office of War Information.
Her long locks were now tied into braids; this look was known as the “victory roll,” since the two braids formed a kind of V shape on the back of her head.
For those who didn’t want to make the switch, the office recommended just putting hair under a cap on the job.
While the government didn’t keep specific figures on how many hairstyles changed because of this initiative, it must’ve worked, because, y’know, the US ended up winning World War II.
A design studio in Barcelona, Bel & Bel, is giving new life to the front panels of old Vespa scooters.
But they’re not on the road: the Scooter Chair is office furniture that uses those front panels as chair backs.
The chairs have wheels, so you can still ride on them.
The Peek-A-Boo Girl Gets Cut: In 1943 Veronica Lake Saved America And A Million Women’s Hair (Flashbak)
Vespa Scooters Given New Life as Innovative Office Chairs (My Modern Met)
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Photo by Paramount Pictures via Wikicommons