Lessons From the Gibson Girl

Lessons From The Gibson Girl looks at a fictional character who raised interest in women's and social issues, influencing all of society with her subtle, yet sometimes blunt nudging of men and women to be fair and honest. Gibson gave voice to women's issues and feminism through the Gibson Girl in the late 1880s and early 1900s, and was a champion of the young and disadvantaged.

Appearing weekly in Life, Collier's, and other magazines, the Gibson Girl was a force to be reckoned with. The power of the pen was humorous yet poignant. The Gibson Girl presented an important slice of Women's Studies and history of the era, including the crucial period preceding passage of the 19th Amendment. Lessons from the Gibson Girl brings the past to the present and illuminates the timeless parallels.

Charles Dana Gibson the Illustrator

Charles Dana Gibson is most recognized as the creator of the Gibson Girl, an illustrated icon around the turn of the 20th century. His cartoons were filled with meaning and values that were on the leading edge of many social issues. Yet, sometimes a cartoon was just a cartoon – meant to entertain the reader and put a smile on their face.

Lessons traces Charles Dana Gibson's thought-provoking satirical artwork as he captured the admiration of both men and women with seductive humor for more than thirty years. Not a biography of Gibson, this book is an analysis of his satire and a view of over 250 illustrations of the humor and art he wielded to lampoon society from his first cartoons in the Victorian 1880s through the rowdy 1920s.