Elinor Glyn
Toronto Daily Star, 14 July 1930
Elinor Glyn (1864-1943) was famous, indeed notorious, in her time: she wrote romance novels that were considered racy in that era. She popularized the concept of "it", which apparently was a characteristic that "draws all others with magnetic force". Whee! (Ms. Glyn explains "it" in a British Movietone News interview here.)
One of her novels, Three Weeks (which, incidentally, is shorter than 9 1/2 Weeks), inspired this bit of doggerel:
Would you like to sin
With Elinor Glyn
On a tiger skin?
Or would you prefer
To err with her
On some other fur?
Naturally, this novel sold like hotcakes, despite a savage critical reception. (It's in the public domain now, and is available as part of Project Gutenberg.)
In the 1920s, Ms. Glyn became a Hollywood screenwriter; she gave Clara Bow the title of "the It girl", which helped make her a star. At about the time this ad appeared, she had exhausted her finances and she had returned to writing novels; the fee that she obtained for endorsing Lux probably helped her out. Ms. Glyn had two daughters, both of whom married baronets.
Created June 17, 2025.