Throughout the years, magazine advertisements for the Barbizon Hotel emphasized this point: “OH! It’s great to be in NEW YORK … especially when you live at the Barbizon for Women”. The tagline was always the same, assuring in its tenacity: New York’s Most Exclusive Hotel Residence for Young Women. But magazine pieces also warned of the wolves, those men who roamed New York’s streets on the lookout for pretty, naive, young things, and the Barbizon promised both protection and sanctuary. Yet that wasn’t the only reason America’s young women wanted to stay there. Everyone knew the hotel was packed full with aspiring actresses, models, singers, artists, and writers, and some had already gone from aspiring to famous. Rita Hayworth had even posed for Life magazine in the hotel’s gymnasium, beside the pool, looking both sexy and impertinent.
But first, this new arrival had to get past Mrs. Mae Sibley, the assistant manager and front-desk hawk, who would look her over and ask for references. In addition to having to be presentable(preferably attractive), and with references attesting to her good and moral character, Mrs. Sibley would quietly mark a potential resident as an A, B, or C. A’s were under the age of 28, B’s were between 28 and 38, and C’s, well, they were over the hill. More often than not, the girl from out of town with a Sunday school hat and a nervous smile was an A. But this first hurdle was the easy one.
This story is from the May 2021 edition of Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 2021 edition of Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Cooking for one
Looking for a tasty weeknight dinner? Our quick and easy meat-free curry is full of flavour.
Two-minute exercise
No time? Short on energy? Two minutes might be all it takes to change your life.
New threads
In 1993 Elaine George made history as Australia's first Indigenous cover star. Thirty years later she's back in front of the camera with her daughter, Taylor, to showcase First Nations designers and artists.
Terms of endearment
While the phrases our mums once used don't date so well, other life lessons stay the distance.
Sisters of Maya
In the Yucatán jungles of Mexico, lives are changing for the better, thanks to a trailblazing farm where women dare to dream.
Unseen ABBA
Swedish foursome ABBA have released a book of joyful photos from their glorious career, including some even they hadn't seen before.
Inside the BILLIONAIRE BOHEMIAN CLUB
Welcome to the most secretive club on Earth, where world leaders, movie stars and business tycoons kick up their heels behind locked gates in the bucolic Californian countryside.
ROBERT IRWAN 'I wish could ask Dad for advice'
As the son of Steve Irwin, he's spent his entire life in the public domain, continuing to spread his father's message. Now, aged 20, Robert has found love, and is striking out in a new direction.
LANI D ANIELS Warrior woman
The world champion boxer from a tiny Northland village opens up about the childhood tragedy that led her to drink and drugs, and the sport that saved her life.
KING CHARLES III Royal lears & missing Mummy
In an old-fashioned world of restraint and formality, young King Charles craved his mother's affection and suffered at school, reveals Ingrid Seward in her new biography, My Mother and I.