Reseña

Mary Phelps Jacob, better known as Caresse Crosby, is considered the inventor of the first bra that she patented in 1914, which was light, soft and comfortable, could be worn by women of different sizes and made it easier to practice sports that involved a lot of movement.

She was also an American writer, editor, publicist, peace activist, fashion designer, and patron of the arts.

She founded with her husband a pioneering publishing house "Black Sun Press" that published books by important American writers. She also founded the pacifist organization "Women Against War" during the 1950s in response to the Vietnam War.

Upon her death in 1970, Time magazine declared her "literary godmother of the lost generation of writers expatriated to Paris."

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Justificaciones

• Mary Phelps Jacob is considered the inventor of the first bra that was light, soft and comfortable (as opposed to the uncomfortable, stiff and harmful corsets used until then).
• The Mary Phelps bra was suitable for women of different sizes and also proved to be very beneficial for people involved in sports involving a lot of movement.
• On 3 November 1914, she obtained a patent for her bra under the number US 1115674.
• She founded a pioneering publishing house "Black Sun Press" that published books by important American writers.
• Founded the pacifist organization "Women Against War" during the 1950s in response to the Vietnam War.

Biografía

Mary Phelps Jacob was born on 20 April 1981 in New Rochelle, New York. Her parents were descendants of colonial families in America. Her friends and family called her "Polly" to differentiate her from her mother's name.

Although the family was not wealthy, they led a high quality of life. In fact, Mary attended several public schools.

In 1908, after the death of her father, she moved to Watertown, Massachusetts. She graduated in 1910 from Rosemary Hall School.

In 1913, when Mary was dressing for a party, she noticed that the wires of her corset were sticking out of her cleavage. To remedy this situation, she sewed two silk scarves crossed and tied by a ribbon, thus creating the basis of the modern bra. Mary called this contraption a "backless brassiere". 

On 3 November 1914 she obtained a patent for her invention, which she herself defined as "suitable for women of different sizes" and "so efficient that it could even be used by people for sports involving a lot of movement, such as tennis". Her new patented bra already included shoulder straps and front lacing.

After marrying Richard Peabody (her first husband) in 1915, Mary founded the Fashion Form Brassiere Company in Boston. She opened several shops there, but as her business was not very well known, she decided to sell it together with her patent to The Warner Brothers Corset Company, based in Connecticut, for $1500 (about 16,000 euros today). Warner was undoubtedly right to buy it, because in the 1930s, coinciding with the disappearance of the corset, he managed to popularise the bra, making a profit of some $15 million.

In 1922, Mary and her now second husband, Harry Crosby, moved to Paris, where they adopted a bohemian lifestyle. In 1924 Mary decided to change her name to Caresse, as she considered it a name "more suited to her way of life".

Harry and Caresse Crosby began publishing their own poetry in 1925. One of their first two books was a volume of poetry by Caresse, "Crosses of Gold". In April 1927 they founded an English-language publishing company that they first named Éditions Narcisse, in 1928, changed the name of the publishing house to the "Black Sun Press", they took exquisite care with the books they published, choosing the finest papers and inks. They published early works of a number of avant-garde writers, including James Joyce's, Ernest Hemingway, DH LawrenceHenry Miller o Anaïs Nin. The Black Sun Press evolved into one of the most important small presses in Paris in the 1920s. The quality and rarity of the books published by Black Sun Press have made them highly sought after books by collectors. A Black Sun book is the literary equivalent of a painting by Braque or Picasso

Caresse's hectic life takes another turn when her husband is found dead in a New York hotel room, entwined with his young lover Josephine, both with gunshots in their temples in an apparent suicide pact.

The Black Sun Press broadened its scope after Harry's death. Although it published few works after 1952, it printed James Joyce's Collected Poems in 1963. It did not officially close until Caresse's death in 1970. He also founded, together with Jacques Porel, a parallel company, Crosby Continental Editions, which published paperbacks by European writers.

Faced with the threat of war, Caresse returned to the United States, where she began and ended a marriage to an alcoholic 18 years her junior, enjoyed a long-term romance with the black actor and boxer Canada Lee. In her New York apartment she accommodated Henry Miller and Anaïs Nin, whom, by all accounts, she taught to write erotica. She hosted New York's most legendary party, the 1935 surrealist "Bal Onirique" ball where she hosted Salvador Dali and Gala.

After the war, she returned to Europe and in the 1950s bought Roccasinibalda, a crumbling 15th-century Italian castle outside Rome that she transformed into an artists commune and a centre for world peace.

Mary Caresse Crosby founded the organization "Women Against War" during the 1950s  in response to the Vietnam War. She also worked to create a group known as the "Citizens of the World". His work was not always well received.

In 1953, wrote and published her autobiography, "The Passionate Years". She crafted it mostly based on her personal.

The last years of her life were spent in retirement in her castle in Rome. She died there at the age of 78, because of a heart condition that she had been suffering from for some time.

Caresse’s death in 1970 was noted around the world – Time magazine declared her “literary godmother to the Lost Generation of expatriate writers in Paris,”.

At a time when the role of a woman was sharply defined and controlled, Caresse did not merely reject gender constraints, she acted as if they did not exist at all.

“Caresse Crosby has all the makings of a legend,” writes her biographer and great-granddaughter Tamara Colchester. “Yet history has not chosen to remember her in that way.”

Colchester’s debut novel, The Heart is a Burial Ground, takes the sensational facts of her great-grandmother’s life and weaves them into an elegant rumination on the impact of a life lived far outside the conventions of her time. 

Obras

Bibliografía

Uve, Sandra (2018). Supermujeres superinventoras. Ed. Planeta.

Whikipedia, consultado 18-03-2022 <https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caresse_Crosby>

Whikipedia, consultado 10-01-2025 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caresse_Crosby>

Whikipedia, consultado 10-01-2025 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sun_Press>

Tish Wrigley, 15 de marzo de 2018 Boletín semanal AnOther, consultado el 10-01-2025 <https://www.anothermag.com/fashion-beauty/10681/the-extraordinary-life-of-caresse-crosby-inventor-of-the-bra>

Enfoque Didáctico

This author can be studied in the subject of technology, in the block of structures and mechanisms of 1st of ESO. She can also be studied in English, when working on the text of her patent.

In the subject of history of 4th of ESO, we can work on social movements, starting with the pacifist organisation that she founded in 1950 - Women against war.

Documentos