A New Soap Named Gypsy Rose and the Woman Behind the Name

We've been having fun with our new Facebook page, and offered a little contest by asking our followers to help us name a new soap we created.  The soap has an interesting scent with spice, rose, geranium, and patchouli notes. Lots of ideas came in, and our three finalists were Grateful Rose, Bohemian Rose, and Gypsy Rose.

Before we name any of our products, we always do a little due-diligence to find out if the name is already in use, has a connotation we might not be aware of, and that sort of thing.  So, before we chose our winner, I took to the internet.

At first, we were leaning towards Bohemian Rose.  We thought it was a good description of the scent, plus it was the top choice of our Facebook followers.  But then I looked up Gypsy Rose, and found Gypsy Rose Lee.

Gypsy Rose Lee was an actress and author, but she earned legendary status as a burlesque striptease artist.  Her wit, intellectual recitation, and casual striptease style helped her become one of the biggest stars of Minsky's Burlesque.  I asked a friend who is in her 70s if she remembered her, and she said  Gypsy Rose Lee was a household name.  Children weren't informed of her special talents, of course, but everyone knew she was a star.

Here's a very clean You Tube video of Gypsy Rose's routine  including the recitation.  Life Magazine also has an interesting collection of photographs online.

Gypsy Rose raised a child, and had three marriages, each ending in divorce. When asked why she stayed with Burlesque, she said that she was the best paid performer since Cleopatra.  She said the lifestyle allowed her plenty of time to raise her son the way she wanted.



During the Great Depression, Gypsy Rose spoke at various union meetings in support of New York laborers, and her talks were among those that attracted the largest audiences.

Gypsy Rose authored a number of books and later wrote her memoir, which was the inspiration for Gypsy: A Musical Fable.  That musical is considered by many critics to be the greatest American musical, and Rose's character has been described as one of the few truly complex characters in American musicals.

One of the famous songs from the musical is "Everything's Coming Up Roses", a name I chose years ago for our facial line.  I knew it was from a musical, but truthfully didn't know much about the story.  I love the connection! You may recognize another famous song from it, "Let Me Entertain You."

We think Gypsy Rose might have liked our new soap.  It's free spirited but complex, just like her.

I don't know yet if our contest winner had Gypsy Rose Lee in mind, but either way congratulations to Lisa from Virginia Beach, VA!  She is the winner and a $25 Gift Certificate is on its way! Many thanks to everyone who shared their ideas.

Please look for the new Gypsy Rose soap on our webstore within a few days!   (And if you haven't found us on Facebook yet, we invite you to check out our page.  We'd love to see you!)