Cynthia - a celebrity mannequin (16 photos)

The story of Pygmalion from ancient Greek myths is known to many. A sculptor fell in love with his own creation - a statue of a beautiful woman. He wished that she would come to life and become his wife. The wish came true, and they lived happily ever after.





Something similar happened to the American sculptor Lester Gaba. One department store ordered a mannequin from him for a window display. Upon seeing the result, Lester was shocked by its beauty and made another copy for himself.



He soon began taking "Cynthia" with him to dinner parties and social gatherings as if she were his companion. The mannequin attracted everyone's attention, and for a short time in the 1930s, she became a Hollywood celebrity.





Lester Gaba grew up in the small town of Hannibal, Missouri, but dreamed of a glamorous life in the big city. His talent for carving soap led him first to Chicago and then, in 1932, to New York City, where he began working in fashion and window dressing. At the time, mannequins were unnatural-looking and made of wax, which often melted in the sun. Gaba wanted to create realistic figures, inspired by real women.



When Saks Fifth Avenue commissioned him to create a new series of window displays, Gaba seized the opportunity. He hired aspiring New York models, sculpted life-size clay replicas of them, and then cast them in plaster. He called his collection Gaba Girls. Like real women, these mannequins had small "imperfections" - freckles, different sized feet, and other details that gave them personality and a resemblance to real people.



One of the models was a girl named Cynthia Wells. Little is known about her: the model was very slender, with peachy skin, light hair (she probably wore a wig), delicate features and "a slight touch of New York snobbery and modesty," as journalists later wrote.



Gaba fell in love, but not with Cynthia Wells herself, but with her mannequin. He made another copy for himself and began taking it to social events. Soon the 168-centimeter-tall, 45-kilogram doll became an integral part of New York nightlife. Cynthia appeared in glossy magazines next to Hollywood stars, and Life Magazine devoted 14 pages to her, telling about her “career” as if she were a living person.



Fashion houses quickly figured out how to use her popularity, and showered Cynthia with free dresses, jewelry, and furs. It all looked surreal, and of course, not everyone understood this strange fashion. Gaba himself later admitted: "Cynthia made no sense."



Before Gaba could come to his senses, World War II began, and he went to the front. Before leaving, he sent Cynthia to her mother in Missouri, strictly instructing her to take care of her like a real star: weekly spa treatments and haircuts in the best salon in town.



It was there, in 1942, that Cynthia tragically fell from a chair and crashed.



Not giving up, Gaba created a new Cynthia, this time talking, with a moving jaw and pre-recorded phrases. He even tried to bring her back into the spotlight by giving her her own TV show, but the magic was gone and the public lost interest.



The fate of the last Cynthia is unknown. According to one version, Gaba left her in a friend's attic in the East Village, where she is most likely still gathering dust in the dark.





[thumb]https://cn22.nevsedoma.com.ua/p/28/2878/146_files/0f224cf9a 678881f626f0204d9e49062.webp[/thumb]