Why Generations Of American Women Connected With Betty Crocker As She Turns 100
Elizabeth A. Blake, Clark University
Though she celebrates her 100th birthday this year, Betty Crocker was never born. Nor does she ever really age.
When her face did change over the past century, it was because it had been reinterpreted by artists and shaped by algorithms.
Betty’s most recent official portrait – painted in 1996 to celebrate her 75th birthday – was inspired by a composite photograph, itself based on photographs of 75 real women reflecting the spirit of Betty Crocker and the changing demographics of America. In it, she doesn’t look a day over 40.
More importantly, this painting captures something that has always been true about Betty Crocker: She represents a cultural ideal rather than an actual woman.
Nevertheless, women often wrote to Betty Crocker and saved the lett...