Dress
Dress
Dress

Dress

Object number2020.38.1
Date1967
MediumPaper; Cotton; Ink
Credit LineGift of Linda Stefan
DescriptionYellow pages paper dress. Sleeveless shift dress with collar, v-neck, and two strips at the base of the v-neck. Skirt flares outward slightly. Armscyes have black cotton fabric trim. Yellow dress is covered in printed black text in the shape of the Yellow Pages with advertisements and listings for companies and businesses.DimensionsHeight x Width (Flat): 38.25 x 23.25 in. (97.2 x 59.1 cm)
InscriptionsYellow dress is covered in printed black text.
Historical NotesYellow Pages paper dress purchased by donor Linda Stefan in 1967. Linda Stefan grew up in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, and graduated from high school in 1963. In 1967, she saw an advertisement for the Yellow Pages dress in the local newspaper and sent away for one. She wore it one time to her job at the First Federal Savings and Loan in Beaver Falls and then never wore it again. She was afraid it would rip if she wore it too often. She married that year and continued to work at the bank until she became pregnant a few years later. In 1972 they moved to Cranberry and lived in the second housing plan built in the area. This dress represents the brief 1960s vogue for the “disposable dress”. This trend is also represented in our Alcoa collection and in the Campbell’s Soup, “Souper Dress”. The dress reflects the focus on consumerism, advertising, and convenience in the 1960s. The first known mail order paper dress debuted in 1966 and was an advertising gimmick for the Scott Paper company. Other companies, like Alcoa, which offered a disposable aluminum dress to promote its aluminum foil products, and the Yellow Pages followed suit. In order to receive the dress you sent in $1 and a coupon. The dress would then be mailed to you and could be cut to the appropriate length. The trend proved to be short lived as the Yellow Pages dress consisted of 96% cellulose and 4% cotton, making it highly flammable.
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