Mrs Winifred Doyle

This cinema glass slide advertises the services of Berlei corsetiere Mrs Winifred Doyle. Galton's was a department store in Maitland, NSW. Mrs Doyle was based in Sydney but she travelled around New South Wales performing fittings during the late 1930s and early 1940s.

She is mentioned numerous times in newspapers from the time as visiting stores including Anthony Horderns' and Way's in Sydney, The Grand Hotel in Broken Hill, Beesley's in Guyra, Winn's in Newcastle, Cansdell's in Inverell, Lance's in Wollongong, Fraser's in Parramatta, AE Collins Pty Ltd in Narrabri, M Campbell and Co Pty Ltd in Muswellbrook, John Meagher & Co Pty Ltd in Forbes and Yeo and Mansell's in Bathurst. According to The National Advocate from Bathurst in 1938, 'Paris says: "contour your figure', so to be smart, see Mrs Winifred Doyle, the Berlei Corsetiere, who will show you how easy it is to be lovelier'.

A Guyra Argus article from 1937 says 'When you're a bit worried about your figure - not quite sure about the type of corset you need - it's a tremendous help to be able to talk to someone like Mrs Doyle, who really knows about these things! Mrs Doyle considers figures individually, advises and fits correct corsetry for each particular need.'

Being a corsetiere of Mrs Doyle's experience and standing would have been a sought-after and respectable job for a woman at a time when women were only just entering the workforce between the World Wars. This hand-coloured glass slide advertisement would have been shown in local cinemas.

Notes by Beth Taylor