Amazing Women: Tales of Courage and Ingenuity That Changed Our World

By Alan L. Wood

W omen have been battling and continue to fight for their rightful place to be appreciated and accepted in society. But women have made serious contributions to the world and continue to do so. In Amazing Women, author Alan L. Wood highlights some of the most influential women in modern times.

From leaders in fashion to the entrepreneurs, from the courageous women in war to the thinkers and the stinkers, Wood covers every aspect of womens contributions. All of the women detailed came from humble beginnings and in many cases, attained wealth through their hard work and persistence. Amazing Women features such women as Helena Rubenstein and Coco Chanel from the fashion industry, Bertha Ringer from the automobile industry and leaders like Margaret Hilda Roberts and Golda Mabovitch.

A tribute written for women about women, Amazing Women highlights the courage and ingenuity of females who changed the world for the good, forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press AU
• Release date: Jul 21, 2015
• ISBN: 9781452529639

Alan L. Wood

ALAN L. WOOD is retired. He and his wife Beth have two daughters.

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Copyright © 2015 Alan L. Wood.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4525-2962-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-2963-9 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 07/17/2015

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

The difference between a Man and Woman

Chapter 1 Women of Fashion

Chapter 2 The Entrepreneurs

Chapter 3 Women in a Man’s World

Chapter 4 Thinkers

Chapter 5 Stinkers

Chapter 6 Great Women Leaders

Chapter 7 Warriors

Chapter 8 The Great Deceivers

Chapter 9 The Con Women

Thank You

A book for the beautiful women in my life,

my dear wife Beth

and our daughters Peta and Karly,

for without whom

none of this would have been possible.

—oOo—

Dedicated to my mother,

Marjorie Wood (2.5.1922 – 9.9.1967)

and our nephew and cousin,

Darren Wood. (20.10.1968 – 3.10.2008)

Gone to soon

A percentage of proceeds from the sale of this book

will be donated to beyondblue.

FOREWORD

When one retires from working life, you wonder what your next project will be. Do you sit back and watch the day go by, or do you decide to try something completely different to what has been in your normal day to day life, like writing a book.

As brother and co-author with Alan on three previous books, I can now sit back and applaud his wonderful solo effort in bringing to the reader a book that will amaze you.

This book will keep the reader enthralled with every chapter. I have first-hand knowledge of the depth of research Alan does on any of his projects, and the work contained in this book, certainly fits that criteria.

Amazing Women is a book about women and what they have achieved throughout history. It is a very brave concept to be written by a man, but Alan has done an incredible job with this genre which is close to his heart.

The nine chapters contained in this book will give you an insight into some very remarkable women, from Women of Fashion to Women in a Man’s World, from Great Deceivers to Great Women Leaders, and then the unsavoury Stinkers, stories about some women who have lived horrific, but alas, not so nice lives.

If you enjoy reading something out of the ordinary, you will be entertained by Alan’s compassion and quick wit in his story telling of Amazing Women.

Barry K. Wood

INTRODUCTION

As the song says, Lord, I’m doing the best I can, to be a better man.

I am a mere male at the blunt end of proceedings. I am 69 years old and the light bulb moment if you can call it that was never really a moment at all, but more truthful reflection in recent times of my wife, and her commitment to our family unit over the last 50 years. It took me some time, ego aside, to realise that I fulfilled that leading role in the family, because the women folk around humored me, loved me and made me think I was the real deal and just let me play the part of the father, the husband, the great hunter gatherer.

The female of the species have been battling and continue to battle today, for their rightful place in society and to be appreciated and accepted in society. The mere male tends to judge the ladies as if she is in a beauty contest for the most part, and all I would like to do is pay homage to the ladies that have been absolutely everything to the family unit, while the menfolk in the main tend to strut around, pat themselves on the back for their great achievements, and in a very simple and basic way, are unable to see the forrest for the trees. In other words the part their partners play in their success.

I am not a religious man so no one can accuse me of coming out of the closet so I can get a free ticket to a stairway to heaven. My religion, if you can call it that, is to try and do the right thing as often as I can and to consider the feelings of others over myself. While that last statement is more a part of a wishing well on my part, I have never knowingly gone out of my way to be vindictive or hurt other people.

If the way I have lived my life does not measure up to the Sunday attendees or the silent Christians, I can offer no apology except to say that through my life, I have tried to be a better person. Even today, I do think of others more and of their feelings and just hope that I can in some way assist someone, anyone, in feeling better about themselves. I am not perfect, far from it, and I have had my own demons to deal with in life, but I can tell you without fear of contradiction, if it wasn’t for my fabulous wife and my daughters, the tunnel would have been darker, narrower and longer – these things are true.

I am going to throw this out there, sorry fellow mere males.

If the Dictionary explains that Fe in chemical terms meaning Iron and Male means Man. Should I conclude that bringing both elements together, that Female really means Iron Man.

Alan L. Wood

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MAN AND WOMAN

As seen by Marguerite Duras.

Marguerite was born in Saigon, French Indochina (now Vietnam) in 1914 and died in Paris in 1996 at the age of 81 years. She was an author who survived a very disadvantaged childhood, but was best known for her observations and command of language. In very simple terms the following is an interpretation of a quote Marguerite made on the difference between a man and a woman.

All women and men are different. Being a mother means you give yourself to your children. They will consume and devour you. However, when a man joins a family unit, he becomes one of the children. Men are lovers of wars, hunting, racing cars and playing games, just like children. When a child is sleepy, you can tell, and when a man is tired you can tell in the same way. He wants to be a hunter and the hero but at the same time, he has needs that have to be met in a family environment, as do children.

In reality, how many women reading that one paragraph are agreeing with every word that this lady was reported to have said? Sometimes we wonder if the male really understands the scope of his commitment when he is a part of the family unit. Does he really believe that when he walks into the family home after a busy day at the office, that is it for the day, my work is done.

CHAPTER 1

Women of Fashion

The following stories in this chapter are to illustrate that there is always a beginning, and that beginning does not necessarily evolve from education or wealth alone. It comes from ideas and the pursuit of a dream or idea that you do believe in. Initially you have to believe in yourself and never, ever give up during your journey. Heed the good advice but be watchful with those who have a suspect agenda. Here are some remarkable women, most from decades ago, that created a style that turned world fashion on its ear. There is also the story of one of the most famous internationally known cosmetic brands that, would you believe, got its start in Australia, on the sheep’s back so to speak. There is also a modern tale from an idea that evolved in 2011, so don’t think that there is nothing new under the sun. Necessity is the Mother of Invention, and nothing is impossible. I hope you enjoy the lives of these charming, hardworking ladies who changed the world of fashion and accessories.

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"There is no such thing as an ugly woman,

just a lazy one".

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Helena Rubenstein

Her name is synonymous with beauty products and she became the first self-made millionaire in the field of cosmetics. Like most things in life, your eventual tools of the trade aren’t necessarily your tools of choice, but this diminutive little girl had her dreams all sorted from the time of she was ready to fly the coup. She was born on the day of great love, giving and cheer, Christmas Day, the 25th December 1870 in Cracow, Poland.

Her father was Horace Rubinstein, an egg merchant and shop keeper in Cracow and by all reports was not the sharpest tool in the shed when it came to business acumen. Although the mere fact he was able to keep eight daughters educated and fed along with his wife, he must have been very good with money. Her mum was called Augusta (nee Silberfeld) and little Chaya Rubinstein was the eldest of the clan.

There is no doubt that mum and dad knew what they wanted for their children with Chaya leading the way, they wanted education at a professional level and they dearly wanted them to find a husband to look after them as well. Chaya enlisted in a medical course at a local university, thinking that this was what she wanted to do. Everything was going according to plan until something unexpectedly raised its ugly head one day – blood. It has been said that young Chaya actually feinted while assisting with some rounds at a local hospital, so that plan was quickly cancelled.

Her dad could see possible writing on the wall as Chaya was getting into her 20’s, and suggested that she accept the attention being given to her by a local wealthy widower, but Chaya was having none of that. So at the mature age of 31 years, in 1902, she told her parents that she wanted to visit her uncle on the others side of the world in Coleraine, Victoria, Australia. She saw that this was the only way to escape her father’s insistence on a possible marriage to the local widower, and a way to see what the world could offer her – all 147cm of her (4 ft. 10 in.).

What a good move that turned out to be.

Her mother’s brother, Uncle Louis Silberfeld, ran a store in Colerain, a wealthy sheep farming area of Victoria. Chaya had pale, yet silky smooth complexion, one that you would expect from the much milder conditions she would have experienced in Europe. A good friend of the family back in Cracow was a chemist and he would mix together creams for the family which they would use on the faces, night cream etc. Chaya bought some with her to continue her daily regimen.

Timing is everything when we talk of luck in business, you just need to be in the right place at the right time, but then you have to develop and satisfy that demand from the market that you have created – no easy task. Her silky complexion did not go unnoticed by the ladies who lived in the harsh conditions of the area, and what creams that Chaya had bought with her, were soon sold to the local townsfolk.

Chaya needed more products, so based on what knowledge she had learnt from her chemist friend back in Cracow, she set about trying to emulate a successful product on the other side of the world. Knowledge is a very powerful ingredient in any venture, that is why the ones that do make it in the world of business, ask questions and keep on asking, until they have what they need. Through her discussions with her uncle, she learnt about a process that they needed to do to extract grease that was secreted from the sheep that was found on the wool from the shorn Merino. Before the wool was sent for processing in the textile and emerging wool industry, all of the grease from the wool had to be extracted.

This is where Chaya discovered lanolin.

This was the grease from the sheep’s wool, and after discovering this product and understanding the part it would play in the ingredients of her product, she was on her way, after all, there was no shortage of sheep and wool in the area. When you consider the function of this product, it served the sheep well and kept the rain from seeping through to their under coat. Lanolin had quite an odour besides also having a smooth creamy texture, so the next step was to experiment adding other ingredients to mask the smell. Many different locally grown ingredients were tested, and the likes of lavender and pine oil soon found their way onto the ingredient list.

A smooth creamy pleasant smelling cream was born in Victoria, Australia.

The next step for Chaya was a step in the right direction. She took a job in Melbourne, and as she could not keep up demand with the clientele that she had from Coleraine and the surrounding area, set up a small shop in Collins Street in the heart of the city, and the rest as they say in the classics, was history.

Diminutive Chaya, on the cusp of success in inner Melbourne, also had a name change and was known from then on as Helena Rubinstein. She marketed her shop with fancy names for her creams but always at the forefront was her name Helena Rubinstein. One of her sisters joined her which allowed Helena to move interstate and open a store in the city heart of Sydney.

The next very important fact of her success story just highlights the very reason why this book was written in the first place. Women were just not recognized even then in the world of business, so her next venture, with the equivalent of $100,000 in today’s currency of her own money, went to London to see what she could achieve over on the other side of the world. There was no point going to the banks, because …

Women at this time could not obtain bank loans – incredible.

Her trade name of Helena Rubinstein and all products under her banner, took hold in the world of cosmetics like a bush fire. There was London, and then came Paris in 1912, and then Europe had a focal point. The first American store opened in New York in 1915. Helena Rubinstein enterprises was so successful in the world of commerce and through her enormous wealth, she was able to set up charitable institutions that gave a real voice in Education, Health and The Arts. It was all in her name built on the back of an extremely successful range of cosmetics.

It was during her voyage of discovery about herself and her products, that she learnt the value of the presentation. Every product was in what could only be described as extravagant but tasteful packaging, something that continues in the Cosmetic Industry today. Her salons were staffed by professional women in simple but stunning uniforms. To add to the marketing hype that we have all experienced over decades, Helena Rubinstein certainly knew the value of having celebrity endorsements for her products.

Everything that she sold was accompanied with a science of skincare that was absorbed by her willing and enthusiastic customers. She had one simple quote she used all of the time. There is no such thing as an ugly woman, just a lazy one.

After arriving in Australia at the age of 31 in 1902, in 26 short years she had sold her American interests to Lehman Brothers who at that time was a Global Financial Giant. The reputed price for the American interests in 1928 was $7.5 million, around $100 million in today’s value (2014). Just a few years later, the Great Depression hit and with Helena protecting her name, she bought back the worthless stock of her company that was only sold two years earlier to Lehman Brothers for a fraction of the price, so by the time the depression was over in the late 30’s, Helena was ready to make another mass fortune. Right place, right time.

While the great lady spent money on herself on the very best of fashion, furniture and the Arts, it would come as a surprise to everyone that she always bought a cut lunch to work and continued to work even from her sick bed. Here are just a few institutions and organisations that this wonderful woman left for the future generations. Using the Helena Rubinstein Foundation as her base for all of her philanthropy, here are but a few.

The Helena Rubinstein of Contemporary Art in Tel Aviv.

The America Israel Cultural Foundation Scholarships.

The Helena Rubinstein Travelling Art Scholarship in Australia.

… and many more.

She died in New York on the 1st of April 1965 at the age of 94 years. She was survived by one of her sons. To know this great woman, was to know a wonderful philanthropist, business woman and entrepreneur. The most famous memory that truly described her success was –

You could say it came on the back of Australia’s wool industry.

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"A woman who doesn’t wear perfume

has no future".

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Coco Chanel

There is no doubt there wouldn’t be too many women who have never heard of or been blessed with that scent of a woman, Chanel No. 5. Coco Chanel was a daring designer who would also be known as well for her liberation of women in fashion. She was an enigma of sorts, mysterious, a puzzle few really understood, and yet she fulfilled her dreams her way and cared little else for the criticisms surrounding her life. To understand her was to unravel her life lessons she was so good at and offering one of her famous quotes:

As long as you know men are like children, then you know everything!

Yes all of you men out there, when a woman puts her mind to it, we really are putty in their hands. Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel was born in a mid-western city in France, Saumur, on the 19th of August 1883 and died in Paris on the 10th of January 1971 at 87 years of age. Her mother was unmarried and her name was Eugenie Devolle. She was a laundry woman who toiled for her keep in a charity hospital run by the Sisters of Providence. Her father, Albert Chanel, was a drifter and itinerant salesman, who peddled undergarments and clothes. Not the start in life that anyone would be happy with.

It took a few years for Eugenie’s family to corner young Albert and the story goes that her family actually offered money as an inducement for Albert to marry their daughter, Eugenie. That was in 1884, so their little daughter was then known as Gabrielle Chanel. All in all Albert and Eugenie had five children, two other daughters and two sons. Albert may have been a drifter, but he certainly knew where the bedroom was.

As was common in those difficult times, the family was beset by tragedy when their mother, Eugenie, died of bronchitis at the age of 31 years. Gabrielle was only 12 years of age at the time. Her father found it difficult enough making a living on the road, so he had to make the agonizing decision to send his two sons out into the field to work as farm labourers and unfortunately, his three daughters were sent to the Convent for the poor, rejected and orphan girls. Even though for a twelve year old this must have been devastating, in many ways it made her what she was going to be and achieve for the rest of her life. In the Convent, she learnt how to sew.

Hard times arouse an instinctive desire for authenticity.

The drive that young people have that have been beset by tragedy in life causes one to pause and reflect and respect that inner strength that must be there, especially the fact that she was a very vulnerable 18 year old when she had to leave the Convent. Her safety net was taken from her. Little Gabrielle found lodgings in a boarding house set aside for young catholic girls in the town of Moulins.

To make some sort of living, she worked as a seamstress during the day and found that she had a place on stage singing in the cabaret establishments in the area of her new home of a night. Though she had what one would call an average voice, Gabrielle had a look that was provocative and appealing and was soon to become a favourite among certain classes of the gentry who visited the clubs. It was one of the songs that she sung, that she eventually was known for and it became her nickname and then her lifelong Design Signature. The song was Ko Ko Ri Ko, so soon she became known as Coco.

That star was born.

As stated in one of her quotes, if you understand a man is as a child, you know everything. She certainly knew men, how they thought, the actions and the expected reactions, and she played it to her full advantage over the years. The power of women when they can manipulate the male of the species is a very special tool indeed.

Every one of the men in her life created great opportunities for Coco. There was Etienne Balsan, the wealthy textile heir and she soon became his mistress. All affairs lasted for years, and one can only assume that the next affair or relationship was a stepping stone in her plan.

Another suitor was Captain Arthur Capel, a great friend of Balsan, and Coco was heard to have said here are two gentlemen trying to outbid each other for my hot little body. Captain Capel was of English Aristocracy and he was responsible for financing Coco’s venture into shop front fashion in Paris. At this time she also mastered the art of making hats and became an expert milliner as well.

Her clothes liberated women from the confines of