Here are some behind-the-scenes stills from the 15-minute tv show "Feminine Fancy" that aired on WGTV, Georgia's educational television station housed in UGA's Georgia Center for Continuing Education. Rita Torlan was the host of this show aimed at women that aired first on Thursday nights from 7:45pm to 8:00pm, then in the same slot on Fridays, between May 25 and November 29, 1968. Subjects she covered on such a brief show with a brief run were quite varied and the topics are very much of their time--
Body Painting, or How to Be a Success at Your Next Party
From Flirtatious Bikinis to Chic Chiffons
The Short and Long of Easy Summer Hairstyles
Grammar Your Tot's Tresses [not sure what that means...]
Learn to Make Paper Flowers
Zany Ideas for Children's Picnics
Picnic Ideas for Adults
Perky Patio Ideas
Thirst Quenchers I Have Known
Low-Cal Menus
Methods for Arranging Wild Flowers
Easy Makeup Application
Family Pet Care
From Trash to Treasures: Junk and Trunks and Curiosities
Kitchen Crafts: Brighten Up with Unique Decorative Touches
Découpage: The French Art of Paper Overlay
Sand Casting: Make Unique Wall Hangings and Sculptures at Home
Happy Birthday: Fancy Cakes to Gingerbread Houses
Fabric Design 1: Appliqué and Stitchery the Uncomplicated Way
Fabric Design 2: Block Printing and Fabric Collage
Football for Females: Pointers for the Lady Spectator
Coiffure Conscious
Physical Frescoes: Body Painting Fun
Creative Use of Dough and Breads, from decorated cookies to bread constructions
The episode documented in the photos above appears to be the one on découpage techniques, or may be the one on junk and trunks, since there's a trunk on the set. It's also likely she taped several shows at a time and her sets contained a mix of episode materials.
I would love to know how Ms. Torlan managed to get what would clearly be a lot of information on these topics into just a 15-minute show. Obviously, she managed it for nearly a year, and she had a prime-time slot on WGTV. This was not a morning show and didn't assume that women would only be watching at home in the daytime. Working women wanted some of these tips once they were off work and had time to watch.
If anyone knows what became of Rita Torlan, please let us know. I can find no further information on her or this short-lived program. As you know, women's places in television history are under documented, so I am putting the word out about this show. Sadly, no film or videotapes of this show appear to have survived in our archives. Hundreds of tv stations dumped their film or 2" videotapes into landfills in the 1970s as smaller videotape formats became ubiquitous and the stations wanted the shelf space. Lots of shows were either erased or dumped and so are not out in the world beyond stills or newspaper listings, often are the only way to document that some television shows existed.
Still images courtesy of Georgia Center Negatives Collection, Hargrett Library, UGA Special Collections. Show topic listings courtesy of the Atlanta Constitution and Atlanta Journal online databases of digitized newspapers.
