Throwback Thursday: The Cosmetics Queen

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Welcome to Throwback Thursday, a weekly photo feature in which we sift 116 years of Forward history to find snapshots of women’s lives.
Khaye Rubinstein, founder of the eponymous and enormously successful cosmetics firm Helena Rubinstein Inc. was born on December 25, 1870, in Krakow Poland, the eldest of eight daughters. She briefly dabbled in medicine before immigrating to Australia, where her milky complexion and sense of style was noted by local women.
That, in turn, led to her first selling off her personal stash of beauty cream brought from home, and eventually to creating her own brand. By her death in 1965 Rubinstein, who stood 4 foot 10 inches, had created a vast enterprise and was considered the first self-made female multimillionaire.
Photo credit Forward Association
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
- Alyssa Katz, Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
