Miss Valerie Axtell, Debutante 1941

This ad, featuring Valerie Axtell, appeared in the September 20, 1941 edition of The Saturday Evening Post. The 1945 Axtell Genealogy notes that Philip Phillips Axtell (9-351) "married at Nashville, Tenn. in 1912, Valery Trudeau, daughter of Valery Trudeau and his wife, Josephine Maxwell, of Maxwell House fame. Philip was employed in a Publishing House in Nashville." Philip's father, James Wycliffe Axtell (8-304), published the National Stockman and Farmer in Pittsburgh, PA. James Wycliffe Axtell moved to Nashville about 1900 and became manager of the Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House. Very few Axtells moved south of the Mason-Dixon line, but it's encouraging to note that Axtells could adapt readily to the Southern lifestyle.

Note that "Valéry" is a man's name in French. His daughter was more probably "Valérie". The "Valerie" below may have been Philip's and Valérie's  daughter, but the 1945 Genealogy is unclear. It says that the couple had a daughter named "Valine Axtell Trudeau" Axtell. I'm guessing that this was some kind of transcription error. The 1962 Supplement has nothing more. Any clues out there?

This ad exudes elegance. I feel a bit guilty that I drink Maxwell House coffee only because it's really cheap in those big cans. Then again, a few months after this ad appeared, coffee would become a luxury and people would be drinking that horrible wheat-based "Postem" stuff.

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