History professor Catherine Carstairs presents "Look Younger, Live Longer: Health and Beauty Advice in the 1950s."

Gayelord Hauser has been all but forgotten today, but in the middle decades of the 20th century, he was one of the best-known writers on food, beauty and health in the United States and Europe. His book, Look Younger, Live Longer, first published in 1950, remained on the best-seller lists for almost two years and would eventually be translated into more than a dozen languages.

Hauser's popularity demonstrates that women were eager for advice on aging healthfully and happily at a time when American women could look forward to longer lifespans and greater affluence in their older years. It also shows that despite homophobia during the middle decades of the 20th century there was a market for beauty advice dispensed by a man who, even at the time, was recognized as gay.

Time: Noon to 1:15 p.m.

Location: MacKinnon, Room 132