Make-up Museum

Doreen Bloch was reading through transcripts of telephone conversations between Jackie Kennedy, then first lady, and dermatologist Dr Erno Laszlo when she became confused. The conversation was almost unintelligible, with both Kennedy and Dr Laszlo using cryptic language, trailing off mid-sentence and making oblique references to unspecified “circumstances”. Unsure of what she had stumbled upon, Bloch consulted with presidential scholar Professor Barbara Perry from the University of Virginia and, after cross-checking dates and timelines, the reason for her secrecy and coded language dawned on them: the first lady was pregnant, but couldn't say it outright in case the phone was tapped. Armed with this context, the underlying conversation revealed itself – pregnancy hormones were making Kennedy's skin break out; it was changing every day, she told her dermatologist. He advised against…