During the Great War breathtakingly kissable Gaby Deslys (the voluptuous French singer, danseuse and film star) used her celebrity lips to recruit soldiers.
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One hundred years ago this week "Clio" of Melbourne's Punch told the story of how a "swindler" had deceived the puckering star.
"Gaby Deslys, the renowned and beautiful artiste, continues to keep London interested in her frivolities even during this time of tragic doings.
"Her latest 'turn' has been proving of immense value to the nation, though; she is assisting at recruiting meetings, the draw being a promise on the part of Gaby to kiss every man who comes forward as a recruit.
"At a recent crowded recruiting meeting in London one man was accused by his comrades of being a swindler. On health grounds he had already been rejected 10 times, and said that he knew that there was not a doctor in the country who would pass him. But this was a chance which he absolutely could not miss, he exclaimed, as he presented himself for the 11th time and received the proffered reward."
Gaby Deslys' celebrity lips that dispassionately kissed common soldiers were more regularly employed in kissing her blue-blooded admirers, the most famous of them King Manuel II of Portugal.
In 1915 Gaby Deslys (her name was an abbreviation of Gabrielle of the Lilies) was at the height of her worldwide popularity. Alas she contracted the rampaging "Spanish" influenza and died in 1920 at the age of 38.
