Necessity is the Mother of Invention

[ELIZABETH]
Low sales, high rent
No sandalwood for scent
Well, pardon my dust
But Arden isn’t folding up her tent
Necessity is the mother of invention
I will think of new things to invent

No silk for bows
No nylon left for hose
American ingenuity can compensate for those
Necessity is the mother of invention
And in war, we must be on our toes

[HELENA]
Launch our new lines
New products made for war
Bold new designs
They’ve never seen before
For sea and then in the airfield
A working women’s corps
The ladies who bolt the rivets
On the airplane factory floor

[ELIZABETH]
Before I call it quits
I’ll give ‘em my two bits

[BOTH]
What more have I ever needed
Than the sharpness of my wits?

[HELENA]
America is in it

[ELIZABETH]
Let working women win it

[BOTH]
In makeup of the minute, women win
Necessity is the mother of invention
Let the fight of the century begin

[TOMMY, spoken]
Attention, all you brave gals pining at home or shipping overseas!
You’ve got a brand new ally and her name is Helena Rubenstien!

[HELENA]
All metal tubes and cases
For lipstick, rouge and bases
Are needed now for bullets for the war
New plastics I invented
Now lipsticks won’t get dented
Not even when you drop them on the floor

(spoken)
Right?!

[HARRY, spoken]
Miss Elizabeth Arden, patriot!

[ELIZABETH]
With nylon stockings rationed
I truly felt impassioned
And cleverly refashioned women’s hose
Draw seams with eyebrow pencil
And in between use stencil
New leg tan in a formula that flows
And once it dries it won’t discolor clothes

[HELENA & RUBINSTEIN GIRLS]
You’ll drone on there in Heaven Sent, a fragrance free of lead!

[ELIZABETH & ARDEN GIRLS]
A lipstick for your uniform called Montezuma Red!

[HELENA & RUBINSTEIN GIRLS]
Assembly lines use Rubinstein’s new bulletproof mascara!

[ELIZABETH & ARDEN GIRLS]
The rest use Arden’s combat packs traversing the Sahara

[ALL]
Through thick and thin
Manila to Berlin

[ELIZABETH & HELENA]
Are helping defend our country from the enemy within

[ARDEN GIRLS]
America will make it

[RUBINSTEIN GIRLS]
No enemy can break it

[ELIZABETH & HELENA]
With makeup made to take it on the chin

[ARDEN GIRLS, spoken]
Yes ma’am!

[ALL]
Necessity is the mother of invention
Brains and brawn (Brains and brawn)
Dusk to dawn (Dusk to dawn)
Women win!