I was doing product photography for a friend, and couldn't help but take a few extra pictures of this pinup calendar from 1958. "Hilda" is a "generously endowed nymph who casts propriety and modesty aside and comfortably romps her way through the year". Each month has a drawing of Hilda, and advertising for Munger Linen ("'Coverage where coverage counts' When Hilda Rents Uniforms she calls Munger Linen").
These are photos from a box of Kodachrome slides labeled “Jan 7 61”. I imagine that...
Pictures speak louder than words. In these last pages are images of World War I fighter planes in combat, famous air fighters, pictures of recuperating soldiers, descriptions and photos of hospital train cars, and, finally, a timeline of major events in World War I that happened between 1914 and 1917. These last pages also include a copy of Woodrow Wilson's speech, recommending that America declare war on Germany.
Pinups thru out history have been used to sell everything from cosmetics to real estate. Sometimes, they had their origins in the scandalous worlds of peepshows and erotica. The scandalous Gilda Grey, famous for popularizing The Shimmy with her signature song The Shimmy Shewabble, helped sell a reducing cream in 1923. In 1925 she did the shimmy after a meeting to interest buyers in buying Coral Gables properties in Florida. The Shimmy, for which Gilda Grey was famous for, reportedly could be danced properly only with great difficulty and was considered primarily an exhibition dance. Similarly, the Cat Dance by Lilly Christine, had its origins in the realms of peepshows, but she crossed over into mainstream pinup model popularity and helped sell products.
I love these cute pictures of children and babies, from the 1930s! It looks like they turned one of the infants pictures into a post card, and I've scanned the front and back of it. I'm finished scanning this album... and not sure if I want to scan another Modern Priscilla issue, or the 1922 St. Louis Fashion Pageant magazine... Thoughts?
These fashion illustrations show what women wore in 1913, and what was in style. Apparently, embroideries were the rule, and placed where there was the smallest excuse for them. This illustration shows three fashionable early 1900s women and a little girl. On the right side is an advertisement for a Venus adjustable dress form. The text includes detailed descriptions and how to order the dress patterns to make the fashions the models illustrated are wearing.
I was doing product photography for a friend, and couldn't help but take a few extra pictures of this pinup calendar from 1958. "Hilda" is a "generously endowed nymph who casts propriety and modesty aside and comfortably romps her way through the year". Each month has a drawing of Hilda, and advertising for Munger Linen ("'Coverage where coverage counts' When Hilda Rents Uniforms she calls Munger Linen").
I am so excited to get The Language of Fashion by Mary Brooks Picken (1938 edition) as an early Christmas present! I am even more thrilled by my friend's thoughtfulness. Even more excited that this book's copyright has apparently expired (according to my search on the U.S. government copyright site).... so I can scan the pages!
Here are the rest of the 1800s cabinet cards I digitized for the Carondelet Historical Society. I really like the young lady wearing a hat, as shot by Polensky of Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. That photo, of any, gives me some ideas on historical re-creation. The background is so cool, and could probably be made into a photoshop texture or something!
I imagine this 1940s couple getting this car as a gift, or the husband giving it to his wife before he leaves back to fighting overseas. She looks so proud and you can see them posed together, with him in his military uniform. What cute WWII-era Kodachrome slides!
Here's a 1920s article on gifts to give at Christmas. Because it's from a fashion magazine, ofcourse the gifts are all wearable. Flapper hats and purses and accessories. A friend of mine scanned these pages from his personal collection, or had them scanned, and then died. I'm sorry.
My inspiration and start for reinventing VintageReveries. See the video of my current setup, investments I made, thoughts about mistakes, and more. My next entries will be about re-implementing ecommerce on this site and my experiences selling on different platforms.
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Pictures of women in World War I and World War II. How early feminism and wars influenced women’s fashions.
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THIS is a very interesting article about how politics and politicians shaped women’s fashions during the first half of the 20th century. The early feminist movement asked for many changes, among them suffrage, easy divorce, property laws, and equal education. This resulted in a fashion trends that were mannish, including the no-curves, flat chested, flapper girl of the 1920s. This article goes on to call Victoria Claflin Woodhull a “political freak” (who ran for presidency in 1872), and pacifist Jeanette Rankin whose only winning two terms in congress corresponded with declarations of war (1917 and 1941). The caption under Woodhull says that she ran on a free love ticket.
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Women’s changing fashions and shapes thru the 1900s! This first page quotes a skit about womens’ changing fashions from 1903-1953 written by Lois Long of the New Yorker and performed on “The American Road” by Mary Martin. Following that are production stills of Miss Martin performing her skit in various outfits representing the major fashion trends of the first half of the 20th century. Doesn’t it seem like every era declares itsself the one of the “emancipated clear eyed career girl”?
Then… and article about women in television commercials and television advertising (“bringing glamor to household appliances”).
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Here’s a scan from CheeseCake – An American Phenomenon. It’s a spread with Ed Sullivan’s Toastettes and film snaps of Marilyn Monroe’s appearance on the Jack Benny show. “It was wonderful,” said MM, “You know, Mr. Benny at 39 has all the charm and poise of an older man.” When Marilyn Monroe agreed to be on the Jack Benny Show, finally television had come of age and could compete with the movies. Cheesecake Pinups on the new medium of television!
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This next article includes plenty of scantily clad pictures of Lucille Ball and Marie Wilson (as Irma, the dumbest blonde on TV). Irma in the “My Friend Irma” show, especially, is mentioned as stretching television’s strict Code with risque outfits and comedic innuendos. Lucille Ball is mentioned as being the pretty woman with brains and wit behind the top ten rated show “I Love Lucy”.
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Here’s an article about how rubbery faced Imogene Coca and Sid Caesar have “given viewers a steady diet of broad, yet biting, satire and made them like it. Among their targets have been male, as well as female, cheesecake…”
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“The Bust Line May be Best Line in TV”. This article explores how television was currently reshaping the Pinup phenomenon, remarking on Faye Emerson’s low cut gowns in the late 40s, but then turning again away from excess by raising bustlines and hemlines (referencing the Breen office’s revision in 1951, that apparently included a ban against showing intimate apparel on a moving figure). However, these restrictions had the result of making the female form more enticing, “A whisper echoes more than a shout”.
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“It’s the inevitable cycle…. in 1910 it was the bust, and cleavage went down to the limit. In the 1920s the sex emphasis was on the legs. In the 1930s it veered to the back and posterior. In the 1940s it concentrated on the bust again. And now we are back to the bottom.”
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This is an interesting article on how the Motion Picture Production Code affected the evolution of cheesecake pinup, and changed the recipe.
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hoopskirts to bathing suits, this Cheesecake Pinup magazine takes a look at the history of sexual innuendo in humor and media.
One of the first cartoons is from the 1860s, showing the wind blowing up a dress to reveal the hoopskirt underneath and (gasp) the sexyness of the woman’s ankels! Then came the peepshows in the Kinetoscopes of the 1890s (as examples are The Bedroom Farce, and a womens’ wrestling). Then, the late 1890s cinema came along, and in the early 1900s, Hollywood and the Keystone comedies and the scantily clad “big names wearing too little” and sensual Femme Fatale Movie Stars of the 1920s…
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How did the term “cheesecake” pinup originate? Origins of cheesecake, and the first pinup model and cheesecake photograph. An article about the history of American pinup.
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This was the most amazing 1950s magazine to photograph! Is this Marilyn Monroe on the cover? I wish I could have bought this vintage pinup magazine for myself! It’s dated 1953.
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These “French Look Bust Wires” were interesting to shoot… not because of the wires themselves, but the instructions for fitting any bra or garment to make a “French Look” of the quintessential cone shaped bust shape of the 1950s. It promises support and uplifting, and the instructions are illustrated with 3 easy steps.
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I find this fashion dictionary’s timeline of silhouettes thru the ages to be interesting, because people in certain eras interpret describe history differently than at other times. History is subjective, to a degree, if only because of the process of curating and deciding what to include or exclude in a synopsis. It’s interesting to see what a fashion expert writing this dictionary thought was important, and the descriptions they used, as compared to more modern historical perspectives.
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My scanning got interrupted today. Here are just 3 pages defining such things as robe d’intrenieur (a hostess gown), ruche, rumba costume, saque (and the 1930s sack garment), different types of sashes, ending with defining the various types of satin.
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As I’m recovering from my wonderful New Years celebrations last night… I’m posting 18 more scans from the 1938 fashion dictionary, The Language of Fashion. These pages cover nets (continued) to Robe de Style, with several informative pages between, including a lengthy and informative page about Rayon. Did you know that (in 1938) there are four different processes for making Rayon …
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Defining and illustrating various types of necklines. How useful to describing and selling vintage clothing online, as well as when buying it!
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Here are more scanned pages from The Language of Fashion dictionary. Of most interest, to me atleast, was the illustrated and defined types of heels. In 1938, it looks like what I think of as a “stiletto” was called a Spanish Heel.
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