1860s

Totally steampunk looking Civil War era photo album (#2)

Here are exterior scans of an embossed leather Civil War era photo album that had metal clasps and gold accents. It was such a decadent, old, feeling to hold this and go thru the pictures long forgotten strangers that were inside.

The American Photograph Album with civil war photos inside: cover, sides, etc.

I had just 3 days to scan two Civil War era photo albums! Here are the front, back, and sides. I’m officially kicking off the digital downloads section of my shop with these high res scans. Inside were dozens of pictures of women, children, and Confederate soldiers… but that’ll be my next post!

The evolution of chorus girls and showing skin on stage

These next few pages of old pictures are a history of chorus girls and showing skin on stage, from Can Can girls, to to Mae West, to the Zigfield Follies, and the Rockettes.

Pretty Girls Sold Tobacco – tobacco advertisements used pinups

Here is an interesting history of tobacco advertisements using pretty women and pinups as bait, and to gain broader social acceptance of smoking cigarettes! To explain changes in tobacco advertising, you have to take a historical perspective, which this article explains best. Briefly the history of tobacco ads (according to this 1953 article):

History of Lingerie advertisements from the 1800s to the 1950s

Here are shown some lingerie and shapewear ads from the 1800s-1950s. The chemise replaced the corset cover by 1918, although shape wear was still worn in the 1920s to achieve that stylish “boyish” form. The inflatable bra of the 1950s replaced the “Victoria” bosom pad of 1879… such changes in lingerie styles and advertisements!

Civil War Pocket Photos

Civil War Pocket Photos

Here are two Civil War era photos that came in small embossed leather covered wooden cases. They look like the size that could easily fit in your pocket, and one has glass on the cover, to show the woman’s portrait thru it. The interior is velvet and elaborately floral embossed metal. I wonder who these people were?

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Pretty Girls Sold Tobacco – tobacco advertisements used pinups

Pretty Girls Sold Tobacco – tobacco advertisements used pinups

This entry is part 16 of 32 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

Here is an interesting history of tobacco advertisements using pretty women and pinups as bait, and to gain broader social acceptance of smoking cigarettes! To explain changes in tobacco advertising, you have to take a historical perspective, which this article explains best. Briefly the history of tobacco ads (according to this 1953 article):

read more
History of Lingerie advertisements from the 1800s to the 1950s

History of Lingerie advertisements from the 1800s to the 1950s

This entry is part 19 of 32 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

Here are shown some lingerie and shapewear ads from the 1800s-1950s. The chemise replaced the corset cover by 1918, although shape wear was still worn in the 1920s to achieve that stylish “boyish” form. The inflatable bra of the 1950s replaced the “Victoria” bosom pad of 1879… such changes in lingerie styles and advertisements!

read more
To Man, Woman is Basically Funny – history of pinups in  humor

To Man, Woman is Basically Funny – history of pinups in humor

This entry is part 6 of 32 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

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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