Lucille Ball and Marie Wilson Were Successful Pinups on TV
This next article from my 1953 CheeseCake Pinup Magazine stash is such a fun one. It’s packed with scantily clad pictures of Lucille Ball and Marie Wilson—with Marie posing as Irma, proudly billed as “the dumbest blonde on TV.” The layouts are classic cheesecake: playful poses, glamorous styling, and just enough skin to make you understand why these two were considered successful pinups as well as television stars.
Irma, from the My Friend Irma TV show, really takes center stage in this magazine. The article points out how her character’s risqué outfits and comedic innuendos pushed up against television’s strict Code at the time. Even with censors watching closely, Irma’s low-cut dresses, figure-hugging costumes, and wide-eyed double entendres kept slipping through, making her one of TV’s more daring “good girl” pinups. The magazine clearly has fun with that tension, celebrating how far the show could go while still technically playing by the rules.
Lucille Ball is featured as a different kind of pinup: the pretty woman with brains and wit behind the top ten–rated TV show I Love Lucy. The photos play up her beauty, but the article also nods to her sharp comedic timing and business savvy. Instead of just presenting her as another glamorous redhead, this 1953 pinup magazine treats Lucy as a full-fledged star—someone who can look amazing in a swimsuit or evening gown and also anchor one of the most popular shows on television. It’s a nice snapshot of how Lucille Ball balanced sex appeal, slapstick comedy, and genuine intelligence in early TV culture.
All of this appears in the context of a pinup history magazine from 1953, where television, film, and stage are all treated as natural extensions of the cheesecake tradition. This issue doesn’t just stop with Lucy and Marie; it also ties them into a longer line of musical comedy pinup stars. One related article is titled “The Florodora Girls & Other Musical Comedy Pinup Stars.” Its headline reads:
“Today’s musical comedy stars replace the Grecian bend of The Florodora Girls with abandon, and little else.”
From there, it name-drops famous women who stepped out of the anonymity of chorus lines into the spotlight: Eva Tanguay, Ann Held, Bebe Daniels, Ruby Keeler, Barbara Stanwyck, and Lucille Ball. That little list quietly places Lucy among earlier stage and screen darlings, showing how pinup-style glamour evolved from chorus girls to radio and film, and then finally into television households.
Another related piece in this same Cheesecake Pinup material is “To Man, Woman is Basically Funny – history of pinups in humor.” It traces sexual innuendo in media from hoopskirts to bathing suits, focusing on how women’s bodies have long been played for laughs and titillation at the same time. One of the first cartoons it mentions is from the 1860s, showing the wind blowing up a woman’s dress to reveal her hoopskirt underneath and (gasp) the scandalous sexiness of her ankles. That little moment of “oops!” humor from the 19th century sits in the same family tree as Lucy tripping over furniture or Irma misunderstanding every suggestive line—always walking the line between innocent comedy and flirty suggestion.
There’s also an article about how the term “cheesecake” pinup originated, which digs into the origins of the word, the first pinup model, and the first cheesecake photograph. It’s framed as a brief look at the history of American pinup, connecting the word “cheesecake” to the kind of images surrounding Lucille Ball and Marie Wilson in this very issue. So when you look at these TV stars posed in bathing suits or glamorous gowns, the magazine really wants you to see them as part of that rich cheesecake tradition—not just as actresses, but as modern heirs to decades of pinup imagery.
For me, that’s part of why this particular magazine feels so special. It doesn’t just showcase Lucille Ball and Marie Wilson in cute, revealing outfits; it places them in a broader story about stage girls, chorus lines, early cartoons, and the evolution of sly sexual humor in media. You can flip from a silly 1860s cartoon about a woman’s ankles, to early musical comedy stars like Eva Tanguay, all the way up to Irma’s risqué TV costumes and Lucy’s top-rated sitcom success. It’s a whole mini history lesson wrapped in glossy pinup photography.
On a more personal note, I’m extra happy I was able to photograph this magazine in detail. I’m pretty sure my friend ended up selling this original issue for a lot of money, so having these scans means the layouts, headlines, and cheeky captions aren’t lost to time. Now you can enjoy the pictures and articles from this 1953 pinup history magazine right along with me, instead of it just vanishing into someone’s private collection.
If you love vintage pinups, early television history, and old magazine scans, this is a great little time capsule: Lucille Ball as the beautiful brain behind I Love Lucy, Marie Wilson as Irma nudging at TV’s strict Code, and a whole supporting cast of chorus girls, musical comedy stars, and early cheesecake pioneers. It’s all here in one wonderfully over-the-top, slightly scandalous, and totally charming 1953 package
Enjoy the pictures and articles in this pinup history magazine from 1953. I think my friend ended up selling this magazine for alot of money, so I’m really glad that I got to photograph it in detail!
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