CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953 Archives - VintageReveries

CheeseCake – An American Phenomenon

Mar 3, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 1 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

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.

History of Women’s Swimwear and Sports Fashions

Sep 26, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 3 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

This article claims that Annette Kellerman was groundbreaking in making more practical swimwear acceptable… and did you know that shorts for women were invented in the 1930s?

History of Beauty Contests and the Ideal Female Measurements of the 1950s

Sep 30, 2021 | Featured, Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 4 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

Did you know that the first Miss America was 5 foot 1, weighed 108lbs, had a 30 inch bust, 25 inch waist, 32 inch hips and brown hair with blue eyes? In comparison, Evelyn Ay, the 1954 winner, measured: 5’8, 132lbs, 37-24-36. Here is a chart and a picture to demonstrate the perfect female form of the 1950s, as decided by Vincent Trotta, a Miss Universe judge. He claimed that it was proportion, so a woman could be taller or shorter, just proportional.

A brief history of women in sports, part II

Sep 22, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 5 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

The article covers women’s baseball with interesting pictures showing women’s baseball teams from World War I and the 1950s (including pictures of Ruth Engle and Doris Sams), and also pictures of figure skaters and golfers to contrast fashion trends of the first part of the 20th century.

The evolution of chorus girls and showing skin on stage

Aug 17, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 7 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

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 – old cigarette and tobacco ads

Aug 9, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 9 of 28 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):

Pinups on billboards, book covers, and record covers.

Aug 13, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 11 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

Here’s an interesting history of pinups in advertising! Showing pictures of billboards from the 1800s-1950s, with a focus on pretty girls in beer advertisements.

The next page shows samples of pretty women used to advertise books and, the latest thing, record album covers. Even classical music “moves off the shelves” faster when an attractive woman is pictured on it!

Lingerie advertisements from the 1800s to the 1950s

Aug 1, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 12 of 28 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!

How to sell shirts and bed sheets with Cheesecake Pinups

Aug 5, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 13 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

Here is illustrated how two marketing companies used cheesecake pinup, double entendre, and sexual innuendo to sell mens shirts and bed sheets.

Corset and shapewear advertising history

May 25, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 14 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

Advertising to women, by attractive women! Here are some shapewear and corset ads, with a historical perspective. Gilda Grey and “other famous actresses” endorsing a fat reducing cream in 1923. Gypsy Rose Lee endorsing an electric shaver. Warner Brother’s Coraline Corsets of the 1880s(the corset alone was enough to sell it), versus the more straight fronted corseted shape of 1900 (this advertisement with pretty women) in an ad for Armorside Corsets. Finally, an ad for the “modern” 1950s girdle with stockings and garters which flattened both front and bottom, and could be best illustrated in a photograph.

The Florodora Girls & Other Musical Comedy Stars

Apr 11, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 15 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

“Today’s musical comedy stars replace the Grecian bend of The Florodora Girls with abandon, and little else” reads the headline. It mentioned the famous gals who have come from the anonymity of chorus lines, including: Eva Tanguay, Ann Held, Bebe Daniels, Ruby Keeler, Barbara Stanwyck, and Lucille Ball.

Movie Vamps Have Been Pinups

Apr 7, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 16 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

This article discusses how Hollywood press agents can create a national pinup sensation thru posting daringly sensual photos in select magazines. As examples, they point out Theda Bara in the first part of the 20th century, and the “modern” sensation Roberta Haynes.

Marilyn Monroe – the All American Pinup, and more advertising history

May 17, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 17 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

Enjoy these pinup pictures of Marilyn Monroe, declared “The All American Pinup” by the 1953 issue of Cheesecake – An American Phenomenon. Jane Russell said that “Marilyn is the most female girl I know”, and her only flaws were “a slight thickness behind the knees”.

The next page declares that “American business will spend close to $1,000,000,000 in advertising alone. At least one out of every three advertisements will feature a girl, who is bound to be pretty, shapely, and appealing.

Pinup Gals of World War I and World War II: Mary Pickford and Betty Grable

Mar 27, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 18 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

In World War I, Mary Pickford became the favorite pinup of soldiers when she dressed in uniform and toured the nation selling Liberty Bonds. In World War II, “demand for it [pictures of Betty Grable”] ran as high as 20,000 per week…”. “Able Grable”‘s legs appear in Army topographic maps designed to teach recruits how to hit their mark.

Art Studies 100 Years Ago Were as Daring as Today’s

Mar 30, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 19 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

Wow. What an interesting 1950s perspective on the history of nude photography! The accompanying pictures include 3 “unusual photos taken about 80 years ago” (i.e., sexy pictures from c. 1870). The full color photo is a realistic modern figure study by Jules Alexander, of a nude woman posed next to an electric fruit slicer.

History of the influence of burlesque on pinup

Mar 28, 2021 | Featured, Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 20 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

Burlesque has provided men with a variety of entertaining pinups. Notably, Ida Bayton’s white violin act in “The Taxi Girls” in 1914, and Lili St. Cyr’s bubble bath striptease that helped land her in 3D movies.

Pinups in Action Can Draw Clients As Well As Patrons

Apr 15, 2021 | Featured, Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 21 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

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.

Marilyn Monroe’s appearance on the Jack Benny Show, and Ed Sullivan’s Toastettes

Mar 19, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 22 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

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!

Pinups on Television and the Production Code Restrictions

Mar 13, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 23 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

“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”.

How the term cheesecake pinup originated

Mar 5, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 24 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

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.

Making fun of cheesecake

Mar 15, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 25 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

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…”

Bustlines and Derriers in Pinup History

Mar 11, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 26 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

“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.”

To Man, Woman is Basically Funny – history of pinup humor

Mar 7, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 27 of 28 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…

Lucille Ball and Marie Wilson as Successful Pinups on TV

Mar 17, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 28 of 28 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

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”.