CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953 Archives - VintageReveries

CheeseCake – An American Phenomenon

Posted by Jessica Murray | Mar 3, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 1 of 32 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.

The future of the pinup model

Posted by Jessica Murray | Sep 16, 2019 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 2 of 32 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

Where was modeling going in the 1950s, and what would future fashion trends hold? The main point of this article seemed to point out the sheer diversity of pinup models and beautiful women. An interesting picture was one of Rita Hayworth without makeup, and then made up. One of her movies, “An Affair in Trinidad”, was chosen by the National Photographers Association as “the sexiest and most provocative motion picture still ever made”.

History of Women’s Swimwear and Sports Fashions

Posted by Jessica Murray | Sep 10, 2019 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 3 of 32 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

Posted by Jessica Murray | Sep 12, 2019 | Featured, Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 4 of 32 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

Posted by Jessica Murray | Sep 8, 2019 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 5 of 32 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.

History of the Covergirl pinup model

Posted by Jessica Murray | Sep 14, 2019 | Featured, Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

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

By the early 1950s, beauty and publicity had become almost ridiculous, as evidenced by the crowning of Potato Queens (Marilyn Monroe), National Soybean Queen (and Miss Missouri), Sourkraut Queen, Queen Pickle.

The evolution of chorus girls and showing skin on stage

Posted by Jessica Murray | Aug 23, 2019 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 7 of 32 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.

A brief history of Women in Sports

Posted by Jessica Murray | Sep 6, 2019 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 8 of 32 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

This first article about the history of women in sports seems to claim that women are 2 inches taller (in 1953) than they were in 1850 because they’re free to exercise and play sports!

Pretty Girls Sold Tobacco – old cigarette and tobacco ads

Posted by Jessica Murray | Aug 17, 2019 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 9 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):

Dancing, Singing, NightClubs, and 1950s Stripper Stars

Posted by Jessica Murray | Sep 4, 2019 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 10 of 32 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

Wow. What a cool series of pinup and burlesque star history!

I’m not sure if there’s much of a point to the words in these pages, but the pictures show the history of fashion and burlesque with pictures including

Pinups on billboards, book covers, and record covers.

Posted by Jessica Murray | Aug 19, 2019 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 11 of 32 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

Posted by Jessica Murray | Aug 13, 2019 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 12 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!

How to sell shirts and bed sheets with Cheesecake Pinups

Posted by Jessica Murray | Aug 15, 2019 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 13 of 32 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

Posted by Jessica Murray | Jun 26, 2019 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 14 of 32 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

Posted by Jessica Murray | Apr 11, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 15 of 32 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

Posted by Jessica Murray | Apr 7, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 16 of 32 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

Posted by Jessica Murray | Jun 22, 2019 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 17 of 32 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

Posted by Jessica Murray | Mar 27, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 18 of 32 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

Posted by Jessica Murray | Mar 30, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 19 of 32 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

Posted by Jessica Murray | Mar 28, 2021 | Featured, Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 20 of 32 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

Posted by Jessica Murray | Apr 15, 2021 | Featured, Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 21 of 32 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

Posted by Jessica Murray | Mar 19, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 22 of 32 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

Posted by Jessica Murray | Mar 13, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 23 of 32 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

Posted by Jessica Murray | Mar 5, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 24 of 32 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

Posted by Jessica Murray | Mar 15, 2021 | Old Magazine Scans | 0 |

This entry is part 25 of 32 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…”