Pictures of women in World War I and World War II. How early feminism and wars influenced women’s fashions.
How World War I and World War II influenced womens fashions
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CheeseCake Pinup Magazine 1953
Explore the fascinating world of 1950s pinup culture with CheeseCake Pinup Magazine – 1953, a historical treasure capturing the golden era of glamorous models, risqué advertising, and shifting societal norms. These detailed scans shed light on the evolution of pinup art, burlesque influences, and the cultural forces shaping beauty standards during the mid-20th century. Painstakingly scanned with a DSLR, these magazine pages offer a rare opportunity to witness how the pinup phenomenon unfolded in a pivotal moment in history — when this art form was at its peak.
These scans provide an invaluable window into the mid-century zeitgeist. The articles and images featured highlight how pinup culture influenced advertising, fashion, and entertainment in an era of transformation. Whether you’re a history enthusiast, a vintage fashion lover, or simply someone fascinated by cultural trends, this collection offers plenty to explore and admire.
Each page holds stories that span beyond the surface, celebrating the artistry and audacity of a bygone era. So, sit back, enjoy these scans, and revel in the beautiful complexity of history captured through the playful, provocative lens of the 1950s pinup craze. Vintage never goes out of style!
How Politics shaped womens fashions in the early 20th century
This is a very interesting article in the 1950s pinup magazine about the history of 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.
Women’s Fashion Trends in the first half of the 20th Century changed drastically
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”).
Marilyn Monroe’s appearance on the Jack Benny Show, and Ed Sullivan’s Toastettes
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!
Making fun of cheesecake Pinup
When Imogene Coca and Sid Caesar took aim at 1950s cheesecake pinup culture on their groundbreaking show Your Show of Shows, they created comedy gold that doubled as cultural commentary. Through hilarious sketches featuring Coca as Cleopatra, satirical beefcake parodies, and pointed jabs at ballet photography’s “legs as art” phenomenon, these comedy pioneers exposed the absurdity behind the glamour photography that dominated the era.
Explore how television’s most fearless comedians used satire to challenge beauty standards and gender norms in 1953, revealing the fascinating intersection between comedy, pinup culture, and social critique during television’s golden age.
Television reshaped the 1950s Pinup Phenomenon
“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”.
Bustlines and Derriers in Pinup History
From Jane Russell’s legendary bustline in The Outlaw to the 1950s fixation on the derrière, this article traces how pinup art has cycled through busts, legs, backs, and bottoms. Discover the origins of cheesecake pinups, the role of humor, and how early television reshaped our ideas of feminine allure.
The Production Code and Continued Evolution of Cheesecake Pinup
This is an interesting article on how the Motion Picture Production Code affected the evolution of cheesecake pinup, and changed the recipe.
To Man, Woman is Basically Funny – history of pinups in humor
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…
How the term cheesecake pinup originated
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.
CheeseCake – An American Phenomenon
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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