Monday, April 2, 2012

These adult Pinups shocked the 50s and 60s crowd

 

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Rare pictures of pinup queen Bettie Page accused of inciting juvenile delinquency in the 1950s

Decades after they were hidden away when Washington politicians blamed them for corrupting a nation's youth, rare photographs of 50s pinup queen Bettie Page are finally being released for auction.

Page, who maintains a cult following decades after she stopped posing, is still considered a powerful influence on pop icons from Madonna to Katy Perry due to her iconic bangs and appearance in images that celebrated bondage.

While relatively tame by today's standards, McCarthy-era politicians thought the images were contributing to juvenile delinquency and a senate subcommittee investigation into the subject summoned her but never asked her to testify.

Photographer Irving Klaw, credited with creating fetish pinups, was so afraid of repercussions after being called to testify at the hearing that he destroyed roughly 80 per cent of the prints and negatives featuring Page and closed his business.

Luckily Klaw's sister, Paula, hid some away, which are now being offered at auction by Guernsey along with the couple's massive Movie Star News Collection of images of screen icons like Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe, the Daily News reports.

Page retired from modeling, and in later life became a born-again Christian even working for the Rev. Billy Graham at one point. Retreating from the spotlight, in a rare interview in 1993 she was shocked to discover the images were still popular and described herself as 'penniless.'

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A collection of Bettie Page memorabilia will be auctioned off as part of a Movie Star News Collection sale

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Though tame by today's standards, shots of Page from the 50s were thought to cause juvenile delinquency

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Though long retreated from the public eye, Page gets new fans every year and has even had a film made about her life

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Many of the prints for sale have been hidden away for decades

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Fearing legal action, photographer Irving Klaw destroyed most of his prints and negatives of Bettie Page decades ago

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Photographer Klaw and sister Paula were even summoned to Congressional hearings over Page's racy pics

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The Klaws had one of the world¿s largest collections of Hollywood photography in their Movie Star News shop

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In later life, Page became a born-again Christian and even worked for the Rev. Billy Graham

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In a rare interview, the reclusive Page said in 1993 that she had no idea her pictures were still popular and that she was 'penniless and infamous'

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Page later reflected on her career saying she never thought the images were shameful and she felt very natural posing

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Media critics note that many of today's pop culture stars are still influenced by Page's famous look and attitude

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Page's headstone remembers her as 'Queen of Pin-Ups'

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An icon, some consider Page the first pin-up model in history

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Page wasn't just a pioneer as a pin-up, but for being one of the first models associated with kinkier fare

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In 2005 a film was made about Page's life

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Page saw her bondage work as innocent fun

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Even today comic books and fan art about Betty Page are circulated among pin-up enthusiasts

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Page's famous bangs have been impersonated by women for years

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Videos of Page's burlesque dancing still sell

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Page even appeared in iconic Playboy pictorials

These adult movie posters shocked in the 50s and 60s... But in the light of today's disturbing trend for sexting, over-exposure and limitless online porn they seem tame

  • X-rated collection dates from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s
  • Release comes in wake of 'sexting' and online porn scandals
  • Comes as Government advise parents to keep a closer eye on their children's internet and phone use

From sizzling seniors to naughty farmers' daughters, this collection of blue movie posters from a bygone era may have been shocking once.

But now, presented in the context of today's sex-fuelled society, they seem to hark back to an almost innocent age.

While the posters would have been considered risque in the 50s, 60s and 70s when they were released, now, with their cheeky illustrations and (mostly) clothed subjects, they seem almost innocent to modern viewers - saucy and suggestive instead of downright hardcore.

And unlike modern porn films with their emphasis on degradation, violence and fake breasts, these X-rated posters seem more interested in presenting entertainingly naff puns.

Naughty, naughty: Many of the films have entertaining straplines - in this case 'They call them

Naughty, naughty: Many of the films have entertaining straplines - in this case 'They call them "freshmen" but they're 100% WOMEN!'

Ooh Missus! Farmer's daughters and saucy seniors proved popular with 60's and 70's viewers

Ooh Missus! Farmer's daughters and saucy seniors proved popular with 60's and 70's viewers

Ooh Missus! Farmer's daughters and saucy seniors proved popular with 60's and 70's viewers

Could this be the world's first 3-D porn flick? Love in 3-D was a popular hit in the 1970s

Could this be the world's first 3-D porn flick? Love in 3-D was a popular hit in the 1970s

From 'Lure of the Triangle' (strapline: 'Loose lips sink ships') to 'Farmer's Daughters' and its 'Cock-a-doodle-doo' tag, the vintage posters are guaranteed to raise a smile, although possibly not for the reason they intended. Others speak volumes about the mores of the era, with saucy Frenchwomen and sporty girls topping the hot list for most viewers.

Another nods to the feminist movement, which was in its heyday during the 70s, although the tongue-in-cheek poster doesn't appear to be particularly supportive thanks to its title ('Female Chauvinists') and off-colour image of a placard-wielding Amazonian stamping on a man.

Funnier is '9 Ages of Nudity', which boasts a title that Fifty Shades Of Grey author E.L James would have been proud to write.

While not particularly politically correct, the posters do highlight how attitudes to porn and nudity have changed over the last four decades.

Where 1970s blue movies appear to focus on au naturel women, albeit with a naughty streak, today's porn films are packed with pneumatic, Brazilian-waxed blondes.

Instead of a roll in the hay, today's more violent porn films are just as likely to feature forced sex in a back alley - all of which has had a chilling effect on youngsters.

Odd Mod: The concept of the Swinging Sixties is taken literally in this strange offering from America

Odd Mod: The concept of the Swinging Sixties is taken literally in this strange offering from America

Vien ici Mademoiselle... According to 70's film makers, French women are more than a little naughty

Lost Souls: A prison-based fantasy tale

Vien ici Mademoiselle... According to 70's film makers, French women are more than a little naughty. RIGHT: A classic prison-based fantasy tale

Sporty girls: Whether wrestlers, hockey players or athletes, men love a girl with ball skills

Sporty girls: Whether wrestlers, hockey players or athletes, men love a girl with ball skills

Sporty girls: Whether wrestlers, hockey players or athletes, men love  a girl with ball skills

Marital harmony? Even in a porn poster, 70's directors had a healthy regard for marriage

Marital harmony? Even in a porn poster, 70's directors had a healthy regard for marriage

As a result of our increasingly sexualised culture, the Government has been forced to introduce measures to curb the spread of internet porn, while yesterday, the Government's adviser on childhood told newspapers that parents should monitor their child's communications to prevent them from becoming sexually active too soon.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, MP and mother of three Claire Perry, said it was 'bizarre' to feel we cannot check our own children's phones and internet usage, adding that society as a whole is 'complicit' in making it possible for children to have inappropriate contact with strangers at any time of day.

Daily Mail columnist Rachel Johnson has also written about how our porn-centric culture made a fellow partygoer feel that taking a photo of her breasts and 'sexting' it to others was acceptable behaviour.

Fellow Daily Mail columnis Shona Sibary recently told how her daughter was 'slut shamed' and bullied simply for wearing hotpants to a party.

So while not everyone will enjoy the sight of 'sizzling seniors', many will agree that more than anything, these posters indicate just how far sex and its portrayal in British society has changed over the past six decades.  

Tame: It might be one of the less risque posters on offer, but it's safe to say the title doesn't refer to a convivial round of drinks

Tame: It might be one of the less risque posters on offer, but it's safe to say the title doesn't refer to a convivial round of drinks

What will Tarzan say? 'Trader Hornee' takes to the jungle for a 'convivial consummation in color'

What will Tarzan say? 'Trader Hornee' takes to the jungle for a 'convivial consummation in color'

Porn puns: Long before 50 Shades cornered the risque puns market, there was 9 Ages of Nakedness and The Lure of the Triangle

Porn puns: Long before 50 Shades cornered the risque puns market, there was 9 Ages of Nakedness and The Lure of the Triangle

Porn puns: Long before 50 Shades cornered the risque puns market, there was 9 Ages of Nakedness and The Lure of the Triangle

No under 18s! In the 1970s, keeping children away from porn was a matter of great importance - even for X-rated movie makers

No under 18s! In the 1970s, keeping children away from porn was a matter of great importance - even for X-rated movie makers

Er, that's not Flash Dance! A porn spoof of the iconic 80s film, complete with dodgy perm hairdo

Er, that's not Flash Dance! A porn spoof of the iconic 80s film, complete with dodgy perm hairdo

Is this feminist porn? Unfortunately for womens' libbers, this appears to be mocking rather than supportive

Is this feminist porn? Unfortunately for women's libbers, this appears to be mocking rather than supportive

Whisper Vol. 3 No. 7 May 1950 Cover

Whisper Magazine (at least this issues) was part scandal rag, part girlie mag, part detective mag, and would have well earned the designation of "Trash" by those with the high moral standing sufficient to judge such matters. The "Legion of Violent Lovers" story alluded to on the cover is basically about French Legionaires abusing the local women of North Africa. (sample photo caption: "A Legionaire eyes a young native girl. Few are pretty but long absence from women dulls men's judgment")

Here is an excerpt from the story itself: "A favorite sport of the desert fighters, for example, is to see what's hiding under the veils of Moroccan women. This sport has drawbacks since nine out of ten times lifting a veil will reveal a face ugly as sin, often covered with syphilitic sores. But the other one time -- Voila! One might find a real Oriental beauty, a sloe-eyed, full-lipped, olive-skinned lady of the langorous East; or a lovely half-caste from a desert tribe."

Other features include the story on the insects that will rule the world, and a
surprisingly graphic step by step photo essay of the execution by hanging of a man who "earned his death sentence during the robbery of a hen coop. I'm not going to scan that, but let's just say it had all the finesse of the Saddam Hussein execution.

Peter Driben's lovely cover illustration gives the whole production a little class and style.

All in all, as shocking today as it was back in 1950.

1950's bedroom pinup on phone

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