One of the most popular collectibles in the girlie, pin-up, glamour photo genre are black & white, glossy 4" x 5" photographs from the 1940s, '50s and '60s. Sold via ads in the backs of magazines, under-the-counter in candy stores, in adult bookstore in Times Square and. in many homes, available for a quick peek in our father's "sock" drawes, these images were part of the smut hidden away by the average guy, rarely seeing the light of day.
In the 1970s, when I became interested in these wonderful photographs, it was via very public local flea markets in lower Manhattan and at regional paper shows. Although I did have my sock drawer experience as a boy, I remained unaware of the amazing scope and abundance of this photo genre. Years of discovery and purchasing, eventually lead to my own drawer filled with hundreds of photographs.
Now, many years later and after eBay buyers pushed the prices of this material higher and higher, the collector's market for glossy 4" x 5" has all but disappeared. The economy and the efforts of unscrupulous dealers, selling fakes in the place of the "vintage, original" photographs they promised, has evaporated most buyer's interest. It has been a road well traveled: from magazine ads, to adult bookshops, to the sock drawer, to the flea markets and to the internet and on-line shopping. That said, no matter how the value or interest is gauged, a small fraction of these images still work their magic!
Todays' post flashes forward through my archives of these marvelous photos, posting a selection of some my favorite images and models. A random selection follows; model's are identified when known.
\
Shirley Kilpatrick
Donna "Busty" Brown
Jackie Miller
Terri Higgins
Brenda DeNaut on the left
Terri Barton
Bettie Page
_____
eBay store link at top of the page ...
where you will find selection of 4 x 5" photos For Sale!
vasta@earthlink.net
@vasta_archives
\
No comments:
Post a Comment