VASTA: pin-up

Showing posts with label pin-up. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

American Cheesecake: Photos 1940s~1960s

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

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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

Monday, January 5, 2015

FRENCH GIRLIE: Regal Magazine 1953 Nudes Strip Series

One of a large crop of digest size, Parisian girlie magazines appearing in the early 1950s, Regal conformed to the genre: seductive females posed nude and in lingerie usually emphasizing legs and derrieres. This particular issue had some very appealing models as well as creative uses of the camera and the darkroom: surreal double exposures and images montaged together. All together a wonderful small package of Parisienne charms.

click any image to enlarge

Strip-tease series

vasta@earthlink.net

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Bettie Page Originals 1950s Photographs + Magazines

Bettie Page needs no introduction and here she is holding her hair up on the covers of John Willie's Bizarre #14, and Hum #1 illustrated by Gene Bilbrew. A selection of original Bettie Page material is available for sale, email for details.

Two superb snapshots of Bettie, probably from a New York City Camera Club shoot SOLD

Professional photos of Bettie by various photographers unknown

Plus this wonderful curio found in Paris earlier this year. Needlepoint after an illustration by John Willie, the face and hair resembling Bettie's. Date??

Click fetish magazines

Click for the Vasta Images/Books eBay store

vasta@earthlink.net

Thursday, January 31, 2013

GERMAN POP CULTURE 1920s/'30s Das Magazin

Das Magazin a German publication, in its golden age in the 1920s and '30s, was a beautifully produced pop culture magazine filled with feature articles, photographs and illustrations. Leaning towards fashion, style and glamour the issues from this era are a window into what the average citizen in Weimar Germany might be reading prior to the rise of the third reich.