A collection of TSY’s favorite vintage pinup beauties in awkward Thanksgiving shots, because WTF really wants to watch that parade on TV one more time…
Marilyn Monroe as vixen pilgrim, circa 1950
Tag Archives: pin-up
THE TOWERING 5’10” BEAUTY IRISH MCCALLA | 1950s QUEEN OF THE (PINUPS AND) JUNGLE
Irish McCalla, the towering beauty who posed for Vargas, and then found fame as “Sheena, Queen of the Jungle” was tough to measure-up against. She grew up humbly, forever the athletic tomboy, and even did her own vine-swinging and tree-climbing with her pet chimp, Chim, on “Sheena” until the day she misjudged a vine swing and crashed into it tree, smashing her knee. After that, the producers did the only thing they could do (due to her size), they hired male stunt men, and dressed them in leopard skins and blond wigs.
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5’10” beauty, Irish McCalla, posing for famed Peruvian pinup artist Alberto Vargas. Since she was born on Christmas Day, McCalla posed nude for the December page in a Vargas calendar. McCalla’s attention-getting measurements were reported as 39-24-38 in her heyday.
BETTIE PAGE AND BUNNY YEAGER | LEGENDARY QUEENS OF PIN-UP
(Lt.) Photographer Bunny Yeager & Bettie Page (Rt.) 5′ 10″ Bunny Yeager in her modeling days
The pairing of pinup Bettie Page and shutterbug Bunnie Yeager was a deadly one-two punch combining beauty and brains. It was Bettie Page’s trademark black baby bangs, blue eyes, and red lips that are seared on our mind’s eye– but Yeager deserves a lot of credit for the photographic talent behind many of Page’s most memorable shots. Together they undoubtedly created some of the most iconic, influential, and titillating pin-up images ever that paved the way for the countless female models, actresses, artists and performers that would follow.
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Photographer Bunny Yeager
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Bunny Yeager
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Bunny herself knew from an early age that her life’s desire was to be a model, and set out by studying the “come hither” poses of classic painted pin-up art, and snipping pictures of sexy screen sirens Betty Grable, Jane Russell, Rita Hayworth, etc., that were hoarded away in her growing collection of scrapbooks. Right after high school Bunny Yeager made it official. “I took a modeling course from an agency with the finest reputation in Miami,” she recalled.
Soon Bunny Yeager was Florida’s most stunning and sought after model. “I was never a pinup model,” she was quick to point out. “I did not pose for men individually like Bettie Page did.” Bunny made a name for herself as a fashion influencer as well– designing and donning her own two-piece bathing suits. “All the other models were wearing one-piece Jantzen and Catalina suits. I made my own and am beginning to think I invented the bikini, after the French did it.”
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Famous Jungle Bettie / Bunny Yeager shoot. Bettie Page made the leopard print costume herself.
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Famous Jungle Bettie / Bunny Yeager shoot. Bettie Page made the leopard print costume herself.
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It was 1954 when Bunny Yeager, now married, decided to make the switch and get behind the camera. Her own formal modeling experience and creativity gave Bunny a sensitivity, insight and eye that no male photographer could touch. Female models instantly found themselves comfortable working with her, and appreciated the refreshingly caring and honest approach. It was this same year that Bunny met the baby-banged beauty who will forever be hailed as the gold standard of saucy pin-ups– Bettie Page. Up until that time Bettie was working with the likes of Irving Klaw, and anyone else who would pay, posing for pictures that were exploitive and fetishist at best, and pornographic (by 1950’s puritanical standards) at worst.
The union of Bettie & Bunny was short, but sweet. The famous Boca Raton-based Jungle Betty shoot, and Bettie Page’s 1955 January Playboy Playmate Christmas pic, are two notable highlights of their epic partnership. Bettie Page soon drifted away– posing periodically for a few more years here and there, before disappearing almost entirely from the limelight. The tabloids sizzled with sensational speculation on Page’s mysterious disappearance. Bunny Yeager recalls the day she witnessed firsthand the shift in Bettie Page’s priorities–
“It was in the Florida Keys that one night she saw a neon cross on top of a little church, and was drawn to it to go inside. From that day on, she got religious and decided to give up posing.”
A slew of Bettie Page pics after the jump–
OLD SCHOOL HURST GIRLS GONE WILD | GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES
Linda Vaughn, the legendary “Miss Hurst Golden Shifter”
Linda Vaughn, the lovely, leggy, legend of the auto racing scene from the 60’s through the early 80’s was better known as– Miss Hurst Golden Shifter. She was a trophy queen whose voluptuous looks and charm often stole the show at auto racing events she attended– SCCA, NASCAR, Indy & Formula One, among others. Linda has been knocked by many for setting Women’s Lib back with her busty displays, but her passion for the sport ran deep and she had a major impact– not just in promoting the sponsors, but also in advancing women’s racing. Vaughn earned her SCCA competition license at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving and then got behind the wheel and raced.
Linda Vaughn, the legendary “Miss Hurst Golden Shifter”
THE 1970’s PUBERTY PIN-UP WARS | FARRAH FAWCETT VS. CHERYL TIEGS
As a boy growing up in the 1970s, I can tell you with absolute authority that there were two women who were on every pubescent boy’s mind– Farrah Fawcett and Cheryl Tiegs. Sure, there were others– but Farrah & Cheryl were the cream of the crop. And the major rite of passage was to have one of their epic posters up on your bedroom wall. That was huge. It showed you’d graduated from the land of legos and had entered the exciting, awkward, and confusing hormonal journey into manhood. Are we there yet?
Over 20,000,000 of this iconic Farrah Fawcett poster have been sold since 1976! She styled her own hair and makeup– without a mirror. From 40 rolls of film selected Farrah six favorite pictures, eventually narrowing it to this shot in the one-piece red swimsuit that made her instantly famous.
VINTAGE PLAYBOY LANGUAGE OF LEGS | THE STUFF OF MALE SEXUAL DELUSIONS
Vintage wisdom from the pages of Playboy magazine, 1969. Reading this, it’s no wonder guys are so messed up. Just look at the sexually-charged propaganda we’ve been feeding ourselves for years. The article is actually hilarious in retrospect, and paints a pretty shallow picture of us guys as simple-minded children with one thing on their mind– getting their sticky little fingers on the prize in a Cracker Jack box. The writing is so ridiculously laced with sexual innuendo that no girl sitting in any position would stand a fighting chance against a horn-dog armed with this article. Gotta love what they call the poor gal that doesn’t cross her legs when seated– the “Philanthropist”, she’s comfortable with herself and everyone else… Keep reading for more laughs, and legs.
The Selvedge Yard 