Introduction

The age of the Internet is a time when any woman, regardless of age, race, height, weight or breast size, can choose to expose her nude body for money in websites such as Onlyfans, or even for free in forums such as TitsinTops.

Even when these girls stop producing such content, it is rare for it to just vanish thanks to the Internet’s godly power of data preservation. However, as there is always the other side of the coin, ours is also the age of breast reductions, implants, obesity, tattoos, misandry and online scams.

Now, when we consider the time period between the 40s and the 70s, it goes without saying that models and content were more scarce in general. Worse, many pictures and videos made during those decades have been (and still are) sold to private collectors who have no interest in ever sharing their acquisitions with the general public. Plus, it is likely some of this content was lost in the sands of time, never to be seen again. Nevertheless, those who are willing to search for vintage models will be rewarded with a treasure trove of classy-looking, smiling figures, devoid of tattoos or surgical enhancements, and who actually seemed to appreciate the attention afforded to them by men.

In future articles, I shall do my best to describe the History of “busty” content from the 40s (when the fascination towards large breasts seems to have started, or at least become obvious) up until the 70s, just before explicit shots of women became all the rage. I’ll be covering not only photography, but also burlesque stripping and movies.

However, for the remainder of the present text, I will focus on the very first depictions of breasts in magazines, drawings, photos and films.

The Early Days

Pin-up photos already existed in the late XIXth century as promos for burlesque performers. During World War I, the most popular pin-up was the so-called “Miss Fernande” (sometimes thought to be painter Fernande Barrey), who appeared completely naked and was fairly busty compared with other models of her time.

The first decades of the XXth century also saw the filming of several nude scenes. However, their existence often had to be “justified” as being artistic or historical. For example, Gordon Edwards’ “Cleopatra” and Cecil B. Demille’s “The Sign of the Cross” (released in 1917 and 1932 respectively), both of them epic films, had the female leads wearing skimpy outfits and partially naked. On the other hand, the girlie magazines of the 20s pretended to be artistic by calling themselves “Art Group Quarterly” and “La Boheme”, even though their real purpose was titillation and contained both photos of naked women and spicy stories.

Other early depictions of nude breasts can be found in several of the covers of “Weird Tales”, a fantasy/horror magazine perhaps best known for publishing several of author H.P. Lovecraft’s works. The covers themselves were drawn by a female artist called Margaret Brundage (1900-1976) and often depicted women in perilous situations wearing little, if any, clothing. Though some of the writers who contributed to the magazine disliked having their work associated with sensuality, Brundage’s drawings became one of the most recognizable features of “Weird Tales”.

Finally, the 30s saw the release of the first “nudist films”, documentaries that promoted the naturist lifestyle, and which most certainly contained nudity.

It should be said, though, that at this point in time, neither movies nor magazines made a point of highlighting women with large breasts.

When the Hays Code came into effect in 1934, mainstream films ceased to show nudity, and even a bit of cleavage could spark outrage. Independent films could technically still contain nude scenes, but they had to abide by local restrictions. Nudist films kept being made until the end of the 30s. As for girlie magazines, they had to cease publishing nude photos of women.

Nevertheless, ironically, two fairly busty actresses became famous during this time precisely for challenging taboos regarding sensuality.

The first was Mary Jane “Mae” West (1893-1980). Already infamous for writing scandalous plays during the 20s, she became a sex symbol during the 30s, known for her witty remarks in movies and curvaceous figure. In fact, during World War II, Allied aircrews called their life preserver jackets “Mae Wests” both because it rhymes with “breasts” and because they reminded the pilots of the actress’ boobs.

The second bosomy early actress of note was Jane Russell (1921-2011). Her breakthrough role came in 1943 as Rio McDonald in a Western movie called “The Outlaw”. Though the movie was mainly about Billy the Kid, its promotional material features Jane exclusively. The actress posed for publicity stills wearing a shirt that left her shoulders uncovered and displayed her cleavage. In all honesty, the way director Howard Hughes focused on Russell’s breasts, you could say the latter were the real reason the movie was made.

In any case, it’s during World War II that we begin seeing a marked preference for large breasts in women. Why this period in particular is difficult to explain. It’s likely the attraction already existed, but became more obvious with the popularity of West, Russell and Rita Hayworth. It was certainly not by accident that the nose art (which is to say, the paintings at the front of planes that were meant to boost morale) made by WWII soldiers often featured attractive women showing their breasts and even bare nipples. These, in turn, were inspired by the works of Peruvian-American artist Alberto Vargas (1896-1982). Vargas had received acclaim for drawing the promo poster for the movie “The Sin of Nora Moran”, which depicted a woman meant to be actress Zita Johann with her breasts almost fully exposed. During World War II, he produced 180 paintings of pin-ups for Esquire Magazine, many of which, even dressed, had firm round breasts and even deliberately-drawn nipples.

In any case, as male attraction towards at least fairly large breasts became an undeniable phenomenon, entertainment and visual arts evolved to reflect this reality, and it definitely had an almost immediate impact in burlesque. However, that is a topic for the next article.

Note: Article submitted by supporting fan and collaborator: Johnny