After World War II ended, soldiers no longer needed to be content with ogling at pin-up girls, since they could return home and have actual sex with women. However, girlie magazines kept being published, and male sexuality being what it is, it should come as no surprise that men kept buying them to see girls that were usually prettier and bustier than their wives.

From the 50s to the 70s, it became increasingly clearer that the girls almost all men liked the most were those with the largest breasts. Moreover, during this time, several talented photographers appeared who deliberately sought to shoot the bustiest models they could find, and seldom worked with smaller breasted women. More than a matter of profit, the female bosom had at this point become an object of fascination, if not obsession.

Though one could write an entire book on vintage busty modelling, I shall discuss some of the most important photographers, models and magazines of this “breast renaissance” and naturally post some pictures as examples.

– Photographers

George Harrison Marks

Born in England in 1926, Marks opened a studio during the 50s and was one of the first photographers to famously shoot busty women almost exclusively. His first magazine, called “Kamera”, was launched in 1957 and featured model Pamela Green (under the name “Rita Landre”) topless on the cover. Each issue contained photos of several models and their covers almost invariably showed busty women with their breasts bare. Marks also published “Solo”, which featured the same type of photography but focused on a single model per issue. The magazines sold like hotcakes, allowing the British photographer to hire more people, sell calendars, work for other publications and hold exhibitions of his work. Marks would also direct plenty of 8 mm short films featuring his models stripping naked, along with full-length films such as “Naked- As Nature Intended” and “The Naked World of Harrison Marks”.

Other magazines Marks worked on include “Avec Plaisir”, “Fotag”, “Ici Paris” and “Femme”.

Russell Gay

Gay is mainly known for discovering model Norma Ann Sykes, who became better known as “Sabrina”. However, like Marks, he shot many busty amateurs who he later helped become professional models. According to him, nine out of ten women are willing to pose nude for photos after modelling for a while.

Though he didn’t launch it, he was a major contributor for the magazine “QT”, which, like Marks’ “Kamera”, mainly featured an astonishing number of busty models, both professional and amateur.

Peter Basch

Though mostly known as a photographer of celebrities of the 50s and 60s, Basch did quite a bit of glamour photography as well, shooting a few busty women such as Elaine Gallo and Olga Grahame, who seem to have modelled exclusively for him.

Bunny Yeager

Linnea “Bunny” Yeager, a model who sometimes even photographed herself nude, was one of the first photographers to shoot models outdoors in broad daylight. Though she didn’t shoot exclusively busty women, quite a few American sex symbols of her time modelled for her, including Evelyn West, Diane Webber, Tempest Storm, Jennie Lee, Ruth Anderson and Anita Ventura.

– Magazines

Kamera

In the introduction to the first issue, Marks writes the following: “To me, photographing the nude figure is not just a means of making a living. It is a challenge at each new sitting to create, using light, shade and the human form, a design or pattern of original beauty”.

The magazine itself contains a series of black & white photos where, as Marks says, light and shadow are cast on the bodies of fully nude women posing in various ways. Some of these photos were taken outdoors while others were in front of a white backdrop. All of them are about as artistic as they are titillating.

QT

QT was first published in London in 1956 and ran for approximately 94 issues. The black and white photographs feature the models in both outdoor and indoor settings and are accompanied by amusing or sensual (but never vulgar) stories. The magazine also contains a large color picture you could pin to the wall (hence the term “pin-up”). Any issue by itself boasts a surprising number of gorgeous models, several of whom (ie Eve Eden, Lorraine Burnett and Ann Austin) also appeared in Marks’ magazines.

Ben’s Books

“Ben’s Books” is the name given to a series of very similar magazines with titles like “Play”, “Joy”, “Follies” and “Satin”. You may recognize some of the models on the covers as those in a few issues of “Kamera” and “QT”, but the pictures in Ben’s Books tended to be a bit more explicit (albeit with some airbrushing of the genital area).

Other Magazines

As these magazines are very old, it’s not easy to find their history or even copies of some issues. However, there were most definitely other magazines full of busty women. Examples include “Velvet”, “Sir”, “Photo Studio” and “Adam”.

– Popular Models

Rosa Domaille aka Eve Eden

Born in 1940, Eve could be seen as the quintessential pin-up, boasting an hourglass figure, large full breasts and a smile that could melt butter. She was one of the most popular English models of the 60s, making regular appearances in many men’s magazines. She also had bit roles in around 27 films and TV series, including the Beatles’ movie “Help!”. However, her career ended abruptly when she married a banker in the late 60s. She never appeared before a camera again, though she was reportedly still alive back in 2014.

Lorraine Burnett

Born in 1938, Lorraine was about as popular as Eve, often praised for her very fit body (she was a trained dancer and acrobat) and sensuous looks. She was so talented, she was apparently both Marks’ and Gay’s favorite model. Besides modelling, Lorraine was also an accomplished stripper, a job she kept doing until around the mid 70s, even though she had already quit modelling by that time.

Paula Page

Born in 1930, this model, also known as “Two Guns” Paula Page, is said to have appeared in over 1000 magazines between the late 50s and 60s.

June Palmer

Born in 1940, June was one of the first models Harrison Marks worked with. She’s mainly known for appearing in 8mm nudie films directed by Marks and Gay. She also had a fairly long career, beginning in the late 50s and only ending in 1987.

Jackie Parker

Born in around 1940, Jackie was a stripper and model whose breasts were known to leave men breathless. She was paid little but loved her work. That is, until she got married in the mid 60s, after which she sadly stopped taking her clothes off in public for good.

Elaine Reynolds

Born in 1939, Elaine was the centerfold for the October 1959 issue of “Playboy”.

Roberta Pedon

Born in 1954, Roberta was a very popular model during the early and mid 70s thanks to her large breasts and slim figure. Though she was thought to have died back in 1982, the truth is, she was still alive in 2018. One of her most noteworthy shoots was one she did with the equally busty Rosalie Strauss and Nika Movenka as a promo for the exploitation movie “Delinquent School Girls”.

Rosina Revelle

Born in 1940, Rosina was known for her resemblance to Brigitte Bardot and was one of the most popular girls of QT, posing for Russell Gay. Sadly, her career only lasted for three years, as her parents found out about her modelling in 1959. She never posed nude again.

Note: Let’s thank our contributor and Boobs Historian: Jhonny