Comments on: Ziegfeld Girls: Classic Elegant Erotica

Ziegfeld Girls: Classic Elegant Erotica

LeeJay — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 21:19:47 -0800

"It is not easy to pass the test that qualifies a girl for membership in a Ziegfeld production..." Hundreds of photos of Zeigfeld Girls (including many large and high-resolution scans), collected and displayed for your viewing pleasure. Sumptuous . Sensual. Dazzling. [The last three links are work safe. The first two and the site itself are not. Some background on Ziegfeld and his Follies here for those not familiar.]

By: LeeJay

LeeJay — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 21:28:01 -0800

Forgot to add: I found the site through the wonderful Vintage Sex Livejournal community.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 21:37:28 -0800

There's a great thing somewhere about how LaGuardia shut down tons of Burlesque Halls, but Ziegfeld was allowed to stay open--apparently those with money were exempt, as usual. (i'll have to find it) And Comstock and his crusades against vice ensured he tangled with Zigfeld as well.... wonderful stuff! : >

By: rhapsodie

rhapsodie — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 21:37:42 -0800

Wonderful, thank you.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 21:40:16 -0800

this tells a little of it all -- and it all serves as a reminder that each generation ends up fighting for freedoms and pleasures against those who would legislate against it all.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 21:44:08 -0800

What Makes A "Ziegfeld Girl" by Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. (1925 newspaper article)

By: LeeJay

LeeJay — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 21:46:47 -0800

From amberglow's great link: Mayor LaGuardia even appointed a "burlesque czar" to oversee the prosecutions and "end incorporated filth." Awesome. I want to be a burlesque czar.

By: potsmokinghippieoverlord

potsmokinghippieoverlord — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 21:48:57 -0800

Eleanor Roosevelt?

By: amberglow

amberglow — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 21:51:55 -0800

is that her debutante pic? it's definitely her i think, and i'm sure she went to see them. everyone used to go to his spectacles, and he did new ones every year for decades.

By: QuietDesperation

QuietDesperation — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 21:51:58 -0800

And incidentally, it's ZiegFELD, not ZiegFIELD (one hears it mispronounced).

By: potsmokinghippieoverlord

potsmokinghippieoverlord — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 21:55:07 -0800

She was a winner that became the doggie's dinner. Sorry! I'll stop now.

By: potsmokinghippieoverlord

potsmokinghippieoverlord — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 22:04:19 -0800

One last thing: the group of photos in the "2005-02-25" gallery looks to be homegrown late-nineteenth century pr0n. In other words, "Unsafe for Viewing at Your Place of Employment/Servitude." (As was mentioned in the original post.)

By: Dr. Zira

Dr. Zira — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 22:10:31 -0800

On a related note, here's a link to an NPR story on Doris Eaton Travis, the Oldest Living Ziegfeld girl.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 22:16:39 -0800

Eleanor looks like she's high as a kite.

By: redteam

redteam — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 22:49:46 -0800

These must have been taken recently and doctored to look like old photos. Everyone knows that there were no porns or immorality back then.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 22:52:20 -0800

Wonderful vintage pics LeeJay. They are both innocent and sexy. So many of the girls have the same body and facial type. The credit for the idea of the Folies actually belongs to the woman who became Ziegfeld's wife. A charming French-born actress named Anna Held suggested the idea for the Ziegfeld Follies. Ziegfeld married Anna Held in 1897, and she inspired him to create a musical revue like the ones she had seen in Paris, featuring pretty chorus girls, chic costumes, and comedy. A little about Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. and his life.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 23:11:26 -0800

Pictures of Anna Held and two of Ziegfeld's male stars: The Great Sandow (streaming video) and Will Rogers (one of my culture heroes).

By: nonmerci

nonmerci — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 23:28:56 -0800

Great post! Funnily enough, I looked at the links before reading the comments and immediately thought "this reminds me of Vintage Sex."

By: nlindstrom

nlindstrom — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 23:33:44 -0800

Women used to be so hot. Nowadays, they're all so skinny and bleh. :-(

By: cenoxo

cenoxo — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 23:34:08 -0800

Peruvian and famed glamour painter Joaquin Alberto Vargas y Chavez [NSFW] was discovered by Flo Ziegfled in 1919 and worked for over a decade as the Follies official artist. Vargas' wife of 44 years, Anna Mae Clifton, was a showgirl for the Greenwich Village Follies.

By: Kickstart70

Kickstart70 — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 00:19:05 -0800

Awesome. I've been looking for a pic to Rasterbate to put on my wall. Here are a ton of choices!

By: ZenMasterThis

ZenMasterThis — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 04:23:59 -0800

Excellent post: thanks, LeeJay!

By: bifter

bifter — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 05:03:13 -0800

Can't find a link strangely, but I believe he also had a cocktail named after him - the Flo Ziegfeld. 2 parts gin, 1 part pineapple juice, shaken over ice and served in a sugar rimmed martini glass. It's surprisingly tasty and far less sickly than it sounds.

By: beerbajay

beerbajay — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 05:05:08 -0800

Oooo Louise Brooks. <3

By: OmieWise

OmieWise — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 05:56:43 -0800

Very nice.

By: pax digita

pax digita — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 06:43:36 -0800

I don't mind looking at a healthy willowy girl, but I like how these gals are nice 'n' round without being too zaftig. I think "broad where a broad should be broad" is how Dad might've put it (if Mom was out of earshot!).

By: Sailor Martin

Sailor Martin — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 07:57:42 -0800

I'd comment, but I don't know how to reproduce in print the lusty growling sounds what I been making.

By: Jody Tresidder

Jody Tresidder — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 08:24:48 -0800

"Oooo Louise Brooks." <3 posted by strong>beerbajay The glorious Louise Brooks appears to have a vestigial third nipple? Completely fabulous post (also the Vargas link from cenoxo). Thanks.

By: redsparkler

redsparkler — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 09:13:28 -0800

I can not properly express my appreciation for the "large and high-resolution scans". Maybe a low "mmmmmmm" sound would suffice, the one I just made when I clicked on the first picture and it took up the width of the screen *and* I got to scroll down for more of the lusciousness.

By: melixxa600

melixxa600 — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 09:14:27 -0800

Fantastic. Thanks.

By: pax digita

pax digita — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 09:28:40 -0800

I wonder if that's a mole you're seeing? Oh, and how's this: "Rowrr!"

By: Enron Hubbard

Enron Hubbard — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 09:41:15 -0800

Thanks for the refreshing reminder of the days before the "ideal woman" was a Botoxed, plastiqued, Photoshop illusion. Your links should be required reading for all the "sharp knees" crowd so they know what real women look like. And is that George Bush I spotted in one of the Vargas pictures?

By: meringue

meringue — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 14:43:30 -0800

These photos are gorgeous. I love the costumes, and how the girls seem so nonchalant posing. And thanks for the Vargas links, cenoxo - his life was interesting story.

By: caddis

caddis — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 16:42:47 -0800

My grandfather's girls (nsfw & sound)

By: pracowity

pracowity — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 18:29:27 -0800

Buddy Ebsen

By: malaprohibita

malaprohibita — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 18:30:00 -0800

Wonderful stuff, and a great post.

By: LeeJay

LeeJay — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 19:44:48 -0800

caddis, thanks for the link! God, they were all so beautiful. And thanks to everyone else who contributed to the thread. There are a lot of great links in the comments. Does anyone happen to know what the name of the very familiar song playing at that Grandfather's Girls site is? I've heard it plenty of times before but never knew the name.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 20:15:37 -0800

caddis and cenoxo, Wonderful additional links and embellishing the thread. Interesting to learn about Vargas. LeeJay, The song is a sizzler by Gershwin, from Porgy and Bess, Summertime: Summertime and the livin' is easy Fish are jumpin', and the cotton is high Your Daddy's rich and your Mama is good lookin' So, hush, little baby don't you cry... An exceptional rendition via American Idol of all places.

By: LeeJay

LeeJay — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 20:47:17 -0800

LeeJay, The song is a sizzler by Gershwin, from Porgy and Bess, Summertime *smacks forehead* Oh good Lord, of course it is. I did know the name after all. I even have the cast recording somewhere around here. I must be very very tired. Thanks nickyskye.