#flapper
Another Alice White photo from my collection. Love these vintage cheesecake style studio pics.
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Motobécane. ca. 1929. Geo Ham.
46 ¾ x 31 in./118.7 x 78.7 cm
Geo Ham had a need: a need for speed. Known as the “prince of motion,” he is famous today as the illustrator of Monaco Grand Prix posters from 1933 to 1936, as well as motorboat competitions, air meets and aerobatic competitions between the wars. He produced exactly two posters for Motobécane: this one, presumably the earlier of the two: despite the lady’s scarf waving in the breeze, there isn’t quite as much of a kinetic frisson as Ham’s more mature works. The other Ham Motobécane is directly adjacent.
Available at auction June 26. Learn more >>
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Pullman / Vacation Lands Are Calling. 1936. William P. Welsh.
20 ¾ x 27 3/8 in./52.8 x 69.4 cm
She stands on the top of the world, painting on a mountaintop as the seagulls wave in semaphore. “Vacation lands are calling.”
Learn more >>>
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La Plage de Calvi. Corse. 1928. Roger Broders.
31 1/8 x 42 3/8 in./79 x 107.5 cm
A rapturously beautiful, supreme Deco celebration of Corsica, the Mediterranean, and the idylls of beach life from the travel-poster master. The colors are impossibly crisp, especially considering this Grande Dame of posterdom is now 90 years of age. This is actually an advertisement for the PLM railway; the line not only advertised destinations in southern Europe, but also points across the water accessible from those ports. This is the French-language version.
Available at auction February 25, 2018.
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Dunkerque. 1929. Roger Broders.
24 ¾ x 39 1/8 in./62.7 x 99.2 cm
The rarest of all Broders posters, it’s also the only image Broders created for the Chemin de Fer du Nord – though the railroad is nowhere to be seen. Instead, he gives us the view from an elegant couple’s yacht, pulling out of the harbor. The contrast between the modern (both people and ships) and the medieval (the spire of the Old Town Hall, the little skiff at right) makes Dunkirk all the more interesting and mysterious.
Available at auction February 25, 2018.
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The 1920’s were a time of newfound freedom for women, especially in dress. However, the new fashion of slim, masculine, and curve-less bodies also created a new psychological pressure for women that had never before existed on such a grand scale - the phenomena of dieting, known then as “slimming” or “reducing.” Women could no longer depend on corsets, petticoats, hoops, and voluminous dresses to achieve the body ideal of the era. The new dresses freed women’s movements but did not flatter or hide the unsightly, be it body hair, breasts, or fat, and it was now a woman’s responsibility to change her body in order to fit the fashionable figure. Many women began to undergo rigorous dieting regimes and buy dubious products - the most horrific of which was probably tapeworms - in vain hopes of slimming down.
Joan Jacobs Brumberg’s book The Body Project highlights a 1920’s teenage girl’s diary and shows the obsession with thinness that was beginning to take hold of girl’s minds. “I’m so tired of being fat!…Three months in which to lose thirty pounds - but I’ll do it - or die in the attempt.” The girl lists how she will go about reducing - “No cake or pie or ice cream or cookies or candy or nuts or fruits or bread or potatoes or meats or anything.” The girl’s constant worry about her body would not be out of place in a contemporary diary, and shows that, although the corset was long-gone, a new type of body restriction had taken its place.
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1920s slang was the cat’s pajamas
the 20’s in the united states were a time of economic upswing, looser social conduct codes, and an explosion in car ownership, which increased the freedom and mobility of women and unmarried youngsters in particular. this led to the emergence of a lot of different slang words associated with partying, alcohol consumption, cars, sexuality, and money [x]:
hooch - alcohol
necking/petting - kissing passionately
splifficated/corked/jazzed/plastered: drunk
struggle buggy: the backseat of a car
middle aisle: getting married
juice joint: a speakeasy, a place selling (in the US at least) illegal alcohol
giggle water: alcoholic drinks
doll: a good-looking woman
gams: a woman’s legs, which the newest fashion actually showed off
it - sex appeal, coming from the 1927 film of the same name (watch it on netflix!)
wet-blanket: a party pooper, a killjoy
whoopee: a good time
egg: a woman who lives the high life (someone alert the bluths)
the bank’s closed: no kissing or affection (“sorry, the bank’s closed!”)
don’t take any wooden nickels: don’t do anything stupid
cash: a kiss
cash or check?: kiss now or later?
bull session: a male gabfest about their sexual exploits
flivver: a model-T, or any older car
an oilcan/flat tire: a bad, boring date
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Green and Gold Beaded Dress, c. 1921, Sage green chiffon completely covered in gold beads & green jewels, deep hem w/ 3 dimensional flowers & 2 deep bands of scalloped gold beads
Augusta Auctions, Specialty Clothing and Textiles, Nov 2nd
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more on my art books instagram page
BIRDS OF PARADISE: COSTUME AS CINEMATIC SPECTACLE
(One of the most wonderful books I’ve ever seen)
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