I don’t know where this cheerful, wholesome 1950s-style cartoon comes from— I found it in Getty images — but the gratuitous, creepy underpants seemed linkworthy.
It has "Highlights" written in my mind. And yes, all through the '60's girls were not allowed to wear pants except for phys ed. If it was exceedingly cold, you could wear pants under your skirt/dress, but had to remove them once you were in the school building.
I remember the skin on my knees getting chapped at the bus stop in wintertime because we girls were required to wear knee-length skirts. I was so happy when girls were allowed to wear pants--I bought them and never wore skirts to school again.
Got a different vibe. More one of innocence (and an attempt to render "cute") and the still accepted view of small boys as having a streak of sadism --- certainly encouraged by the then common gift of a pop gun and similar toy firearms (can't start 'em too early). Also interesting is that at the time, I'm told, skirts and dresses were de rigueur for girls and women. Yes, pants were worn but primarily for function (which had first become a widely acceptable reason for wearing them during the preceding war years) but were generally not allowed in school and rarely seen during festive occasions or outside the home on a female above a certain age. This seems to have prompted a strange interest among '50s advertisers and illustrators in female undergarments for various reasons, some prurient, of course, but still in keeping with the sensibilities of the times. Oh yes --- remember to save some smiles today (forced are acceptable during the holidays) for Christmas dinner and to humor good old Uncle Bob or Aunt Martha during their usual tirade ("Well, maybe just another small one, dear") about how things were better in the good old days. Everything. For everyone. May be able to sneak away for three --- yes, count 'em, three --- football games, on today, to say nothing of this year's "Call the Midwife" Christmas special. How the ladies have been able to maintain their manual dexterity after all these years is a marvel of physiology. Enjoy. 2024 is just ahead.
And the boy, oblivious to the girl, aiming his giant gun squarely at his tiny soldiers, with a demonic gleam in his eye. Nothing says Merry Christmas better. Geez Louise.
She's giving him a sly inviting smile while hanging her doll from the tree, and he's turning away with a lascivious grin and shooting his soldiers dead with the handgun he's just been given (excuse me, gifted). And you thought the 50's were anodyne. Was it here or one of the other wholesome sites I frequent where someone pondered the other day why there wasn't more brother-sister incest?
Enjoy shooting toy soldiers, it’s how WE celebrate!
Yes, that was my reaction too.
Like the boy in the Christmas film, I wanted a gun for defence. And my dream gun was a machine gun. None of my scenarios were aggressive.
It has "Highlights" written in my mind. And yes, all through the '60's girls were not allowed to wear pants except for phys ed. If it was exceedingly cold, you could wear pants under your skirt/dress, but had to remove them once you were in the school building.
I remember the skin on my knees getting chapped at the bus stop in wintertime because we girls were required to wear knee-length skirts. I was so happy when girls were allowed to wear pants--I bought them and never wore skirts to school again.
Merry, Happy, Jolly to you and yours!
Merry Whatever!
Got a different vibe. More one of innocence (and an attempt to render "cute") and the still accepted view of small boys as having a streak of sadism --- certainly encouraged by the then common gift of a pop gun and similar toy firearms (can't start 'em too early). Also interesting is that at the time, I'm told, skirts and dresses were de rigueur for girls and women. Yes, pants were worn but primarily for function (which had first become a widely acceptable reason for wearing them during the preceding war years) but were generally not allowed in school and rarely seen during festive occasions or outside the home on a female above a certain age. This seems to have prompted a strange interest among '50s advertisers and illustrators in female undergarments for various reasons, some prurient, of course, but still in keeping with the sensibilities of the times. Oh yes --- remember to save some smiles today (forced are acceptable during the holidays) for Christmas dinner and to humor good old Uncle Bob or Aunt Martha during their usual tirade ("Well, maybe just another small one, dear") about how things were better in the good old days. Everything. For everyone. May be able to sneak away for three --- yes, count 'em, three --- football games, on today, to say nothing of this year's "Call the Midwife" Christmas special. How the ladies have been able to maintain their manual dexterity after all these years is a marvel of physiology. Enjoy. 2024 is just ahead.
And the boy, oblivious to the girl, aiming his giant gun squarely at his tiny soldiers, with a demonic gleam in his eye. Nothing says Merry Christmas better. Geez Louise.
She's giving him a sly inviting smile while hanging her doll from the tree, and he's turning away with a lascivious grin and shooting his soldiers dead with the handgun he's just been given (excuse me, gifted). And you thought the 50's were anodyne. Was it here or one of the other wholesome sites I frequent where someone pondered the other day why there wasn't more brother-sister incest?
Marine training mantra: "This is my rifle. This is my gun!"