# Better Homes & Gardens 1959 ad "Just like Mommies panty & bra set" for little girls. Fake or real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 30, 2012, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609 "2012-12-30T22:59:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/21 "2012-12-31T15:01:43Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > And like **FeAudrey** says, the sizes are wrong. Sizes for little girls would have started with 6, not 2. Like **FeAudrey** says, the lower end of that range would be in diapers. But it looks to me like that ad is for “dress up” clothes which even now can be found in size 2.\* And 12 is about the largest size “dress up” will go. The ad might not be real, but the size range is realistic \*(and sometimes smaller , although 12 month-sized dress up clothes are ridiculous) ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/22 "2012-12-31T15:09:01Z")
Here’s what Mitch O’Connell has to say, in a personal communication: > [@](#): > > I have the actual “Child’s Bra & Panty Set” that I picked up at a flea market, pretty sure the ad is real too (it’s in the files somewhere). Don’t remember where I clipped it from though. > > Having this in the house makes one a little queasy- 🙂 He signed his email “The World’s Best Artist.” ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/23 "2012-12-31T15:31:56Z")
It doesn’t look like anything from _Better Homes & Gardens_. Even back then, it was a somewhat higher-end magazine about decorating & entertaining. I’m sure Betty Draper read it! The ad has the look of something found in the back pages of the lower tier magazines–next to the wig ads. Is this supposed to be an ad for items featured in _Better Homes_? Fashion & child-rearing were not that magazine’s specialties. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/24 "2012-12-31T16:25:34Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > It doesn’t look like anything from _Better Homes & Gardens_. Even back then, it was a somewhat higher-end magazine about decorating & entertaining. I guess we’ll just have to find a copy of the magazine ca. 1959 and take a look, won’t we? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/25 "2012-12-31T22:33:09Z")
Mitch was good enough to send me this link to a large number of vintage underwear ads. Although he didn’t swear to it and didn’t itemize the sources, I think they are all genuine: > **[Underwear is Fun to Wear! The top 1000 photos of the strangest, silliest and...](https://mitchoconnell.blogspot.com/2012/01/underwear-is-fun-to-wear-top-1000.html)** > > Even if you go commando, you'll still chuckle, guffaw and titter at these Pretty Panties, Boisterous Briefs, Jokey Jockeys, Naughty Knic... I would say they are Pretty Safe For Work as long as your workplace isn’t a super-prudery establishment. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/26 "2013-01-03T02:04:16Z")
If he really owns the kit, then it should be easy for him to take a video and show us. And then he won’t be in his element if the ad is something he created, and we’ll be able to easily spot if it’s fake. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/27 "2013-01-03T02:31:23Z")
What kit are you talking about? ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/28 "2013-01-03T02:49:10Z")
I’m guessing that the [second link](http://mitchoconnell.blogspot.com/2011/04/just-like-mommy.html) in **Exapno Mapcase** ’s post 17 has the “Child’s Bra & Panty Set” he’s referring to in his reply to **Musicat**. Not sure how well it matches the ad copy, though. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/29 "2013-01-03T03:10:33Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > I’m guessing that the [second link](http://mitchoconnell.blogspot.com/2011/04/just-like-mommy.html) in **Exapno Mapcase** ’s post 17 has the “Child’s Bra & Panty Set” he’s referring to in his reply to **Musicat**. Not sure how well it matches the ad copy, though. That was my first guess. But there’s no possible reason that would need a video, so I’m not getting it at all. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/30 "2013-01-03T03:16:53Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > That was my first guess. But there’s no possible reason that would need a video, so I’m not getting it at all. Maybe a picture of him holding it in one hand and today’s paper in the other. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/31 "2013-01-03T03:43:50Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > If he really owns the kit, then it should be easy for him to take a video and show us. And then he won’t be in his element if the ad is something he created, and we’ll be able to easily spot if it’s fake. > [@kayaker](#): > > Maybe a picture of him holding it in one hand and today’s paper in the other. Mitch O’Connell sent me this image, which I am reposting on my own site, but it looks like the same one as on his site. I have only his word that it represents a product that he personally owns: > **[Account Suspended](http://www.doorbell.net/cgi-sys/suspendedpage.cgi)** FYI: Be patient, I may have a definitive answer in a few days (The question is, “Is the sample ad one that was originally printed in a 1950’s magazine?”) ---
**Author:** ![listedmia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e0b2c6/32.png) [@listedmia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/listedmia)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/32 "2013-01-03T04:13:44Z")
My first guess was National Lampoon or Mad Magazine parody ad. Reading the lower posts, though, I guess it’s possible it could be real. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/33 "2013-01-03T04:37:28Z")
It would have to be a video, because, if he’s faking these ads, then he must be very skilled at making fake pictures, to the point that we can’t see any photoshop errors. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/34 "2013-01-03T04:43:59Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Playing “dress-up” with Mommy’s high-heel shoes, etc., was so common (and innocent) in the 1950’s as to be a cliché. I can believe the ad. > > But it’s entirely possible it’s not from a mainstream publication, even if from the back pages. Do we give the same credibility to “X-Ray Vision” goggles sold in comic books? > > Nevertheless, I think it’s an extreme reaction to be seriously concerned about a vintage ad. Perhaps the modern hypersexualization of little girls represented by such phenomena as kiddie pageants has made some of us oversensitive. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/35 "2013-01-03T04:55:36Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > I’m guessing that the [second link](http://mitchoconnell.blogspot.com/2011/04/just-like-mommy.html) in **Exapno Mapcase** ’s post 17 has the “Child’s Bra & Panty Set” he’s referring to in his reply to **Musicat**. Not sure how well it matches the ad copy, though. It doesn’t match the ad copy at all- the ad refers to a bra and panty, while the pictured set has panties , a girdle and nylons. I’m certain sets similar to the ad existed, and the ad itself looks realistic , but I doubt the ad was in Better Homes and Gardens ( because it wasn’t the right magazine for that sort of ad ) and I think the line saying “Better Homes and Gardens” was not part of the original ad. None of the other ads on the website have the magazine’s name at the bottom of the ad, and there really is no reason for it to be there. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/36 "2013-01-03T06:20:39Z")
Well, anyway, that was all well and good for the '50s. Time marches on. Now we can buy our daughters the [Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stupid_Spoiled_Whore_Video_Playset) ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/37 "2013-01-03T10:51:13Z")
And Honey Boo Boo has her own show. Time marches on, but little girls will always be sexy. And their mothers will make sure that we know it. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/38 "2013-01-03T17:19:50Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > My connection is working today so I think I found the original page. > > [Thursday, April 14, 2011 To be a kid in the good 'ol days! #4](http://mitchoconnell.blogspot.com/2011/04/to-be-kid-in-good-ol-days-4.html) > > [Sunday, April 17, 2011 Just Like Mommy!](http://mitchoconnell.blogspot.com/2011/04/just-like-mommy.html) > And the rest of the series: > > [To be a kid in the good 'ol days! #3 [Smoking Cowboy Doll]](http://mitchoconnell.blogspot.com/2011/04/to-be-kid-in-good-ol-days-3.html) > > [To be a kid in the good 'ol days! #2 [Child-size TV camera]](http://mitchoconnell.blogspot.com/2011/04/to-be-kid-in-good-ol-days-2.html) > > [To be a kid in the good 'ol days! #1 [space beanie]](http://mitchoconnell.blogspot.com/2011/04/to-be-kid-in-good-ol-days-1.html) > > Others from April 2011: > > [“Don’t let Daddy lick me again!”](http://mitchoconnell.blogspot.com/2011/04/odd-moments-in-advertising-also-known_28.html) > > NSFW: > > [Not a kid, but it will disturb you even more](http://mitchoconnell.blogspot.com/2011/04/great-moments-in-advertising.html) > > The design and typography is perfect for the time period. Either it’s a hoax so good it fooled him or it’s real. Your last link should be NSFW ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/39 "2013-01-03T17:30:51Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > Your last link should be NSFW You’re right. I’ve reported it so a mod can break the link. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/40 "2013-01-03T17:36:21Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > You’re right. I’ve reported it so a mod can break the link. 'Tis done! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609.md?page=3)