# 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:** 3
**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, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/41 "2013-01-03T17:58:43Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > 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. You’re right about the ad copy not exactly matching the product photo. However, if we are trying to determine if such an ad _could_ be real instead of faked, the existence of nearly identical products lends support to the real. I think I will be able to shed some new light on this subject in a few days, so be patient. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/42 "2013-01-03T19:30:23Z")
I had these things as a little girl back in the mid-seventies. They made them in different materials and colors. I remember a red velvet and nylon set my mom brought home from Goldsmith’s, where she worked in the children’s department. There was a size two in little girls back then too. I was very girly so I loved my bras, whether I needed them or not! We had play high heels too, so I can see this ad being quite realistic. Not that it is. I have no idea about that but it looks ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/43 "2013-01-04T19:58:25Z")
The “BETTER HOMES…” tag looks like the name-and-date tag that a lot of magazines ran at the bottoms of pages in those days. (In book publishing, when they appear at the tops of pages, they’re called “running heads.” I suppose these are “running tails.”…) The local campus library has bound volumes. I’ll try to remember to run in and check later today. ---
**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 4, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/44 "2013-01-04T20:06:09Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > The local campus library has bound volumes. I’ll try to remember to run in and check later today. That must be a humongous library space if they have original, bound volumes from that far back. If you find it, can you copy/scan the entire page, just to show where it appeared and what kind of ads are adjacent? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/45 "2013-01-04T23:22:54Z")
I checked, and the ad is genuine. It appears on page 186, and is directly above the running subheading, as you see it here. I don’t think it was doctored in any way. It was common for magazines to have sections of inexpensive classifieds in those days, which is what I thought this might be. ---
**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 5, 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/645609/46 "2013-01-05T03:16:40Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > I checked, and the ad is genuine. It appears on page 186, and is directly above the running subheading, as you see it here. I don’t think it was doctored in any way. > It was common for magazines to have sections of inexpensive classifieds in those days, which is what I thought this might be. ignore this > [@Musicat](#): > > If you find it, can you copy/scan the entire page, just to show where it appeared and what kind of ads are adjacent? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/47 "2013-01-05T04:27:29Z")
I’ll try, but I don’t know what equipment is available on-site to do that with, and I can’t take the book out of the library. ---
**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 5, 2013, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/48 "2013-01-05T04:32:57Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > I’ll try, but I don’t know what equipment is available on-site to do that with, and I can’t take the book out of the library. I think most libraries have a copy machine you can use and they might charge you a quarter. Or you could take a photo with a camera set to macro distance, but that’s far less desirable. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/49 "2013-01-05T05:36:20Z")
> [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](#): > > And Honey Boo Boo has her own show. [Indeed.](http://www.theonion.com/articles/you-do-of-course-realize-that-this-is-going-to-end,29734/) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/50 "2013-01-05T08:31:54Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I think most libraries have a copy machine you can use and they might charge you a quarter. Or you could take a photo with a camera set to macro distance, but that’s far less desirable. Ah, but I haven’t the home equipment for scanning. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/51 "2013-01-05T17:44:15Z")
I’ll take your word for it, **Sam** , even if **Musicat** won’t. I remember ads for that sort of stuff and that section of most mags was my favorite part. I still haven’t gotten a Spider Monkey, though. ---
**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 5, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/52 "2013-01-05T18:44:30Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I’ll take your word for it, **Sam** , even if **Musicat** won’t. I remember ads for that sort of stuff and that section of most mags was my favorite part. I still haven’t gotten a Spider Monkey, though. How did those Sea Monkeys work out? That chinchilla breeding scheme? The X-Ray vision gadget? ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/53 "2013-01-05T18:44:41Z")
My mother grew up in the '50s…she remembers having “dress-up heels” that were sized to fit a child’s foot. That might explain what the little girl is wearing in the ad. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/54 "2013-01-05T19:01:23Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > My mother grew up in the '50s…she remembers having “dress-up heels” that were sized to fit a child’s foot. That might explain what the little girl is wearing in the ad. As previous posters mentioned, I don’t think the picture in the ad is real. The ad itself certainly seems to be genuine, but I think the picture is an example of pre-Photoshop image manipulation. Which makes sense: it’s a cheap ad, and getting a model and a photographer together for a shoot costs a lot more money than having an intern take some scissors and paste to a couple of stock photos. ---
**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 5, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/55 "2013-01-05T21:57:23Z")
If anyone communicates with Mitch about this, tell him a friend in Pittsburgh wore his shirt going through a DUI checkpoint and the cops were amused (I was scared shitless): [Drunk Shirt…](http://i681.photobucket.com/albums/vv174/kayaker01/5c5623ef06dd9a598c53222c4b2725a6.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/56 "2013-01-07T00:47:44Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > If anyone communicates with Mitch about this, tell him a friend in Pittsburgh wore his shirt going through a DUI checkpoint and the cops were amused (I was scared shitless): > [Drunk Shirt…](http://i681.photobucket.com/albums/vv174/kayaker01/5c5623ef06dd9a598c53222c4b2725a6.jpg) Incidentally, we’re losing the “Pink Elephant” trope: I wrote a screenplay in which the sound the drunk heard was “probably just a pink elephant,” and none of the 20-ish cast understood what it meant! They changed it to “little green man.” Kids these days…! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/57 "2013-01-07T02:28:57Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > How did those Sea Monkeys work out? That chinchilla breeding scheme? The X-Ray vision gadget? My wife’s fish loved the [del]brine shrimp[/del] Sea Monkeys (I got a whole test tube of eggs at a pet store), my grandfather took over a chinchilla farm in payment for a bad debt (it remained bad, being it was 1932) so I knew better than to suggest it to my dad (testing things like that is the other use for older brothers after getting you booze and drugs), and didn’t get the X-Ray specs until my younger brother’s wife gave me some from Archie McPhee (after seeing the ad for 50 years I expected to be disappointed and wasn’t, or something like that). ---
**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 10, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/58 "2013-01-10T23:52:29Z")
I have obtained a complete, original copy of _Better Homes and Gardens_, November 1959. On page 186 I found an ad that looks identical to the one on the OP (not the best quality scan, but good enough): [http://www.doorbell.net/junk/better\_homes/Nov1959\_p186.jpg](http://www.doorbell.net/junk/better_homes/Nov1959_p186.jpg) The mag page (about 10"x 13") is too big for my scanner, so I only scanned a portion of pages 186 and 187, but this will help you see the sort of ads on those pages, near the very back of the issue. I have come to the conclusion that the ad as presented in the OP is real, and while it seems odd in 2012, it was a product of the times. Would anyone like to dispute this conclusion, and if so, on what grounds? ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/59 "2013-01-11T00:53:15Z")
It’s a gold mine of old ads!!! I love the People Pencils…and I remember seeing towel calendars in my grandmother’s house. I don’t recall them ever being used as towels though. ---
**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 11, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-homes-gardens-1959-ad-just-like-mommies-panty-bra-set-for-little-girls-fake-or-real/645609/60 "2013-01-11T01:35:48Z")
I’ll try to scan some more pages, but I’ll have to borrow another scanner to get the full page in one piece. Scanning in 2 parts and gluing them together in Photoshop is too much work. I have some of those towels. And note those are “gay” calendars! [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=2) [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=4)