# Why were boobs so pointy in the 50s **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 15, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832 "2010-07-15T20:58:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832/1 "2010-07-15T20:58:24Z")
I see it in a lot of movies and TV from the 50s. especially in those sweaters ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832/2 "2010-07-15T21:03:28Z")
Probably because of cone bras. Searching left as an exercise for the reader. ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832/3 "2010-07-15T21:10:23Z")
Boobs were no pointier then; just the bras were. Why? Same reason they had heavy eyebrows and red lips – it was the fashion. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832/4 "2010-07-15T21:26:46Z")
Two words: laser boobs. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832/5 "2010-07-15T21:31:04Z")
Same reason waists were tiny in the 19th century and men’s calves were all that for a while and some lady wore a ship in her hair. Fashion is weird. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832/6 "2010-07-15T21:34:47Z")
Because those godless Russkies were making their women wear shapeless gray dresses. We needed to show them that patriot American breasts stood out straight, proud, and aggressive! ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832/7 "2010-07-15T21:52:10Z")
Mamallia Dentata, it was a self defense technique. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832/8 "2010-07-15T21:56:26Z")
Obsession with nosecones and tailfins. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832/9 "2010-07-15T22:09:40Z")
It’s why you see so many old-timey people with eye patches. ---
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832/10 "2010-07-15T22:12:57Z")
1950’s pointy breasted actress named Dagmar > **[Dagmar (actress)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagmar_%28American_actress%29)** > > Virginia Ruth "Jennie" Lewis (née Egnor; November 29, 1921 – October 9, 2001), known professionally as Dagmar, was an American actress, model, and television personality. In the 1950s she became one of the first major female stars of television, receiving much press coverage. > Egnor was born in Yawkey, West Virginia, and went to high school in Huntington, West Virginia, where she was known as Ruthie. She attended Huntington Business School and worked at Walgreens as a cashier, waitress, sandwich ... “Dagmar’s physical attributes were further enhanced by low-cut gowns and the shape of her bra cups, which were somewhat conical.” Pointy 1950’s Dagmar car bumpers: > **[Dagmar bumper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagmar_bumpers)** > > Dagmar bumpers (also known as "bullet bumpers") is a slang term for chrome conical-shaped bumper guards that began to appear on the front bumper/grille assemblies of certain American automobiles following World War II. They reached their peak in the mid-1950s. > The term evokes the prominent bosom of Dagmar, a buxom early-1950s television personality featuring low-cut gowns and conical bra cups. She was amused by the tribute. > As originally conceived by Harley Earl, GM Vice President of Design, th... “The Dagmar bumper is a chrome bullet-point bulge on the front bumpers of Cadillacs, Chevrolets, Buicks and Lincolns built during the 1950s.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832/11 "2010-07-15T23:22:13Z")
> [@simple\_homer](#): > > 1950’s pointy breasted actress named Dagmar > > [Dagmar (actress) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagmar_%28American_actress%29) > > “Dagmar’s physical attributes were further enhanced by low-cut gowns and the shape of her bra cups, which were somewhat conical.” > > Pointy 1950’s Dagmar car bumpers: > > [Dagmar bumper - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagmar_bumpers) > > “The Dagmar bumper is a chrome bullet-point bulge on the front bumpers of Cadillacs, Chevrolets, Buicks and Lincolns built during the 1950s.” Also the rear of the [1959 Caddy](http://www.3sigma.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/0510cr_02z+1959_Cadillac_Series_62_Convertible+Rear_Left_Side_View.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832/12 "2010-07-15T23:37:03Z")
My mom’s passport foto dress and wedding dress have no boobs. Just sort of a boob “area”, a single, pyramidal rectangle, in the appropriate area. Always reminded me of the costumes from “The Lost Saucer”, if you want to take it to a ridiculous extreme. I always tell people who see the foto – my mother does have two breasts. That’s just a '50’s style. [![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_D1ZZyTOG7tQ/SweZ5qtSH_I/AAAAAAAAGJM/YPTXL_xBU5g/s1600/The+Lost+Saucer.jpg) ](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_D1ZZyTOG7tQ/SweZ5qtSH_I/AAAAAAAAGJM/YPTXL_xBU5g/s1600/The+Lost+Saucer.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832/13 "2010-07-15T23:51:21Z")
Check out some of the Playboy magazines from the era, and you’ll see plenty of all-natural pointy-breasted women. [A previous post of mine on the subject](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=460615). A summary: naturally missle-tittied women still exist, but the shape is out of fashion as an ideal depiction of the human form, much like Charles Atlas-style barrel chests on men seem dated. ---
**Author:** ![JerseyMarine2092](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8491ac/32.png) [@JerseyMarine2092](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseyMarine2092)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832/14 "2010-07-15T23:57:32Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Two words: laser boobs. Im chargin ma lazer? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832/15 "2010-07-16T00:03:08Z")
This thread is making me wish I could find my copy of _Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video_. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832/16 "2010-07-16T00:23:06Z")
I wonder if there’s a connection between the 1950s being a bottle feeding era as opposed to breast feeding era (many women still nursed, but more than ever before bottle fed) and the breast aesthetic. ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832/17 "2010-07-16T04:48:20Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Two words: laser boobs. torpedo tits ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832/18 "2010-07-16T13:06:40Z")
> [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](#): > > torpedo tits 1950’s Style Death Ray Brassiere ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832/19 "2010-07-16T13:26:14Z")
WAG: The standards of the day forbade women from showing their breasts. The bullet bras and tight sweaters were a way of skirting (sorry) the regulations, by calling attention to what was underneath. ---
**Author:** ![JuliaSqueezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@JuliaSqueezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JuliaSqueezer)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832/20 "2010-07-16T13:58:01Z")
As one whose breastesses started forming in the late 50’s, I remember there wasn’t a big array of choices in brassieres. At least not in the price range I needed. They were cotton, quite stiff, and the cups usually had some sort of spiral stitching that forced whatever mammary tissue was available into a cone shape. Of course, we all wanted to look like Jayne Mansfied, so pointy cone tits and sweaters buttoned up the back were the look to have. And sissy blouses and Ben Casey shirts. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-boobs-so-pointy-in-the-50s/546832.md?page=2)