As you may have noticed, I have been posting regularly each Friday. However, next week I may be a couple of days late. After all, I do have a regular job to pay the bills you know and that sometimes requires me to be out of pocket for awhile. But don't worry, I will post, just late. And now on to this week's post......
Since autumn is almost over and everyone has the upcoming winter season with the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays on their mind, I thought that it would be the perfect time to look back at - Swimsuits! Okay, not too seasonally oriented, but, hey, that is the beauty of your own blog. You can post whatever the heck you feel like at the moment.
In addition to the two Big Book catalogs and the Christmas catalogs that retailers like Sears and JCPenney offered, they would also publish a little summer catalog between the Spring / Summer and Fall / Winter tomes. Although small in size, these guys packed quite a punch for not only did they feature summer fashions, they especially featured swimsuits. It was like having a second edition of the SI Swimsuit issue delivered right to your door - and featuring all your favorite models to boot! (1)
The first photo is titled "Great Moments in Sportswear" with the added tougne-in-check phrase "and proving that the most fascinating sea life isn't always under the sea". They must be referring to the lobster prop (oh, you thought it referred to the models?). This is somewhat unusual because normally there aren't any props in these catalog photos, or even much of a background. This makes sense. They didn't want to divert attention from the clothes they were trying to sell. Actually the lobster, and the scene has a fakey look - like it was done in a studio and the lobster was photoshopped in later. It would be interesting if anyone knows this to be the case.
The best explanation for the origins of this photo is that it was late in the day of a long, hard photo shoot and everyone on the set got a little crazy. Then one of the stage hands had an idea: "Hey, Bob let's take Larry the Lobster from the lunch buffet and scare the girls with it, hee, hee. No wait, they aren't scared, they're excited. I forgot, they're half starved models. Larry is in mortal danger! Run away Larry, ruuunnnn!!!". Kathy definitely has the inside position for the upcoming scrum over this tasty morsel. Colleen is totally out of position and her expression reflects her concern. I would LOVE to see an after photo. I guess "Great Moments in Sportswear" means moments when a poor lobster is ripped to shreds by a gang of hungry models who haven't eaten anything but celery for two weeks prior to a photo shoot!
Yes, I know "Why a lobster?" After all, lobsters don't come out of the water to attack people onshore, except maybe in a really bad SyFy movie (hey that's an idea - This Saturday, A SyFy Original Movie: Mega Lobster vs. Crocosarus). That's why I think this was a spur of the moment shot without alot of forethought put into it (kinda like your average SyFy movie).
Next up is a typical swimsuit photo from the Sears catalogs of that era. You'll notice from the descriptions that they are made with something called Arnel Triacetrate. Not sure what that is - sounds like a preservative used in processed meats or something. They must have thought it was a selling point because they kept mentioning it.
Kathy scans the horizon waiting for her ship to come in. I think that it definitively has already! The suits that she and Karen are wearing don't look at of date at all. The plastic flower on Kathy's suit serves no functional purpose whatsoever except to come off after the second washing.
Meanwhile the suits that Colleen is wearing seem to say "Ahoy mates, come aboard" for they include handy, easy-to-follow directional arro.... Oh wait, those are ANCHORS! I meant to say ANCHORS! Yes, those are ANCHORS for sure! What was I thinking?
Oh, come on, give me a break! Did you REALLY think I wouldn't comment on something like that? I bet every kid back then got it but half the moms didn't. Imagine their shock when they found out: "Don't you think my little Suzy looks great in this new swimsuit?" "Uhhh, Irene, you do realize what those anchors look like?" "No, what?" "Whisper, whisper" "Oh dear! I'm sure my little Suzy doesn't know that" "Uhh, yea, right, sure, whatever you say".
I threw in the next photo to complete the set. It features three members of the K Club in a typical pic from a Sears Catalog of the era.
Once again, the suits are not totally out of date. In fact the one-piece with the cutouts (modeled here by Colleen, sans anchors) is back in style. Maybe there is hope that other early 70s styles will be back soon. That would be so groovey!
Footnotes: (A blog with footnotes, how cool is that!)
(1) As an historical note to loyal Kathy fans, Kathy made an appearance in the 1970 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. It was only one photo, but noteworthy. It could be the subject of a future post, but I'm a little hesitant. SI could be one of those outfits that gets all "touchy, feelly" over the copyright thing.
Did Little Red Riding Hood get lost??? That is one hilarious picture! At the age I am now, I wish they would reproduce some of these swim suits, I would totally buy them!
ReplyDeleteGood catch! How did I miss a big pointy red hood like that? I guess I was distracted by the lobster. Of course some of these have SOOO many wild things to comment on, it's easy to miss something!
DeleteI've seen the SI swimsuit issue with Kathy in it. You should definitely post about it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I'll consider it. The shot is not that great. Kathy is riding a horse with her back to the camera, so there isn't much to comment on. I'm not sure why they chose that pic to put in the mag. It appeared that they were trying to show action pics of girls engaged in actual sporting events instead of just showing hot girls in bikinis. That idea didn't last!
DeleteI don't think that appearance did much for her career, but at least she can say she was in an SI swimsuit issue. I think the problem there was that, in those early days, there was more of a focus on the swimsuits rather than on the models. She did appear in the June 23, 1969 issue of Sports Illustrated, modeling a jacket. It was not a swimsuit issue, just a brief article on sports clothing, but the caption did identify the models and this time you can see her face.
DeleteYea, I agree. It was a good resume point but it didn't have the same career impact as being in SI later on. I didn't know about the apperance back in 1969. Now you've given me something to go find!
DeleteI was just looking through the recent Sports Illustrated book "Swimsuit: 50 Years of Beautiful" when I made a surprising discovery. In the back of the book, they list, and show a picture of, every model who ever appeared in the swimsuit issue. It turns out it was another blonde model name Kathy Loghry who appeared in that swimsuit issue photo! Our Kathy never appeared in the swimsuit issue at all.
DeleteWow, I didn' know that. I have that issue and the pic that has the model in question shows her riding a horse, but the shot is from behind so you can't see her face (she's blond, and I always assumed it was our Kathy). However, the issue I have was not a newsstand issue but a subscription issue so I've always wondered if they are different. Do you have a different pic from that issue that shows the face? Also, Kathy WAS in an earlier SI article on sportswear in 1969. There are a couple of good pics of her in that article and it is definitely our Kathy!
DeleteI actually bought a copy of that swimsuit issue on Ebay a while ago because I thought our Kathy was in it. That was certainly a disappointment. LOL I'm pretty sure there is no difference between the subscription and the news stand copies. You can look at every page of the old swimsuit issues at SI's website. (I didn't know about it when I bought my copy.) There is no difference there from the one I bought. Yes, I saw a pic of Kathy on SI's website in a non-swimsuit issue. I only saw one pic of her in that 1969 issue, though.
DeletePS: I sent an email to you about that scan you wanted. Did you get it?
Yeah, I was pretty bummed out about that swimsuit issue also. The SI article from 1969 is about sportswear and Kathy is in two pics: one of her modeling a rain jacket and another of her riding a bike with some other people. If you would like I can send these to you.
DeleteI haven't seen your e-mail with the pic of Kathy and Mick Lindberg yet. It may not have gone through for some reason.
Love these photos of Kathy Loghry
ReplyDeleteThat is Kathy on the horse and there is another of her holding a surfboard Over her head.
ReplyDeleteOkay, that is VERY interesting. I have that SI swimsuit issue and I don't have the pic of her with the surfboard over her head. Perhaps there WERE different versions?!? If you have that pic, please contact me at Alaen68@Gmail.Com. I would be VERY interested in acquiring it! I think we can do business!!
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