Remember Sassy magazine? The little inside notes, the sardonic voice, the amazing pulse of an under-appreciated cultural uprising, it was all there in the glossy pages of Sassy. It’s almost like Karen Catchpole, Christina Kelly, Catherine Gysin and Mike Flaherty were bloggers a decade early. I don’t think the staff understood it at the time, […]

Filed under: Feminism, Magazines, Old Timey, Weetabix | 11 Comments »

1. Photographic proof that fat people existed in the past, from Manolo for the Big Girl. Some really cool pictures. 2. Lesley at Fatshionista is doing Huge recaps, and tackles the latest episode here. Also, the cast signs a Body Peace Treaty, but… there are some problems, as The Rotund explains: “Oh, hi, y’all, love […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Food, Huge, Kids, Music, Old Timey, TV | 6 Comments »

The picture of an old-timey Lane Bryant ad came from Roger Ebert on Twitter, who described it tongue-in-cheekily as a picture of a “tragically fat young woman.” And speaking of Lane Bryant, my dear friend Pippit sent in a link to an article about Full Figured Fashion Week that ran in her local paper, the […]

Filed under: Fashion, Old Timey, Video | 53 Comments »

1. April catches grief because she doesn’t want to follow someone’s weight-loss diary on Facebook. I’ve already “hidden” posts on my news feed from folks who seem to think that a running litany of everything they ate/didn’t eat wanted to eat/didn’t want to eat or weight they lost/gained inexplicably was the utmost in fascinating conversation… […]

Filed under: Feminism, Links, Old Timey, Politics, Weight Loss | 5 Comments »

Last week’s performance of “Dream a Little Dream” on Glee reminded me that it’s been 40 years since Cass Elliott sang that song. She had one of the most beautiful voices of the mid-1900’s, right up there with Streisand and Karen Carpenter, but she almost never makes the lists of amazing influential female singers. I’m […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Fatism, Old Timey, Video, Weetabix | 15 Comments »

Lord ByronOriginally uploaded by jadc01 My life these days is almost 100% schoolwork, as I am currently teaching five classes at two different colleges. (I spend my entire weekends grading; it’s exhausting.) This week, my literature class is going to start on the Romantics, and I was doing some reading about old friends like John […]

Filed under: Books, Celebrities, Old Timey, Personal | 9 Comments »

fat boxerOriginally uploaded by mo pie Show History has a fascinating compilation of names and pictures and brief biographies of fat people who worked as attractions in carnival sideshows. (They were also known as “freaks.”) A little background: Professional Fat Folk of an earlier age lived to astound a public for whom not having enough […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Cold Hard Cash, Fashion, Food, Old Timey, Theater, Video, WLS | 4 Comments »

The Merchant’s WifePainted by Boris Kustodiev, 1918 After reading our Miss America post, Jane e-mailed me and mentioned she had her own blog dedicated to “classical pictures of sensual and lovely women with body types that are rarely seen in modern media.” I can relate to this; I took a picture of this picture in […]

Filed under: Art, Fat Positive, Feel Good Friday, International, NSFW, Old Timey | 5 Comments »

This is so cool: a collection of antique photographs of beauty queens, sent in by BFDiva and tipster extraordinaire Jez, who says: I stumbled upon this collection of antique beauty queen photographs. Unfortunately, they do not date them, but I would guess around the late 1920s based on their hair and makeup. I thought it […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Fashion, Feminism, Old Timey, Tidbit, Zooey Deschanel | 41 Comments »

Poster for a side show…Originally uploaded by The LOC From the Library of Congress (via Weetabix) comes this poster, advertising a “human curiosities” sideshow from the 1914 Vermont State Fair: Ruth the Acrobat. Not only is the image interesting, so are the (many many) comments, ranging from the neutral: it looks like she doesnt have […]

Filed under: Art, Fat Positive, Fatism, NSFW, Old Timey | 19 Comments »

free for chubbiesOriginally uploaded by mo pie It’s an old-timey Lane Bryant ad! One of the Creepiest Vintage Ads of All Time. Personally, I think the creepiest one is the Love’s Baby Soft ad. But a case could certainly be made for “is it always illegal to kill a woman?” Or… most of the other […]

Filed under: Advertising, Fashion, Feminism, Old Timey | 11 Comments »

Originally uploaded by mo pie Very recently, I posted about an old-timey ad from the 1970s; here is another one, this time from 1957! Here is the ad copy: If your favorite little girl is on the plump side, dress her in Chubbettes and see her blossom into a lovely lass—as happy and self-assured as […]

Filed under: Advertising, Fashion, Kids, Magazines, Old Timey | 23 Comments »

Originally uploaded by mo pie I saw this vintage ad here and was quite struck by it. The ad is from the 1970s, and the headline reads: Tracy Harper may not care if fashionable chubby-sizes are hard to find, but her Mother does. And so does Sears. This headline was the thing that really struck […]

Filed under: Advertising, Fashion, Kids, Magazines, Old Timey, Race & Ethnicity | 32 Comments »

mermaid logo Originally uploaded by mo pie If you’re a regular Starbucks-goer, you may have noticed the switch to retro brown cups, with a return to the old Starbucks logo. (For reference, here is the more familiar green logo.) As with every development at the ‘Bucks, I checked in on Starbucks Gossip to see what […]

Filed under: Advertising, Art, Old Timey | 40 Comments »

Yesterday I ran across two great posts that I wanted to share; first, Rachel’s, which details some advice from magazines of the 1950s. (One magazine from the 70s that I sometimes bring into my classes has an article about how to raise your son to be a “real man” and contains the line, “Do you […]

Filed under: Feel Good Friday, Feminism, Humor, Magazines, Meta, Old Timey | 5 Comments »

venus of willendorf Originally uploaded by mo pie Last week, I was in Vienna. One of the things we did there was to visit the Museum of Natural History, specifically to see the 25,000-year-old Venus of Willendorf. (I had no idea this piece was in Vienna; my husband was the mastermind behind the pilgrimage.) I […]

Filed under: Art, Feminism, International, Old Timey, Personal | 16 Comments »

Talk about a drop-dead gorgeous curvy girl. This music video for “Superwoman in the Making” features a burlesque dancer called Miss Sugarpuss (among other lovely people of all sizes). Check it out: Thanks for the heads up, Donna!

Filed under: Fat Positive, Old Timey, Video | 11 Comments »

Reader Dina alerted us to this story about Disney increasing the weight capacity of some of their rides, most notably Pirates of the Caribbean and It’s A Small World. Check out the mean-spirited tone of this article, though: Disney just reeks of America. You know what else reeks of America? Fat people. Mix the two […]

Filed under: Fat Positive, Fatism, Old Timey | 40 Comments »

Thanks to Pop Culture Junk Mail, I discovered a very funny site dedicated to mocking sexist, illogical, badly drawn, and otherwise ridiculous Stupid Comics. I thought of you guys when I read this one, in which a woman loses 56 pounds in 5 weeks, then hooks up with the boss who ordered her to lose […]

Filed under: BFD Classic, Fatism, Feminism, Humor, Media, Old Timey | 4 Comments »

Even 3,500 years ago, there were awesome fat women. Some of us even ruled the world. A mummy found in the Valley of the Kings in 1881 has been positively identified as the Pharaoh Queen Hatshepsut. She usurped power from her son, reigned for 22 years, wore a false beard, built great monuments, and was […]

Filed under: International, Old Timey | 13 Comments »

When I was in grad school, my friends and I would do a poetry workshop in a cafe where one of the tables was decorated with this poster from the 1890s. Start your week off right, and check it out. So why suffer horrible tortures with inferior mechanical devices that artifically fatten? Don’t look like […]

Filed under: Advertising, Fat Positive, Old Timey | 10 Comments »