Postcard Image

Postcard Image
As the Victorian era passed into the Edwardian and Roaring Twenties, a market developed for bisque and china bawdy novelties and figurines of women in revealing outfits. Although now most of these figurines seem more coy and cute than ribald and risque, in their time they symbolized the casting off of the perceived restraints of the Victorian era.

These little lovelies included bathing beauties, who came clad in swimsuits of real lace or in stylish painted beach wear, as well as mermaids, harem ladies, and nudies, who were meant to wear nothing more than an engaging smile. Also produced were flippers, innocent appearing figurines who reveal a bawdy secret when flipped over, and squirters, figurines that were meant to squirt water out of an appropriate orifice.

Most were manufactured in Germany from the late 1800s through the 1930s, often showing remarkable artistry and imagination, with Japan entering the market during World War I.

Friday, October 6, 2023

Pleased as Punch!

This bathing beauty lamp has appeared previously on this blog. A similar lamp had once been offered as a prize on a punch board, a picture of which appeared in that post.


I have finally found an original of that punch board (sometimes referred to as punchboard) to add to my collection. Early punch boards were a homemade affair, a tavern owner or innkeeper drilling multiple holes in a wooden board, inserting a small roll of paper with a number written on it in each hole, then sealing the holes. Patrons could purchase a chance to punch out one or more holes and if they drew out a winning number, won cash or some other prize. In 1905, the first cardboard version of this game was patented. These inexpensive mass-produced games became popular in bars, drugstores, barbershops, and other venues as a trade stimulator and they were produced in a wide variety of sizes, colors, and themes (such as sports or pin-up girls). For a low price, typically anywhere from a nickel to a quarter, the patron was given a metal stylus (or, as in this example, simply used a pencil) and allowed punch out one or more holes to reveal a number. If the number matched the winning number on the punchboard (here secured behind the gold foil seal), the lucky patron won cash or another prize. Punch boards were popular games through WWII, but states began cracking down on them as illegal gambling devices. Criminal gangs also controlled much of the punch board trade. One common scam was for the maker of the punch board to create a key or map of the winning holes, allowing a confederate or the venue owner to make off with the top prizes. 



On this card, each punch is labeled with a female name. There are some wonderful "old-fashioned" monikers rarely heard today.


The back of the card includes a table with the same list of names. In some punch boards, there was a slip of paper behind the hole which the patron pulled out to reveal his or her number. I suspect that with this game, the table served as a key, with a number written down next to each name.


 

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