1952 Spring Break Wardrobe: Vintage Jantzen Lastex-Powered Swim Suits

I work at a university, and this past week the talk among the students was all about - "So where are you heading for Spring Break?"

Whether the destination is Cancun, Key West or Montego Bay - here are the perfect swimsuits to take along to wow your friends...

Jantzen swim suits advertisement - Life magazine, June 9, 1952

.

.

Love this vintage ad copy.  "Figure shaping genius...frankly alluring lines...Jantzen streamlining...the most exciting swim suits in all the world." 

Isn't the heart shaped bodice and the shirring on this brocade Delilah swim suit fabulous?  Her suit is laton-powered - his is lastex-powered...

In the 1980's Real Men Didn't Eat Quiche - and they probably didn't in the 1950's either.  But real men of the 1950's were apparently wearing skimpy Jantzen swim trunks like these.  

Jantzen has named these red trunks: "Daredevil."  An appropriate name considering a guy would have to be pretty daring to go out in public with this peek-a-boo criss-cross design on his hips - don't you think?

Love this Jantzen ad, but I was lucky enough to own some real live 1950's swim suits for a short time...

This past summer, I found a group of three vintage swimsuits - two Jantzen, one Catalina - tucked away in the zippered pocket of this suitcase.

The thing is - when I bought the suitcase at an estate sale for a couple of bucks, I hadn't bothered to investigate the inside of the suitcase thoroughly - and apparently neither had the estate sale pros.  What a nice surprise I had waiting for me when I came home and pulled a family's trio of swimsuits out of the pocket!

Here's Junior's suit - a pair of boy's size 12 black swim trunks with a colorful striped band, and a Jantzen label inside.

The Mrs. wore this buttery yellow 1950's swimsuit with a Jantzen label and "diving girl" emblem.

It's hard to tell from the photo, but it's a rather sexy swimsuit.  The cups have a pretty pleating, and have boning to help hold it up when the straps are removed!

This suit deserved a curvier bosom than mine - so I decided to put it up for bid on eBay last summer.  It was popular with the bidders ($92), but not nearly as hot as the men's swim trunks that Dad wore...

These vintage 1950's swim trunks have a Catalina label inside that says - "Styled for the Stars of Hollywood."  

I love the five bold brown and orange sharks swimming from back to front!

Apparently eBayers liked the sharks too:  these trunks sold for $142.  

Note the elastic around the legs.  Like the swim trunks in the 1952 Jantzen ad, these Catalina trunks show off a bit more leg, etc. than American men these days are generally comfortable with. 

But Spring Break is a good time to be a bit of a "Daredevil" and let it all hang out (figuratively speaking, of course).  So guys, toss a pair of trunks like these into your backpack before you head south. No question, you will impress the ladies when you step out onto that beach.

Better yet...

...make sure you bring along a pipe.  That will impress her for sure.  :-)

To Be, or Not to Be...

Sorry for the long absence. Like Hamlet, I've been caught up in an internal debate...

Hamlet has been filmed many times, but few can hold a candle to Sir Laurence Olivier's portrayal of the Danish prince in 1948.

My dilemma is (thankfully) not quite as serious as deciding whether to live or to die, but rather...

To Blog, or Not to Blog? That is the question.

Whether 'tis nobler to keep my blog alive, even if it suffers terribly from neglect.
Or simply end it - so that I can focus all my energies on my latest passion of selling on eBay and Etsy?

I know that many of you have faced this same dilemma.  So what do you do when something important comes along that steals away all the time that you used to spend on blogging?  The easy answer is - Well, just stop blogging!  Or - just blog occasionally whenever you have the time...

But it's not that easy for me. When I truly care about something, I want to do it well.  My blog is my baby!  I gave it life, nurtured it, watched it blossom!

And these past few weeks, while I've been devoting all of my time to my antique business - I can hear it calling out to me in the night, like a child....

Feed me! I'm hungry for attention!

So I'm torn between two loves right now. And I'm not quite sure what the future holds for "A Sip of Sarsaparilla." I know that for at least the next month or so, I will likely be visiting your blogs less often (which makes me sad), and my posts will be sporadic. And then maybe after a little break, I might find a renewed energy for blogging. Or this could be my last post...

IF this does turn out to be my last post...this is the dress I want to be wearing when my blog is laid to rest...

A beautiful ivory Edwardian era lacy dress...worthy of its own Shakespearean soliloquy or sonnet...

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and temperate..." 

I discovered this antique dress at a high-end estate sale last summer - and my heart stopped when I saw it!  I paid $70 for it - quite a bit more than I spent on any other vintage purchase all year.  But I think it was worth every penny, and more! 

Look at these romantic bell sleeves...

And the variety of laces and pleating and embroidery...

I think it's almost more beautiful from the back view... 

These photos were obviously taken months ago, before winter settled in.  Ah...green grass, and sunlight shining through the airy lace!  Can't wait for spring!

Lots of snaps on this early 1900's dress - years before zippers were used in clothing...

I hope you enjoyed the dress - because I enjoyed sharing it with you!

You know, I'm pretty sure I'll be back. 

In the meantime, warm spring wishes to you...

Susan