Cabinet Card of a Provocative Woman on a Fainting Couch in Chicago, Illinois

This cabinet card features a young smiling woman lying on a fainting couch. The image is quite risque for its time. The style and folds of the woman’s dress, her exposed feet, her smile and her body language all contribute to the provocativeness of this image.

Fainting couches were popular in the 19th century and used predominately by woman. They are couches with a back that is traditionally raised at one end. There are two major theories as to why these type of couches became popular.

One theory for the predominance of fainting couches is that women were actually fainting because their corsets were laced too tightly, thus restricting blood flow. However, pictures from the 1860s show women horseback riding, playing tennis, and engaging in other vigorous activities in corsets without hindrance. A tightly laced corset restricts airflow to the lungs and, as a result, if the wearer exerted themselves to the point of needing large quantities of oxygen and was unable to fully inflate the lungs, this could lead to fainting. Hyperventilation for any reason could also potentially result in brief loss of consciousness.

Another theory for the predominance of fainting couches is home treatment of female hysteria through manual pelvic massage by home visiting doctors and midwives. As a “disease” that needed constant, recurring (usually weekly) in-home treatment with a procedure that through manual massage could sometimes take hours, creating specialized furniture for maximum comfort during the extended procedure seems likely, as does the later creation of fainting rooms for privacy during the intimate massage procedure.

According to The Cabinet Card Gallery, the photographer of this cabinet card was J. B. Wilson of Chicago, Illinois. The subject of this photograph may have been an actress.

(via The Cabinet Card Gallery)

Found Photos Capture Young Women of Chicago in Swimsuits From the Late 1940s

The bikini was officially invented in 1946 and named after the Bikini Atoll in the south Pacific, where the U.S. performed nuclear tests. This suit was tiny, revealing the belly button and buttocks.

Most public beaches banned the use of this new tiny swimsuit till the ’50s.  However, this wasn’t the style of two-piece that was usually worn in the ’40s – it was a little bit too revealing.

Before the bikini, women started wearing two-piece swimsuits that looked just like one-piece bathing suits cut in half. The top was a full-coverage bra top, either with two thin straps or a halter top. The bottom looked like a tight mini-skirt, starting from the waistline and covering the entire backside. Another popular style of skirt for the two-piece was a flared skirt bottom of the same length. A top that started to gain in popularity was even more revealing – a bandeau top with strings attached to the center front that tied at the neck.

By the late 1940s, one and two-piece swimsuits were losing even more modesty. The strapless two piece was especially popular to those brave enough to wear them.

Here below is a cool set of found photos that shows amateur models of Chicago in two-piece swimsuits around 1949.

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24 Amazing Color Photos Capture Chicago's Street Scenes During the Blizzard of 1979

The Chicago blizzard of 1979 was a major blizzard that affected northern Illinois and northwest Indiana on January 13–14, 1979. It was one of the largest Chicago snowstorms in history at the time, with 21 inches of snowfall in the two-day period.

The blizzard lasted for a total of 38 hours. At its peak, wind gusts reached speeds of 39 miles per hour. Five people died during the blizzard, with approximately 15 others seriously injured due to conditions created by the storm.

O’Hare Airport was closed and all flights were grounded for 96 hours, from January 13 to 15. The cold weather and snowfall throughout the rest of January and February resulted in frozen tracks throughout the Chicago ‘L’ system.

These amazing photos from masMiguel were taken by American photographer Richard Drozda that documented Chicago's street scenes during the blizzard of 1979.

Chicago. Aftermath of a snowfall that cost a mayor his job. Franklin and Randolph, 1979

Chicago. Blasting over the plowed snow on Raven Street, Norwood Park, 1979

Chicago. Franklin near Randolph, 1979

Chicago. Lake looking west from Wells, 1979

Chicago. Looking east on Randolph after the big January blizzard. The Bismarck Theater (now Cadillac Palace) marquee is in view, 1979

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50 Color Found Snaps That Show the 1948-1949 Chicago Railroad Fair

The Chicago Railroad Fair was an event organized to celebrate and commemorate 100 years of railroad history west of Chicago, Illinois. It was held in Chicago in 1948 and 1949 along the shore of Lake Michigan and is often referred to as "the last great railroad fair" with 39 railroad companies participating. The board of directors for the show was a veritable "Who's Who" of railroad company executives.

Erected on 50 acres (200,000 m2) of Burnham Park in Chicago between 21st and 31st Streets, the fair opened after only six months of planning. A grand opening for the fair commenced on July 20 with a parade that featured such spectacles as a military marching band and a replica of a troop train, a contingent of cowboys and Native Americans, a replica of the Tom Thumb, the first American locomotive, and the spry, octogenarian widow of Casey Jones, who served as honorary Grand Master of the parade.

Besides the thirty-nine railroads who participated in the fair, there were more than twenty equipment manufacturers, including General Motors. The Santa Fe also sponsored an Indian Village where Native Americans sold handicrafts, staged dances, and explained the different types of lodging that were on display.

These fascinating color snaps were found by Joe+Jeanette Archie that show the 1948-1949 Chicago Railroad Fair.

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Beautiful Vintage Photos of Chicago in the 1950s by Mildred Mead

Mildred Mead, born in 1910, was a professional photographer, both freelance and by contract. During the 1950s, she captured the everyday life of the people throughout Chicago, such as recorded activities associated with the Hyde Park Kenwood Community Conference, Michael Reese Hospital, the University of Chicago Planning Unit, the Maxwell Street Market, city parks, the lakefront, the Hyde Park 57th St. Fair, and public housing and urban redevelopment projects.

Below are 37 beautiful vintage photographs of the city taken by Mead, courtesy of the University of Chicago Library:

Alley in back of the row houses on Outhouse Alley, 35th Street and Honore, Chicago, June 1950.

In a doorway of a home a little girl plays with her dolls, Chicago, July 1950.

Boys cooling off in the summer heat, Chicago, 1950s.

Masser Hotel, Chicago, 1950s.

Minerva Ave, Chicago, 1950s.

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45 Fascinating Color Photos Capture Street Scenes of Chicago in the 1960s

In the 1960s, white residents in several neighborhoods of Chicago left the city for the suburban areas – in many American cities, a process known as white flight – as Blacks continued to move beyond the Black Belt.

While home loan discriminatory redlining against blacks continued, the real estate industry practiced what became known as blockbusting, completely changing the racial composition of whole neighborhoods.

Structural changes in industry, such as globalization and job outsourcing, caused heavy job losses for lower-skilled workers. At its peak during the 1960s, some 250,000 workers were employed in the steel industry in Chicago.

In 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. and Albert Raby led the Chicago Freedom Movement, which culminated in agreements between Mayor Richard J. Daley and the movement leaders.

Take a look at these fascinating color photos from ZeusMeister to see what Chicago looked liked in 1967.

Woods Theater, Oriental Theatre, Sherman Hotel, Chicago, 1967

Randolph Street theaters, 1967

Apartment buildings along lake, Chicago, 1967

Astor Street, Chicago, 1967

Astor Street, Chicago, 1967

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40 Amazing Color Pics Capture Chicago During the 1967 Blizzard

The Chicago blizzard of 1967 struck northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana on January 26–27, 1967, with a record-setting 23 inches (58 cm) snow fall in Chicago and its suburbs before the storm abated the next morning.

Till now it remains the greatest snowfall in one storm in Chicago history. As the blizzard was a surprise during the day with people already at work or school, it stopped the city for a few days as people dug out.

“The storm was a full-blown blizzard, with 50 mph-plus northeast wind gusts creating drifts as high as 15 feet.”

Here below is a set of amazing color pics that shows street scenes of Chicago during the blizzard in early 1967.

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Beautiful Photos Show Exterior and Interior of an Illinois House in the Mid-1960s

A beautiful photo collection from the Huebner family that shows exterior and interior of a house at 316 Grove Street, Normal, Illinois, where they lived from 1964 to 1968.

Todd and Karla behind the house on Grove Street, Normal, IL, January 1965. Photo by Walter Lamb

Karla, Wayne (with the Praktiflex FX), Dolores, and Todd in front of the house on Grove Street, Normal, IL, spring/summer 1965. Photo by Walter Lamb

Wayne and the Mercedes 220 outside the house on Grove Street, Normal, IL, July-August 1966

The Mercedes 250S in the driveway of the house on Grove Street, Normal, IL, winter 1967-68

The house on Grove Street, Normal, IL, winter 1967-68

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Robert Plant’s Sexy “Food Play” Ice Cream Photos, Chicago, 1977

sitophilia (food play) – a form of sexual fetishism in which participants are aroused by erotic situations involving food.

Below are some photographs of Robert Plant enjoying an ice cream cone in front of a “Happy Birthday, America” sign during Led Zeppelin’s 1977 North American Tour stop in April at Chicago Stadium. This was the eleventh and final concert tour of North America by the English rock band. The tour was divided into three legs, with performances commencing on 1 April and concluding on 24 July 1977. The tour was originally intended to finish on 13 August, but was cut short following the death of Robert Plant’s son.

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Amazing Pics That Show Interior of a Chicago House During the 1960s

These amazing pics were found by Ryan Khatam that show interior of a Chicago house during the 1960s. This house was owned by the Sorensens who also owned a paint store and they lived in Logan Square, Chicago. Wife is Glenna Sorensen and husband is (?) Sorensen.

Living room, 1963

Bedroom, 1963

Girl's room, 1963

Girl's room, 1963

Kitchen, 1963

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A Series of Vintage Photos Documented a Day in the Life of a 1940s Housewife

In 1941, LIFE magazine sent photographer William C. Shrout to document the lives of one of the biggest single demographics in the U.S: the 30 million housewives who did most of the washing, made beds, cooked meals and nursed almost all the babies of the nation, with little help, no wages and no other jobs.

They are responsible for making a greater number of attractive homes, raising better-fed and clothed children and managing the highest standard of mass home living that the world has ever known.

The magazine chose Jane Amberg from Kanakee, Illinois as its subject, a modern, young, middle-class housewife. Around 1927, she went on a blind date with Gilbert Amberg. Three years later they were married, when Jane was 21.

LIFE documented the jobs Jane performed to make sure their household ran smoothly. It represented the responsibilities of millions of other American women a the time: seamstress, chauffeur, laundress, chambermaid, cook, dishwasher, waitress and nurse. In Jane's case, a maid came in occasionally to vacuum the floor and wash the windows, at $0.35 per hour.

Through all of this, Jane had to be her husband's "best girl" outside the home. Once per week, the couple went to dinner, the movies or visited friends. They also entertained at home.

Jane busy straightening up before launching into some heavy cleaning with dust mop and carpet sweeper.

Jane making one of the four beds she does daily, after doing breakfast dishes and getting the kids to school.

Jane scrubbing the bathtub in bathroom at home.

Jane with Peter, Tony and Pamela, as they go to the drugstore to buy ice cream cones, after the boys had haircuts at local barbershop in town.

Jane using pop-up toaster, as she makes sandwiches for her three children.

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