Alexandra Holmes

After Hours - Wives and Girlfriends

These pictures were sent in by Alex’s husband, Rob. Rob says Alex loves to dress up and do a bit of home modelling for fun. Rob’s hobby is photography; mind you, yours would be too with a wife like Alex!

Alex is from Sheffield, is a mum and works part time as a cleaner.

Alex can clean my house any day she likes!

Seamed stockings and proper knickers complete the perfect ensemble for aficionados.

If you'd like to see more of Alex, then please hit the Like button. She might just return and surprise you some more.

Janet Neill and Sadie Milligan

An Update from Saltcoats

Janet Neill was born in 1937 in Kilwinning, just a couple of miles northeast of Saltcoats. She married George Fleming on 30th March 1959 at Barony Church in Ardrossan, which was recently sold and is now being redeveloped. At the time of her marriage to George, Janet was living at 4 Galloway Place - a small, terraced house not far from the sea front in Saltcoats - and was working as a Dental Nurse. What’s interesting to note on her marriage certificate is that Sadie Milligan is one of her witnesses.

Sadie (Sarah) Milligan was born in 1938 in Ardrossan. She married Patrick McAteer on 4th August 1962, and was married at the same church as Janet in Ardrossan. At the time of her marriage, she was living at 3 Caledonia Road Ardrossan - though it looks to me like the original house is now gone. Her profession is shown as an Explosives Process Worker; there was a large explosive factory in Ardeer just south of Saltcoats.

I often wonder, as I put things together and look at the local area, how they met and became friends. Janet was on the scene much earlier than Sadie, first appearing in May 1956. Sadie’s first pictures were not seen until June 1958, some 2 years later. Sadie, of course, was roughly 2 years younger than Janet, but both girls would have been about 19 or 20 years old for their first photo shoots. It certainly does make you think who else might have worked at the Explosives Factory, as it was such a large local employer. Julie Scott appeared in a couple of two-girl sets with Sadie, so perhaps she worked at the Explosives Factory as well.

You can just image the talk that went on during breaks about showing your stockings and knickers to a local photographer for some extra cash! I wonder if they are both still with us; Janet would be about 83 now and just full of great stories to tell us all.

The pictures of Janet are taken from Span No 54 February 1959 - just a month before she was married; what a lucky man George Fleming was!

The pictures of Sadie are from Spick No 105 and Beautiful Britons No 82, both published in August 1962 - the same month that Sadie was married. Oddly, both sets are of her in Directoire Knickers and in magazines published in the summer; not sure what that was saying to Patrick, her new husband!

Both girls though went on to appear in ToCo publications after they were married, so it was presumably something that their husbands approved of.

From Wikipedia

The Ardeer peninsula was the site of a massive dynamite manufacturing plant built by Alfred Bernhard Nobel. Having scoured the country for a remote location to establish his explosive factory, Nobel finally acquired 100 acres from the Earl of Eglinton, and established the British Dynamite Factory in 1871, and went on to create what was described then as the largest explosives factory in the world. The factory had its own jetty on the River Garnock in Irvine Harbour serving ships disposing of time expired explosives or importing materials for the works.

At its peak, the site employed almost 13,000 workers in a fairly remote location and had its own railway station. The station was used solely for workers and those special visitors with business in the ICI plant, and was never a regular passenger stop. Until the mid-1960s, there were two trains per day to transport workers. Although the line no longer exists, the abandoned platform remains, hidden beneath dense undergrowth.

Many thanks to David for researching this.

Jill Lucienne

Skaters Waltz

JILL LUCIENNE is a girl with many talents, but roller skating is not one of them. Don't let this upset you - a girl can't have everything, particularly when she's so well endowed by Nature.

As you can see, Jill isn't taking it at all seriously, although she has every reason to look less happy about it - than she should, considering you can't hit the deck on roller skates without shaking every bone in your body.

Jill trying to get the better of roller skates reminds us of the blonde who refused to be intimidated by the closing doors of tube trains - you can't win without extra-sensory perception. One summer evening the blonde, refusing to be perturbed by the threatening swish of the closing doors, unhurriedly and gracefully alighted at a station that shall be nameless.

Span Extra No 10 - Summer 1960

Jill Lucienne - Update

Jill Lucienne - Update

Thanks to David I can update some information on Jill Lucienne’s home page with accurate dates, who she married and that she did not, after all, emigrate to New Zealand.

Funfare No 21 - September 1959

Six No 2

Six No 2 - A Viking Company Publication

Isobel Miller

Can Can ?

North of the Border the terpsichorean accent is more on eightsome reels than Can-Cans, but never let it be said that a true Scot can’t adapt herself to the mood of the moment. When the mood took on a French bias, we asked ISOBEL MILLER if she could Can-Can for us, she said ‘Oui, oui,” in Gaelic and then told us to stand back and measure the high kicks.

But how can you measure a kick that practically goes out of sight ?

You can’t. Anymore than Isobel can stop her suspender-clips slipping off her stocking-tops.

This is no high kick—it’s not any part of a Can- Can. All it does for Isobel is keep her suspenders in place!

Oh, well, it’s one way of getting the right angle on Isobel’s nice round knees. Other interesting assets are in inches - 35"-22"-35"

Carole-Anne Blake

I'll Catch You Up

They were panting along down the grassy track, their spiked shoes picking up every leaf until their soles were absolutely clogged with the stuff.

It was one of those exhausting cross-country events which only fanatics go in for, and Prideaux senior was leading the field, with Biffkins panting behind him.

Suddenly Prideaux senior gave up. He stopped dead. Biffkins panted by him, breasting the upward slope that led out of the wood into a field full of chewing cows.

"It’s all right, Biffkins,” said Prideaux, “I’ll catch you up.”

Crafty devil. He didn’t say a word to Biffkins that he’d seen a gorgeous blonde perilously near some barbed wire, and poor old Biffkins just panted on and never knew what he’d missed.

What had he missed?

A corker. CAROLE-ANNE BLAKE is a London model with lovely shape and a winsome twinkle. Prideaux senior introduced himself and said, “Just thought I’d tell you about the barbed wire.”

“Oh thanks,” said Carole-Anne, “but I know about it.”

Still, she thought, he was an awfully decent young feller to point it out to her and they had a long chat about wildflowers, and Prideaux said he collected stamps as well.

Good old Prideaux senior.

Joy Carlton

Just Right - But For What ?

You can either take them or leave them. JOY CARLTON took them but she still isn’t sure of the most suitable occasion on which to wear her new longs. Just for a cold day, perhaps!

Mary Graham

Medals For Mary

It’s a pleasure to record that lovely MARY GRAHAM has recently won a national beauty contest, and we’re only sorry we weren’t present to pin on the medals ourselves. But you can’t have everything, can you? It’s enough to know that we know Mary —that in itself is a privilege, for she is inexpressibly charming.

Anne Furnaess

Student Model

Don’t be misled we're not inferring that ANNE FURNAESS is studying the glamorous art of modelling. Anne’s all set for a scholastic career. It just happens that she’s a spare-time model and a full-time student hence the heading.

Studying can be a hard grind. It helps to have a record player and a bowl of fruit to hand to lighten the burden of equations and logarithms.

Modelling, on the other hand, is pure fun.

All you need is a sense of humour, a sweet smile a series of nicely- distributed curves and a flair. Result, model student having fun and looking good.

Span Extra Spring 1959

Paula Page

But Can She Cook?

That’s something like asking Margot Fonteyn if she can sing— because naturally it doesn’t matter, if you see what we mean. A girl like PAULA PAGE doesn’t really have to cook, because when this gorgeous blonde’s around only a moron would have his mind on food.

But if you’re a hungry statistician, just focus on Paula’s 40"-26"-36".

Or if you really are a moron, you’ll be pleased to know that Paula can poach a very tasty egg. She also makes marvellous coffee.

Forgetting food, how many ways are there of inhabiting a settee without failing off?

That question has got Paula a little worried, particularly as right now she’s hovering on the brink. Oh, what a fall when those curves hit the floor!.

Span Extra - Spring 1959

Susan McKay

Caught Out

It wasn’t like being caught in the pantry with the jam cover off. It was just being caught by the camera when she was out. Hairdresser SUSAN McKAY is so often out it was inevitable.

Susan thinks it's a pity she can’t sometimes be alone when she’s out, but it would be a crying shame to us if there were no opportunities at all for pushing our camera at her through the hedges.

Swelp the barmaid’s bustle, as they say, what kind of great outdoors would it be if you could only photograph corn, gates, bullrushes and cowslips' How about it if you couldn’t once focus on a pretty hairdresser? You might just as well climb a high house and fall off the roof.

“Yes,” said Susan, “why don’t you?”

Spick & Span Extra No 5 - Winter 1962

Shirley Epps

Coming Out?

SHIRLEY EPPS doesn’t need an awful lot of coaxing to come out, but she does need some tactful type to remind her that skirts, though short this season, are still being worn!

“I know that, stupid,” said Shirley, “and I’m not budging from here until mine turns up.” Shirley was, in fact, only hanging around the back door waiting for the dry cleaners to deliver the skirt.

At her New Year party she fell into the apple bucket.

Then the guy next door (who never misses a thing) popped his eyes over the fence. Shirley saw through that, however, and turned her back on him.

And when she finally get out it in a floral dress the skirt came shrunk.

Anyway, the floral frock was real springlike—and so, in the sunshine, was Shirley, as she gambolled over the grass.

Span Extra - Spring 1959

Dawn Grayson

Do You Collect Orchids?

If you do, then please keep them in a perfect condition until you have a hundred exotic blooms. Then present them to your wife’s mother. This will convince both your wife and her mother that you have gone off your nut, and they will humour you and coddle you for the rest of your days.

If however, you don’t collect orchids and don’t know the joys of having such fragrant beauty for your very own, console yourself by cutting out these pictures of DAWN GRAYSON and pasting them in your album. Your friends will all be delighted to let you show them your album from then on.

Dawn is a Luton girl who loves gardening and landscape-painting.

Spick No 132 - August 1965

Ben's Books

Strip Lingerie No 12