Hazel Shaw

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Hazel Shaw - When Winter Comes - Print Set

While digging through a box of books recently, I came across this nice set of 12 prints featuring Hazel Shaw in D.K.s. They were used for a series in Beautiful Britons No. 97 (November 1963) When Winter Comes.
Hazel was not typically associated with wearing D.K.s, and I know that many of you may not favour them. I also fall into that category, but I believe we can make an exception on this occasion as Hazel looks fabulous in her tight-fitting, semi-see-through D.K.s.
The four pictures below were the ones featured in that issue of Beautiful Britons; I have the other eight that were not published, which I will share in the upcoming weeks. Sadly, Hazel is no longer with us, she is certainly one of my favourites.
This set of 12 prints was available to purchase directly from ToCo for just £1 in 1963.

I often wonder how many of these print sets were actually sold; there must truly be thousands of them stored in drawers, at the bottom of wardrobes, and in boxes under beds. With a decent scanner and the marvels of modern picture software, the results can turn out quite well. The images used below have been reduced in quality for web use. If you have any of these sets that you would like to sell or lend to me so that I can share them here for all of us to enjoy, please contact me. What good are they doing hidden away? Sadly, someday someone will have to clear them out when you are gone, and often they are just thrown away without understanding their origins. I see or hear about this far too often.

When Winter Comes

For some of us it's already here. Well, we're all right, Jack, we've found out where we stored our overcoats. And HAZEL SHAW is all right, too, for Hazel has found some long underwear, and this together with the new fashion in long boots should see her through the ice and snow in fair old comfort.
Hazel hasn't bought the boots yet, but at the time of going to press the snow hadn't arrived.
Hazel is using the interim period between autumnal tints and winter snow to try out her D.K.s and take her time about buying the boots. The D.K.s are fine, but she doesn't want to rush into buying boots which are so long they come up to her ears. 

Helen Baxter

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Helen Baxter - Home Page

Today, I have given Helen Baxter her own page and gathered her pictures into a gallery. This year, Helen would be 83 years old, which certainly puts everything into perspective.

Where has all that time gone? The picture I have used here and on her homepage is probably my favourite; it captures her natural good looks shining through in a candid shot with glasses in hand, which we never see in any of her other pictures.

Let’s appreciate Helen as she was 60 years ago. So, the next time you feel frustrated with an elderly lady fumbling in her purse in front of you, remember, she too may have been a Helen Baxter 60 years ago.

Melanie Cooper

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Fan Club, Please Note

An awfully nice bloke called Mr. Garfield Foley wrote to say that as secretary of the MELANIE COOPER fan club, he'd like to know if there were any irresistible pin-up photographs available of her.

There are. And they're available not only to members of her fan club but to all readers.

Spick No 193 - December 1969

Sonje Arvold

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Norwegian Miss

Yes, they miss SONJE ARVOLD back in Norway.

For nineteen years she lived an entirely quiet life in the north of that country, and then decided it was just too quiet.

So, she came to London eight months ago to work as an au pair girl, and the agency found her a cosy niche with a family in Golders Green. Sonje couldn't get over the exciting enjoyment of the Soho clubs at first, but she settled down in the end and adjusted her outlook so that she wouldn't feel so giddy.

Saturdays are her days off. That's when you'll see this lovely Norwegian miss all caught up in the London scene.

Spick No 212 - July 1971

Valetta - Private Collection

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Valetta Gives Us A Sneaky Peek

How about two fabulous snapshots of Valetta playfully revealing a peek of her stocking tops, while managing to look completely unaware that they were on display for all to see?

Sylvia Jauqes

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Lovely To Look At

We realise we're stating the obvious.

West Berlin secretary SYLVIA JAUQES is really lovely to look at and anyone who thinks otherwise has had too many late nights and can't see proper.

Unlike Paris, where they were slow to admit London fashions had clicked into gear, West Germany took up the mini-skirt vogue with alacrity and delight, and Sylvia is among the thousands of West Berlin office girls who swing along with the London girls.

They're gradually getting round to it in Paris. It's a little bit of prideful teeth-gnashing, really, but they'll be all right when they've got over it. Unless the General decides to pronounce against it.

It won't affect Sylvia. She'll go on looking lovely in or out of her mini-skirts.

Span No 156 - August 1967

ToCo Enthusiasts and Collectors

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ToCo Data Files Update

As I am sure, those who are frequent visitors to the site will be familiar with the ToCo model and book data files, which have always been free to download at the top of the ToCo book and model page. They are at least 10 years old, and we were aware that they contained some inaccuracies.

These original files were compiled by my friend Tony and have been a superb resource to have at my fingertips all this time, so I am delighted to announce that after many more thousands of hours of work scouring through every ToCo magazine to extract all that data, they have been fully updated, and they are now very accurate. 

So, I would like to give a massive thank you to Tony for doing all this work and then to make them available to me so that I can make them available to you. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Phil and David for their continued support and research. Their contributions make this site interesting and a great resource to many collectors. I assure you I could not do it all on my own. 

I have updated the download links on the relevant pages and I will  provide direct links to them at the bottom of this post. To the few, and I hope they are just a few, these files are free to download and use for your research and collection information. Please don’t pass them off as your own work or repost them anywhere; just enjoy having all that information freely available and thank Tony for doing all the work by not abusing them.

Vintage Fetish

BrazenBooks Update

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BrazenBooks - New Listings

BrazenBooks, the sister site of Vintage Fetish, has been up and running for 15 months now. I have already listed a couple of thousand books to kick things off. This is just the beginning as I have thousands more titles to add. The mix of titles is very varied, ranging from the more mundane to the very exotic.

I plan to maintain a focus on Toco, Pin-Up, and Glamour genres here, with regular blog updates continuing as usual on Vintage Fetish. Some of the books that I will be listing on BrazenBooks could comfortably work on this site. Therefore, my aim is to bring your attention to those titles in the New Books section here. By clicking on a cover or link for BrazenBooks listings, you will be directed to the relevant page on that site via a new browser tab.

Over time, there will be more frequent blog updates and images posted on BrazenBooks. If any of this piques your interest, feel free to explore and see if anything catches your eye. The site search and product search functions work exceptionally well in comparison to Vintage Fetish.

Please note that the payment and purchasing process works differently on BrazenBooks, so I encourage you to familiarise yourselves with the information provided before making any purchases.

I now have more freedom to offer a wider array of content of many unique items. So, expect the unexpected and be sure to visit regularly.

Janet Neill

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Merry Mrs

Now happily married is Scots model JANET NEILL.

Well, life is always what you make it, when you're married there are two of you to make it well worthwhile. It's fun finding out that life is fun. It's hard work being miserable. With Janet it's natural to be gay. Husbands, like life, can be fun too.

Spick Extra No 14 - Summer 1961

Paula - Private Collection

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Our Favourite Nurse

How about a couple more snapshots of Paula in her nurse's uniform as a delightful mid-month treat?

Jane Matthews

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Girls and Dolls

It's not only little girls with pigtails who like dolls. Big girls with fashionable hairdo’s also like 'em. Take, for example, pretty JANE MATTHEWS.

Jane really loves dolls and has a collection that would fill any nursery. Big ones, small ones, cuddly ones. English ones, Dutch ones, French ones.

The fact is, Jane loved dolls even when she was only so high and has never grown out of them. And they come in all shapes and sizes.

We'd say that Jane is quite a doll herself. When she gets married her husband will find that in addition to Jane he's got a houseful of others.

We don't think any of them will have quite the same measurements as Jane herself, but they all look mighty cute.

Before we forget, Jane's measurements are worth recording. She tapes up to 37"-24"-36". Inches like those add up to quite some doll in her own right! And she lives at Barnet, within a long stone's throw of the London she loves.

Spick Extra No 14 - Summer 1961

Julie Marsden

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Layered Nylons?

This intriguing picture features Julie Marsden, who appeared in just four magazines for Toco. However, this particular image seems to deviate from her usual sets. A closer look reveals an unconventional choice of undergarments, with what appears to be flesh-coloured tights underneath black stockings, and possibly no knickers or alternatively she is wearing see-through knickers with the waist band of her suspender belt under her knickers. The fashion of wearing knickers over tights was more prevalent in the late 1960s and 70s, a stark contrast to today's style of wearing knickers under tights. The concept of layered nylons seems to have a historical precedent, as seen in the case of Diane Clarke in Spick 178, who also sported stockings over tights. Special thanks to Tocofan for sharing this unique photograph. Please keep them coming!