Crossdressing In The Past

[Linda P.]

A superb resource for those interested in the subject of vintage crossdressing is:
digitaltransgenderarchive.net

Of particular interest to those of us on this forum would be their collections of documents, magazines, photos, etc., that can be found by clicking on "browse" on the home page menu, then under "by topic" click "crossdressers."

An interesting example of the kind of material available is a magazine from 1961 called, "Letters From Female Impersonators." The title seems to refer to performers, but they were just crossdressers like us who sent in their photos and wrote about themselves. If this link works it should take you to it, just scroll down:

https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/downloads/z890rt295

[Jaylyn]

Interesting stuff.

[Lisa Roberts]

I just have the biggest grin from ear to ear! I was born in 1961 and looking back at pictures from that long ago it really does make my spirit soar! I guess sometimes because I struggle with acceptance of myself, and societal values as a whole, I guess I feel that this is a new and relative issue. But seeing pictures and stories of girls a long, long, long time before us I feel validated. Even though it is a daily struggle, I love being a cross dresser, I love the woman inside of me.
Lace and Big Smiles!!
Lisa

[aprilgirl]

Some real pioneers there during a different, challenging age. Thanks for sharing, Linda

[Tracii G]

I think it was 1964 when I was12 years old I saw my first tranny.
He was James Herndon well known all over town as Sweet Evening Breeze. He was such a nice person giving to charity of his time and money.
As kids we would ride our bicycles into downtown and see him every now and then all dressed up.We talked to him all the time too.
There was another named Henry Faulkner. Sweets and Henry were the original drag queens in town.
Both were very friendly to everyone in town and the people accepted them for who they were.
The actor Rock Hudson lived in my town back in the 30's and he owned the local gay bar known as the Gilded Cage which is known as the Bar Complex which is still a gay bar with drag shows.
So being a tranny here isn't a bad thing really.

[junetv]

Thanks for heads up about this resource.

Reminds me of an online version of the Casa Susana - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/17/casa-susanna_n_5161190.html

[Mickitv]

Thank you for providing the link It is very interesting

[Kayliedaskope]

Interesting stuff! It's always amazing the tings you can find when you simply just look.

[GeorgeA]

Tracii,
Rock Hudson was born in 1925. Wouldn't he be way too young to run a bar in '30s?

[Vintage4sarah]

I simply love reading stories like this and my imagination wanders with the wish that I could have been like them when I grew up in the 60s !

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Linda:hugs:, That brings back memories, Back in the early 60s' I would find
crossdressing papers and magazines in the ADULT book stores.>Orchid...:daydreaming:...

[Persephone]

A great resource! Thank you!

[audreyinalbany]

the 1960 version of 'crossdressers.com'

[BrendaPDX]

I was surprised at how much content,and how many were open about there cross dressing. 1961, I guess we have always been around:) Thank you for sharing. Brenda

[Laura912]

The link provided significant nostalgia taking me back to the clothes I was trying on starting in the forties. Thank you.

[Tracii G]

Tracii,
Rock Hudson was born in 1925. Wouldn't he be way too young to run a bar in '30s?

You are right about the date of birth so that would shift the time table more to the 50's thanks Salerba.
There are all kinds of stories of his connection to my city and the gay club.

[Linda P.]

Glad to see many others have an interest in what is "our" history and in those who were, as aprilgirl said, "real pioneers during a different, challenging age."
Coincidentally from that same year, 1961, the Femulate blog has photos from the magazine Transvestia. Very lovely ladies, including members of the "Hose and Heels Club," and also Susanna from the "Casa Susanna" story that junetv linked to.

http://www.femulate.org/2016/06/the-women-of-transvestia.html

[Linda Leigh]

All of the links are great. I was born in 1946 and remember trying on my sisters and mothers clothes in the early 50's. fond memories

[Tracii G]

I am enjoying the links and love anything historical.

[Dana44]

The stories of these people are awesome. nice read and i love history.

[Bobbi46]

History is a wonderful thing with so many facets to interest everybody, it makes me wonder in fact how far back does crossdressing go? is it longer than we actually realise because time flies by so fast.

[Linda P.]

Stella and Fanny. Crossdressing Victorians

https://historywithatwist.wordpress.com/2013/02/20/the-extraordinary-case-of-the-cross-dressing-victorians/

[barbara gordon]

This is awesome . Thank You for posting it.

[Kiwi Primrose]

Thanks for the trip back in time, the time I still dream about. I wore some of my mother's clothes then and my femme wardrobe still tends towards that era.

[Bobbi46]

Stella and Fanny, what an amazing glimpse into the past but what about the Romans and civilizations before then where there not dressers then as well?

[Sami Brown]

What came to my attention is the number who were wearing long black gloves. I wonder whether that was common fashion or just a way to cover hairy arms?

I agree with the others that this is a predecessor to websites such as this one. Both serve the purpose of answering questions and providing support, as well as a forum for sharing pictures of oneself.

Sami

[Linda P.]

Stella and Fanny, what an amazing glimpse into the past but what about the Romans and civilizations before then where there not dressers then as well?

As to ancient civilizations, in the Bible there is the passage from Deuteronomy 22:5 warning against crossdressing: "the woman shall not wear that which pertaineth to a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment"
So there must have been enough men wearing women's garments to make it necessary to issue a condemnation.
In Greek mythology Hermaphroditus, the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, from whom we get the word hermaphrodite, after joining his body with his female lover, had both male and female characteristics. In the festivals honoring him, in order to simulate being both male and female, the women would wear men's clothes and the men would wear women's clothes. In this statue of Hermaphroditus from the 4th century, we see a woman lifting her dress to reveal male genitals:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Hermaphroditus_%28herma%29.jpg/225px-Hermaphroditus_%28herma%29.jpg

[Aunt Kelly]

Thank you so much for sharing this resource. The nostalgic look back is fun in itself, but what struck me was how similar to much of the content here were the letters, and I mean strikingly so.

[Stephanie47]

As a child growing up in New York City you run into some unusual and quirky stuff. Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, governor of New York and New Jersey (1701-1708) was stated to be a cross dresser. There is a portrait of him attired as a woman hanging in the New York Historical Society. On occasion I have perused the Internet and read/viewed these old magazines. As a teenager in the late 1950's and early 1960's there wasn't anything available to read in my neighborhood. You were great if you could get your hands on a copy of Playboy. Thanks for posting.

[Alice Torn]

Very interesting stuff! 1961!

[Janine cd]

What caught me about this link is that I was crossdressing at that time and thought that I must have been psychopathically disturbed. It took another thirty years before I came to realize that I was not alone and that my behavior was not a sickness.

[Ineke Vashon]

Great thread, and reading. Thanks for posting,

Ineke

[ellbee]

it makes me wonder in fact how far back does crossdressing go?

Been going on since the Stone Age... :heehee:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAS2SZyMU5c



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAS2SZyMU5c

[Linda P.]

Transvestia was a magazine published by pioneering trans activist Virginia Prince. The first issue was published in 1960.
http://usclibraries.usc.edu/oneatusc/wp-content/uploads/Tranvestia.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DG-qw7uVwAE6ohw.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ClpuOkdWkAArUao.jpg

[XemmaX]

wow great thanks for the link looks really really interesting..i have managed to acquire quite a few issues of the british 70's mag 'world of transvestism'. a little later on but still i love looking at stuff from previous eras.
283055

[GeorgeA]

Thank you for posting these very interesting historical materials.

[Nicole Erin]

Seems we have had a few nostalgic posts here lately. I wonder what brought that on but I am enjoying this latest trend. I like vintage stuff.


I think it was 1964 when I was12 years old I saw my first tranny.
He was James Herndon well known all over town as Sweet Evening Breeze. He was such a nice person giving to charity of his time and money.
As kids we would ride our bicycles into downtown and see him every now and then all dressed up.We talked to him all the time too.
There was another named Henry Faulkner. Sweets and Henry were the original drag queens in town.
Both were very friendly to everyone in town and the people accepted them for who they were.

See folks? So even back then if a TG was confident and polite, people were accepting. And apparently they both worked, made a living for themselves and lived mostly normal lives.
How is that any different than today?

[Isabella Ross]

Absolutely fascinating...thanks for posting, Linda.

[Lacey New]

Interesting. As a young teenager friends of mine and I would on some rare occasions get a hold of a Playboy magazine and we would look at it with adolescent fascination. I remember seeing small ads generally in the back pages where there was a drawing of a younger androgynous looking person with a dreamy look in (his/her) face and a dream bubble over (his/her) head. In that dream bubble was another drawing of several women, typically one in panties, bra, garter belt and hose and a second in a frilly dress. The advertisement was for Michael Salem's TV/TS Boutique in New York City. I had an inkling about what it was and I was always fascinated and aroused by the prospects of such a place. That is about as close to any crossdressing literature in the 60s.

[lingerieLiz]

I'll have to take a look. Used to have some magazines from back then. In 61 I was out and about as a girl. I think in some ways it was easier to CD then. Clothes were more modest and dresses didn't fit as they do today. At that time I had a small waist and wore size 6 dresses. I think I owned maybe one pair of women's pants. With skirts that came below the knee and slips just above showing when standing. Girls worked at letting the lace show just the right amount. I did have a pencil skirt that fit like a glove. Actually my measurements were not that far off from what was considered ideal. Yes we had ideal measurements back then. 36-23-36 or some where around there. I think mine was around 36-25-37 or there about. One thing you couldn't do is wear a bullet bra in guy mode. Bullet bras were interesting. I knew more than one girl who stuffed the end with tissues. I found some foam rubber falsies at the 5 and 10. Most of the girls that I knew wore regular bras as I did. It was perfectly acceptable to wear a white bra under a white blouse. I had a light yellow shirt waist dress. I always made sure I wore a pretty white bra that could be seen. It was a June Cleaver type dress. I loved to dance in it because it had a skirt that would twirl out. I wore a half slip that would also twirl. Little did the guys watching realize I was one of them.

[Ozark]

Michael Salem's Boutique... Let your dreams become reality.. was a frequent advertiser in Penthouse, I don't recall seeing any of their ads in Playboy. Maybe Playboy thought their readers were not inclined to wear panties. Remember Forum magazine/... ok forget penthouse letters amputee fetish letters ... I remember reading stories about men who wore panties. I knew I wasn't alone. then I found adult babies. a whole nother world.

[karenph]

Linda P. -- thanks so much for starting this post. I really enjoyed the glimps into the past. The digital archives are a treasure trove!!

[Beverley Sims]

What a great time to be alive.

Those wonderful clothes.

[MichelleA]

What an interesting set of letters. I loved it. Those of us who started crossdressing before the internet age, ( also called the dark ages lol ) can really appreciate these letters and pictures. Just awesome to read and look at, can't get enough of it. Loved it.

[Kayliedaskope]

Michael Salem most often advertised in Penthouse, plus several other adult magazines (Hustler was another, I think.) I never did see ads for MS in Playboy.

[Julogden]

Thanks for posting that! As someone who is a bit older, I can remember a lot of that stuff. I still have magazines and books from back in the 1960's and 1970's that I bought when they were current. :)

[marlacd]

Must have been a real challenge to find large enough clothing to fit. I remember my mother having a difficult time finding fashionable shoes. (60's) Size 8 took some time to find for her. I suspect that many times, she wore ill-fitting shoes, which gave her bunions. She was exceptionally demanding about us kids wearing proper fitting shoes. Us going barefoot, was almost verboden. Now I know why. (And very glad that she did it)

Now that I have that page bookmarked, I see loads of reading in my future. Thank you for tracking that down!

[MLane]

I love Greek mythology, I had to do some extensive reading to learn more after reading your post.

Here is another statue from the 3rd century.
286742

[DanielleDubois]

The archives have all of the "Ladylike" magazines by Joann Roberts. In the old day I used to have them sent to my secret Post Office Box at Mailboxes.etc Boy , access to crossdressing history and advice sure is easier now. I guess all this Internet stuff isn't just a fad!