The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

That's 3 uses of the word "question"!

Anyway, as I keep scrolling around I see a lot of profile pictures and occasional advertisements for various phonograph companies, machines, and records. HOWEVER, a lot of the time there are naked women in these advertisements. As a teenaged woman it's kind of shocking at first to just see blatant nudity shown like this. Now I'm curious, was this a common practice a long time ago just to attract people to look at the ad?

Just a thought- and some curiosity, sorry if this is weird.

m_nakamura wrote: Tue Aug 05, 2025 11:54 pm As a teenaged woman it's kind of shocking at first to just see blatant nudity shown like this. Now I'm curious, was this a common practice a long time ago just to attract people to look at the ad?

The answer is simple: since Roman times publicists know that nudity sells. And still does today. Moreover, this hobby, as well as the hi-fi world, is mostly a male chauvinist medium, so it is fertile ground for exploitation of naked woman bodies. However I do not see much of such exploitation in this forum, apart from one or two avatars.

m_nakamura wrote: Tue Aug 05, 2025 11:54 pm
Now I'm curious, was this a common practice a long time ago just to attract people to look at the ad?

Just a thought- and some curiosity, sorry if this is weird.

I believe most of the depictions used in period advertising were stylized, artistic images and not photographic. In other words, line drawings outlining form, but with little to no "detail". An artist's depiction, if you will. I guess you could call it "risqué". Yes, it was somewhat common and yes, I believe it was meant to draw attention.

Hmm… now whose avatar could we be talking about?

So sorry, I never in a million years thought that a cheeky attempt at an “art” photo from the 1920s would be considered “questionable” given that the human form has been represented in art since art began. I certainly don’t consider the image to be lewd or exploitative, but that’s my lens I suppose. Just two beautiful things juxtaposed together. I thought it rather tame, especially given the content in the Victoria’s Secret ads that, for some reason, pop up at regular intervals while I attempt to read through an online Smithsonian article. (Which, side note, have you ever noticed that you’ll just be talking about something with a group of friends in the “privacy” of your own dining room (full of cellphones and an Alexa) and the next day you’ll see ads for it on your computer? Try it sometime, you’ll be surprised… but I digress).

In any case, I’d rather cause controversy testing the bounds of what we think we know as it comes to the history of phonographs and records, not image avatars, so I will switch back to one of my others (I swap them out about every 6 months or so).

Cheers!

P.s. perhaps we've found the reason the site has been so slow, everyone on the internet has been flocking here to try to catch a glimpse of the avatar!

What do you think, will this new avatar cause less controversy?

I WILL say, that since I've switched it, this site has sped up CONSIDERABLY

Dischoard wrote: Wed Aug 06, 2025 9:42 am
Hmm… now whose avatar could we be talking about?

Hey!!

Dischoard wrote: Wed Aug 06, 2025 10:07 am
What do you think, will this new avatar cause less controversy?

Well it's just about the worst quality gramophone I've ever seen so now maybe a different post will show up!

And thank you everyone for your responses.