[St. Cyr, Lili, and Anita Ekberg, Jo Ann Arnold, Irish McCalla]
 
Breathtaking Beauties (3 vintage adult pinup digest magazines, 1950s)
 
New York: Riviera Publishing, 1950s. Three vintage adult digest magazines, "breathtaking beauties" posing seminude & emphasizing their natural assets, w/ heels, hose, garters. Presumed first three issues, featuring striptease legend Lili St. Cyr, Swedish actress Anita Ekberg, figure model & artist Irish McCalla, & Joanne "Jo Ann" Arnold, notable Playboy Playmate (5/54).
 
This short-lived but classic series stood out from hundreds of similar digest magazines were produced by fly-by-night operations, mainly around New York, it seems. Production quality & cast of A-list models/performers kept them progressive, albeit only a handful of issues. Many similar examples maintained airbrushing techniques rolled over from nudist magazines, much of the posing naturally obscures otherwise censored areas. Nearly all were packaged as "figure studies" for the art or photography enthusiast. Still scarce institutionally. 
 
N1, c. 1955 (Lili St. Cyr front/rear/center/11pp, brief bio w/ film credit "Son of Sinbad", a few others), N2 (Anita Ekberg front, Irish McCalla rear, Donna "Busty" Brown 1pp, Bettie Page 1pp, others, several studio scenes); N3 (Joanne front/rear/center/30pp, some images repeat, fantastic tribute). 
 
Each 32pp, color wrapper, B/W throughout, 5 x 7.5 inches (N1), 5.5 x 8.5 inchess (Ns2-3). Very Good Plus overall, rubbing, brief creasing, faint soil. Remainder clips (N1). 
 
Jim Linderman, "Proto-Porn: The Art Figure Study Scam of the 1950s," 2012. [Book ID 126069] [Magazines]