The Birth Of A Leg Man

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Elmers Batters - Tip Top Magazine

The Birth Of A Leg Man - Article Taken From Tip Top No 1 (1960)

The year was 1944. In Europe, Nazi Germany was fighting a losing battle; in the Pacific, Japan was gradually being contained; in America, Rosie the riveter worked overtime in an aircraft plant. Somewhere on the East Coast, the Navy was commissioning new a submarine. Within the gleaming metal bowels of the new tin fish raced a piece of information which electrified 80% of the men aboard. With practiced motions they grouped themselves near certain hatches along certain companionways and waited.

Soon, the object of the rumour came into view. A sigh of contentment coursed through the craft as man after man glimpsed this gratifying sight. Murmured comments filled the ship: "Did you see 'em?" "What a beautiful pair!" "How about those curves!" "Dimples, yet!" "That's what makes this war almost worthwhile!"

The girl who owned the legs being talked about was fully aware of the effect her well-turned gams had had upon the men aboard the sub. As a woman she was pleased with herself - as an American she was proud to do her bit for the war effort.

That was 1944; now, sixteen years later, one of the men aboard that submarine is called by his many followers, "the Dean of American Leg Men."

He is none other than Elmer A. Batters, creator of two very successful magazines devoted to leg art, keeper of "The Book' at Edwards Air Force Base, dedicated glamor dedicated photographer and champion of the exciting curve line which runs from the tip of the toes to the top of the hose. What better choice could a magazine devoted to legs make than to select Elmer Batters as chief advisor?

Batters is a lean, angular man of 40, with a face something like that of a turkey buzzard and a quiet intense personality which takes on added sparkle every time the subject of beautiful legs comes into the conversation. As far back as he can remember, he has been fascinated by legs, but it was during World War II that this fascination grew into almost obsessive proportions. Batters was on submarine duty, and legs were the big thing in pinup art. Along with Betty Grable and the Petty girls, countless starlets distributed photos of their own glamorous gams to men aboard fighting ships and in muddy foxholes around the world. Skirts were tight and short, nylons were scarce, and legs were what the burgeoning bosom is today in the minds of the nation's males.

In these days of padded push ups and cosmetic breast surgery, a good pair of legs is still the most reliable criterion of natural beauty. And, Batters predicts, when the big bosom boom is over, legs will still come in for their share of erotic attention. Naturally, in sixteen years, Elmer Batters has had time to develop some pretty solid theories about legs and has conducted more leg research than any other man in history. He has found out, for instance, that: the first thing most men notice about a woman is her legs they can be viewed either coming or going. three out of four leg men prefer seeing a gal with her shoes off. Seamless hose is possibly the world's most useless invention, as the majority of leg fanciers appreciate the added emphasis a straight seam gives to the gentle swell of a woman's calf. leg men consider slacks an abomination which should be done away with completely. This goes double for levis, flat heeled shoes, no matter how artfully designed, are ugly, rolled hose is a heinous crime.

Bare legs are not particularly exciting. pastel tinted nylons - the high fashion reds, greens, blues, etc. have no sex appeal whatsoever. Open-mesh opera hose are disgusting. and (possibly the most astonishing piece of information) true leg men are vaguely disappointed that the world of fashion is again shortening skirts! According to Batters, there's nothing particularly sexy about a short skirt. The real leg afficionado prefers the sudden glimpse to blatant exposure, he explains.

"Are leg men fetishists?" we asked. "Is there something abnormal about this concentration on legs?"

The answer was an emphatic no! Batters, of course, has run up against his share of fetishists in the past decade and a half. "Some of these nuts want girls to wear all sorts of special equipment, like platform shoes, six-inch heels, high leather boots, even full-length leather stockings. No real leg man is interested in any of that stuff." The most attractive garb for a beautiful pair of legs, he adds, is a pair of black silk (or nylon) stockings held up by a brief garter belt and worn with plain black patent leather shoes with a four-inch heel. "There's nothing there you can't buy at Sears Roebuck," he observes.

Asked who has the most beautiful legs in the world today, Elmer named Mitzi Gaynor, Marilyn Monroe and Janet Leigh. "And the studios," he added ruefully, "waste them completely from a leg man's point of view.

Speaking of wasting leg potential, he continued, the biggest offenders in this department are the manufacturers of nylons. "They're so close to the subject they can't see the attraction anymore. Almost everybody else in the advertising world uses legs to advantage - a beautiful girl with gorgeous legs stepping out of a convertible, her skirt pulled up just enough, for example - but the hosiery people put a nylon on what is obviously a wax leg! Or worse yet, they build an ad around an empty pair of nylons!"

Elmer would love to do an ad campaign for a nylon company.

Shortly after the war, Batters decided that the field for him was glamor photography, specializing in beautiful legs. About the same time, he met the girl who was to become his wife. "It was on a train," he recalls fondly. "I was at one end of the car and she was at the other, sitting by a window. I couldn't even see her legs, but she had a nice smile and beautiful eyes. Her eyes attracted me first. Then when I discovered that she had gorgeous legs, too, I was hooked!"

Elmer's wife is a charming, understanding woman. It was she who posed endlessly while Elmer learned the technical and aesthetic aspects of leg photography, shooting thousands of pictures. Later, when he started shooting professional models, Mrs. Batters proved herself to be a permissive and broadminded wife.

"I couldn't ask for a better partner in life," Elmer avers.

It was at Edwards A.F.B. where Batters was working as a civilian employee on flight test problems that he became keeper of "The Book, a community-property scrapbook containing the favourite pinups of most of the test pilots and many of the top brass visitors to the base. Countless Admirals and Generals would make Elmer's section their first stop upon arrival, to have coffee and take a look at the book. Each page contained a pinup or other piece of glamor art, bearing the name of the donor and the date inserted in the book. Lines like: "Contributed by Brig. Gen. A. M. Hawkins, U.S.A.F., Dec. 17, 1947" were common. It may have been sacrilegious, Elmer admits, but each time a contributor died, his page was placed in a separate section in the back of the book. "For a while there, " he recalls, "the test pilots were kicking off at a rate of about one a week." The book remained at Edwards; Batters did not. Having perfected his photographic approach with the help and critical comments of Air Force and visiting news photographers, Batters went all out on a glamor-shooting program and began submitting photos to national magazines and entering other shots in photo contests. He enjoyed enough success to inspire him to create his first magazine, Man's Favourite Pastime, which at the outset was devoted exclusively to leg art. Closely following on Pastime's heels was the phenomenally successful Black Silk Stockings, which amazed the girly book industry with a one hundred percent newsstand sale and drew fan letters from all over the world. Legal difficulties later forced Elmer to dispose of both titles, which were then taken over by other publishers and have subsequently deteriorated (from the leg man's standpoint into run-of-the-mill "bosom" "bosom" books.

Batters continued shooting his favourite subject, but thus far has declined going back into publishing. "Too many headaches," he contends. "I don't want to make a million dollars as a dog-eat-dog publisher – I just want a comfortable income and the freedom to pursue my favourite art form, beautiful legs.

It was only natural, then, that Elmer Batters should be consulted by the editors of Tip Top for his advice and guidance in producing what they hope will be the logical successor to the original Black Silk Stockings.

"Legs will be with us for a long time to come," Elmer contends. "And as long as there are beautiful legs, there will be thousands upon thousands of leg men to appreciate them."

Elmer is still surprised by the reaction of the public to his first publishing ventures. After the second issue of Black Silk Stockings, he suddenly discovered that he was an international figure, acclaimed as the world's number one authority on beautiful legs. Letters poured in from all over the world requesting leg shots by Batters, many of the writers also asking that Elmer autograph the photos. Used copies of his first magazines are currently selling at from two dollars to five dollars per copy.

"The appeal of a well-turned pair of legs," Elmer thinks, "is largely to the mature man. Most younger men aren't interested in legs - they're still too overwhelmed by the sight of a naked woman to be able to appreciate her underpinning. But the mature man of the world can recognize and respond to quieter, more aesthetically satisfying forms of beauty."

When offered an advisory position on Tip Top, Batters stated that although his publishing days are over, he would be pleased and honoured to act as coordinating spokesman for the nation's leg men.

"I know there are a great many men who resent the casual treatment afforded legs in other publications," he said. "It'll be a pleasure to look out for their interests.

By Larry Maddock - Top Top No 1 (1960)

Francesca Young

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All Set

All set for a wet summer is FRANCESCA YOUNG in her shiny black rubber raincoat. We're not sure we like pessimism to go this far, but Franky got caught in a July monsoon down south last year when wearing a print dress. So, there you are.

Span No 141 - May 1966

Are Black Silk Stockings Over-Rated?

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Black Satin & Black Nylons - A Provocative combination!

Staunch devotees of feminine leg beauty would have it that nothing - but nothing enhances the appeal of a shapely pair of legs like sheer black stockings. These artful wisps of dusky nylon enjoy a highly favoured status in the hearts of leg lovers, to whom they conjure up a host of bewitching visions and pleasurable sensations.

In part this is due to the special significance of black as a colour for feminine underwear. By general consent, black is held to be the sexiest colour of all - the most mysterious, alluring, provocative colour a woman can wear in the boudoir - or out of it.

Models in men's magazines are photographed in black more often than any other colour, from stockings and garter belts to gloves and negligees. Figure photographers like black because of the dramatic contrast it makes against white flesh tones. Strippers, chorus girls and cocktail waitresses wear long black net stockings because the customers like it that way. Recently black has stepped down from the stage to become a common sight on city streets and in offices. Try counting the number of girls you see in black nylons in one day. The number may surprise even you, a leg man from way back. Undoubtedly black silk is big business, from Sears to Saks Fifth Avenue.

What's wrong with that? Nothing at all. But consider: are leg fanciers becoming so enamoured with black silk that they're in danger of losing a sense of proportion? Will their senses, tuned in to black, tend to become atrophied and dulled to other shades? In short, are they missing the whole forest just for a few trees?

The girl who sports black nylons is still in a relatively tiny minority. To take the broad view, the vast majority of women still pack their gams in beige and sand-coloured hose, with a few taupes, greys and other shades thrown in. White is still the standard colour for underwear, with pink and blue following close behind as perennial scantie favourites. And by all means let's be broad-minded about this. The narrow view taken by the "black nylon brigade" could lead to missing out on a multitude of visual treats.

Not that black is to be spurned - it is still by far the most voluptuous colour a woman can wear for her "private life." Every woman should include black in her lingerie drawer, for those times when she wants to be at her most alluring and exciting. But sexiness is by no means synonymous with black. To put it another way, if a girl is responsive, she'll feel responsive no matter what colour she wears. By the same token, a cold pigeon will still be a cold pigeon, even if she paints her toenails black.

To be sure, vapor-thin, skin-hugging black stockings are the perfect partners for a black cocktail sheath, as any woman with good dress sense (and horse sense) knows. But she also knows they aren't right with white or pastel outfits, and this is when she sensibly turns to her regular nylons. For the same reason - good taste - she isn't likely to wear a black bra beneath a transparent white blouse, not unless she's trying hard to draw attention to what the bra contains. A harmony of effects in top wear and underwear is what she aims for, and rightly.

Even the model whose business it is to know clothes from A to Z can benefit from awareness of contemporary, everyday tastes. If she errs too far towards the exotic, she runs the risk of appearing bizarre. Black, lacy garter belts and bikini briefs styled by Hollywood creators are all very well, but if a model looks too far-out her appeal will be restricted to a small, specialized audience. The most successful and sought-after image a model can create is that of looking like the girl next door - or appearing to. The girl next door may never wear black silk stockings or lace scanties, but she is nevertheless a very desirable young lady. Beige hose and dime-store briefs may not be the ultimate in sexy attire, but inside them is a living, flesh-and-blood woman. Why not accept her as she is, enjoy her for what she is? There'll be time enough to educate her into the refinements of feminine wear; this in itself will become a pleasure, as she adds to her collection of lingerie and steps into a new world of tantalizing ultra-sophisticated black fashion.

Until that happy day arrives, it might be well for the leg lover to lower his sights and take in a wider panorama. While keeping black as his bullseye, he should never forget his main target legs, legs, legs! It is the overall scene from hip to toe that really scores - the ineffable rhythm conveyed by a pert posterior and carried clear down to the heels. And what a rhythm! It is timeless, awe-inspiring, no matter what stocking shade she wears. Sheer white nylon would not impair the message inherent in a good-looking pair of gams, nor will black nylon enhance it. And if the boudoir should reveal a flair for underthing’s of firehouse red or shocking pink - or even standard white - your ticket is still good for a trip to Paradise!

Leg Show Volume 1 No 5 - 1963 (By Perter Weatherby)

Sharon Walton

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Sharon Walton - Black Silk Stockings (Elmer Batters)

Look What We Found!

Now that the response to our search for new COVER GIRLS in BLACK SILK STOCKINGS has provided us with an ample selection to choose from, we have unanimously decided on SHARON WALTON to be our first cover girl uncovered in our search for beauty. Strange as it may seem, Sharon was born and raised just outside the front door of one of the largest movie studios in Hollywood. It appears to us that perhaps the talent scouts in Hollywood have been so busy searching for this type of beauty all over the world that they just haven't had the time to discover Sharon who has been growing up under their noses for the past 19 years. Nevertheless, Sharon hasn't really tried her luck at being discovered since she is biding her time at home with her father and mother. In submitting her photo to BLACK SILK STOCKINGS Sharon wanted to prove to herself that she had what it takes to be a Cover Girl. We would like to hear from our readers as to what they think of our selection in Sharon. Just by chance if any talent scout from Hollywood should see this issue of BLACK SILK STOCKINGS while they're traveling on the high seas aboard a slow boat to China looking for new beauty, please feel free to contact us and we will arrange for their introduction to Sharon, the girl who lives just outside their front office door.

Black Silk Stockings - Volume 1 No 7 (1959)

Black Silk Stockings As eBooks

Black Silk Stockings

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Stairway or Stareway?

Which radiates with the most pleasing eye-appeal, a STAIRWAY or a STAREWAY?

It is a known fact that a STAIRWAY is a flight of plain, ordinary stairs leading from one level to the other. This plain, ordinary STAIRWAY is immediately transfigured into a STAREWAY only when an attractive girl, with a pair of shapely legs encased in a pair of sheer BLACK SILK STOCKINGS, saunters leisurely up or down the STAIRS enjoying all the STARES. Perhaps a few readers might not yet be ardent leg connoisseurs and hence remain a little dubious about the above theory, so we shall prove out point by illustrating a STAIRWAY that has been transfigured into a STAREWAY through the black magic that radiates from BLACK SILK STOCKINGS.

By Elmers Batters - Black Silk Stockings Vol 1 No 5 (1958)

Sandra Morrell

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The Impeccable Look

The phone had been replaced a long time ago, the date for dinner at a lamplit bistro in Chelsea had been fixed and all SANDRA MORRELL had to do was to gild and dress the lily and get there.

She being the lily, of course.

"Hurry up," said her flat mate, "you'll be late.' "Any moment now," said Sandra, "I'II be ready."

Sandra is a girl who can't be hurried under any circs. She likes to be absolutely sure that when she is dated, she looks impeccable. Charlie Greyduck thought that impeccable was something to do with nuts roasted in an iron pan, over an open fire, but dead ignorance keeps Charlie where he is, right at the back.

Anyway, by the time Sandra was ready she did look impeccable and lovely beyond anything. Except that as she came down the stairs her flat mate, Henrietta, said, "Not in that mini, you are silly, you'll have to change it for a maxi. Or put stretch tights on."

"Oh sorry," blushed Sandra, "I forgot."

She shouldn't have worried. Chelsea would have looked and loved. You don't have to be conformist to be impeccable. Not in Chelsea, anyway.

Span No 207 - November 1971