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(first posted 3/13/2017) The 1950s were famous for a number of things. Some of the more memorable ones are blonde bombshells, bullet bras, and Cadillacs with large protruding, chrome bombshells or bullets, colloquially known as “Dagmars”, in tribute to an early ’50s tv star famous for her…large protruding bombshells.
Let’s take a pointed look at their origins, development, and Dagmar too.
Dagmar, born Virginia Ruth Egnor, was a virtual unknown who catapulted to huge success after she was given a sidekick job on Jerry Lester’s 1950 tv show, as well as the new name. She soon outshone Lester, who eventually quit, and she then went on to become a big celebrity in the 50s.
Like some others of her ilk, she wasn’t half as dumb as she played, but that’s just what it took to succeed back then.
The origins of the Dagmars, as these things are wont to be, started out out almost imperceptible, on this 1941 Cadillac, although some of you might find it a bit of a stretch to see these for what they became at all. But this bumper over-rider, with its little pointy buds on the front upper leading edge, does have a direct lineage to what blossomed in subsequent years. Cadillac was just barely entering puberty.
If you think the ’41 is a case of too much imagination, wishful thinking, or the musings of a pedophile, by 1942, they’re clearly on display. The over-riders have lost their upper connecting bar, and they are larger, and more forward-thrusting. Dagmarettes.
Somewhat ironically, although the all-new 1948 model sported fins and was more well-developed and rounded-out in other ways, the front protrusions seem to actually have shrunk a bit. More likely they just look a bit smaller compared to all that added girth up there. The Cadillac’s growth spurt was now focusing on adding some bulk and hips before getting back to the frontal protrusions..
But by 1952, Cadillac had shed the training bra, and now the protrusions were no longer just pointy bumper over-riders, but an integrated aspect of the bumper. We can comfortably say that this was the coming out party for the Dagmars? And is it a coincidence that this happened one year after Dagmar made it big on tv? GM’s stylists were watching tv too, you know.
Here’s a little snippet of Dagmar on stage. There’s others on You Tube if you’re in the mood for more.
For 1953, the Dagmars got some serious uplift, and now found themselves in the same position where the turn signals had been in the previous year.
Speaking of uplift, that was pretty much the whole point of bullet bras; well that and lots of separation. And a healthy dose of exaggeration, for good measure.
The effect is fully on display on this model posing with a 1954 Park Avenue concept.
The 1953 Cadillac LeMans concept previewed even bigger things to come.
Sadly, the new, larger Dagmars are not properly visible on Marilyn Monroe’s ’54 Eldorado. And hers aren’t really so well either. Not the most flattering shot in that regard, but I’m still smitten by it. Can we go for a ride? (my automotive-related tribute to MM is here)
Here’s a better shot of a ’54.
And here’s a better shot of Dagmar’s Dagmars.
The 1954 El Camino concept previewed quad headlights, but not quad Dagmars.
Without measuring them myself, I can’t be certain, but the Dagmars on this ’55 Eldorado Brougham concept look even a bit bigger to me than the ’54 Park Avenue. Maybe Cadillac was busting out for being the first corporation ever in history to show a $1 billion dollar profit (over $11 billion adjusted).
The production ’55 and ’56 Dagmars reflect that same high point their development.
In both their size as well as in their ability to be a lethal weapon to pedestrians, never mind the delicate rear ends of cars, especially small, foreign ones. Can you imagine what these would do to the back end of a Jag XK-120? Or even a VW? Was this GM’s answer to the great import boom of the 50s?
With all due respect to to Ms. Dagmar, but at this stage, these might have more appropriately been called “Jaynes”. Ms. Mansfield, (our expansive tribute to her is here) did have an automotive-related component named after her, but sadly, it wasn’t nearly as flattering as the Dagmars. She arrived on the scene a few year too late.
Even in that pre-Ralph Nader era, Cadillac knew it had gone too far. After lots of snide press and becoming the butt of jokes, the ’57 Dagmars were decidedly smaller, and now sported chaste black rubber tips, in a modest concession to safety. I still wouldn’t want to be gored by one. And for what it’s worth, Dagmar’s career too had peaked; her tv show ended, and she was on a gradual descent, playing Las Vegas, cabarets and summer stock theater.
In 1958, the Dagmars were even more modest, and with larger rubber tips. At this point, they were more like the early versions of the low-impact bumpers that were to be seen in 1973.
And of course, by 1959 the Dagmars were gone, replaced by quad jet intake nacelles disguised as turn signals. The end of an era.
Well, not totally. The 1959 Cadillac Cyclone XP-74, Harley Earl’s last dream car before his retirement, had the ultimate Dagmars, although I suppose some might be tempted call them something else. Rockets? Naw. We know what was really on Harley’s mind.
Related:
CC 1967 Buick Electra 225 Convertible: The Jayne Mansfield of Automobiles
CC 1962 Corvette: The Marilyn Monroe of Cars
Would the modern equivalent be called “Madonna/Madonnas”?
Yes, But doesn’t that also mean an 80 Seville or 1981 Imperial have a “Kardashian”? ?
I think C5 Corvettes get the Kardashian award.
Here’s a candidate for the Kardashian award…. presenting the 2nd generation Mitsubishi Eclipse:
Or….Fly Like an (Eagle)…
The 4th generation could also qualify:
Some of those sweater girls are a sight to behold. On the bottom of a Lucky Strike cigarette pack it says LS/MFT, which stands for Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco. We always joked that it stood for Loose Sweaters Mean Floppy Tits.
I hope your mother doesn’t hear you talking like that! LOL Dagmar’s fame may have been fleeting but her “bumpers” sure had staying power!
Dagmar recorded a novelty duet with Frank Sinatra in 1951 called Mama Will Bark. Most consider it a low point of Sinatra’s career, and the fact that she got equal billing on the record label bears that out.
I guess once these showed up on the 57-58 Packardbakers, Cadillac stylists must have figured that the trend had pretty much played itself out.
From their first use of bumper over-rides in 1938, thru the Loewy ‘Bullet’ nose, the ’53/’54 ‘Fog Lights’, and finally to the Packard thrust points under the ‘jet-swept nacelles’ of the headlights, Studebaker in South Bend had a long history of playing the well-endowed, but Midwestern-prim older sister to the flashier Dagmars of the big sister in that bad-boy town to the north.
I had a ’56 Cadillac that I managed to fit in my garage. My Wife hated trying to squeeze in front of that car to access the clothes dryer. The “bullet over riders” were truly ridiculous and a hazard. I think that the over riders also had an origin in the original design of the ’49 Cadillac’s tailfins. The design was based upon the P38, twin fuselage fighter plane, twin tails and twin prop cones. From the side profile, the prop cones were seen projecting forward. Other GM cars became “rocket styled” like the ’61 Buick. Harley Earl reportedly got a sneak peek at the airplane during the war and aviation themes became an influence in automotive design. Besides this influence of aircraft there was also another trend, which you illustrate in this post. The Fifties were the era of the sly “dirty joke”, Wink, Wink. I’m glad that Virginia Mae and others got to laugh all the way to the bank.
Just as The P38 specifically inspired the 48+ Cadillacs, The B52 certainly had it’s engine pods show up on 58 Chevy and 59 Caddys. For a generation of buyers that had been exposed to modern aircraft in WW2 the aircraft influence was inevitable and a display of “tech” styling of the time a snapshot of history, Just a the Digital revolution of the late 70s early 80s brought “Digital dashboards”…. Give me fins and Dagmars any day!
The ’59 Caddy’s bumpers always reminded me more of the Comet than the B52.
Good call!
The ’59 Cadillac Cyclone concept car had “nosecones” and large tailfins that look remarkably similar to the McDonnell F-4 Phantom, which was introduced that same year (the Cyclone photo above shows it with much smaller fins after a 1960s redesign).
Never thought of that before, but of course the prop plane nosecone is the direct inspiration for the Dagmars. The Dagmar association probably came later and the originators of the originals weren’t consciously at least thinking of that.
Controls on some 50’s cars were also aircraft inspired. Of course a guy designing a car then, or buying one, might be familiar with a WWII military airplane.
Kaiser:
1954 Mercury:
What an awesome post. Always good when you can combine two great topics! Especially “uplifting” for a Monday morning!
Cadillac’s Dagmars had a more plebeian B-cup version in the 1957 Chevrolet, though they didn’t reach their full titillation without the optional, not-often-seen rubber tips…or were they aftermarket falsies?
Wouldn’t they be pasties rather than falsies?
I think they were on Bel Airs and maybe not the lower models.
Two ten:
Thanks for the mammaries.
Someone HAD to say that….. 🙂
I recall reading that ‘mid ’50s Cadillacs also had a ‘Dagmar’ horn button – which they eliminated after Sammy Davis lost an eye in an accident in his own Cadillac.
The later, sharp Caddy tailfins were also known for impaling pedestrians and cyclists.
Happy Motoring, Mark
Great post! As I always say, you learn something new every day!
You commented: “In both their size as well as in their ability to be a lethal weapon to pedestrians, never mind the delicate rear ends of cars, especially small, foreign ones. Can you imagine what these would do to the back end of a Jag XK-120? Or even a VW? ”
I once saw an Imperial with two holes perfectly punched into its trunk. There was no doubt that they had been put there by a Caddie. Maybe someone can think of an appropriate comment?
“Is that some junk in your trunk, or are you just happy to see me?”
Sheesh, could Dagmars be any clearer evidence of how male-centric the auto business was back in the day? GM sure has come a long way, now having a no-nonsense, smart female like CEO Mary Barra running the show.
OTOH, Dagmars might be a great name for a geriatric version of Hooters.
I knew of a (long ago closed) strip bar located midway between Cincinnati and Dayton called Bristols (the origin is Cockney rhyming slang: Bristol Cities).
It’s also an indication of how sex was trying to bubble to the surface in a society that was, publicly, incredibly puritanical. IN the early Fifties, sex was something you did between a married couple, with the lights out, in missionary position, at the husband’s demand, with the intent of the wife getting pregnant.
Officially.
We can see how well that worked out.
The era of the “double standard”. Now, one can understand one reason for the baby boom generation rebellion of many.
You don’t really have any idea of what the Fifties were like for adults, do you? Go listen to the lyrics of some old Country songs. There’s a lot more about sex for fun than making babies.
Next, The below beltline story of the Edsel center grill.
I don’t know what the stylists were thinking but I know exactly what it always made me think of!
I was struggling with how to bring that up tactfully.
Apparently the Edsel dirty joke wasn’t subtle enough..
Ma’ambulance
Don’t forget the booby traps.
That sounds like Mel Blanc.
Not to mention the acronym “SNAFU” (and you could include “FUBAR & BOHICA” as well) LOL! 🙂
Paul, I suppose it was Tom McCahill who taught me about “Dagmars,” but you really fleshed out the story today.
A quick search shows the “Dagmars” term first shows up in Popular Mechanics early in 1954–perhaps earlier elsewhere? (We’re told it originates “in Detroit.”)
Oddly enough, there was evidently a “Dagmar” auto for a while in the 1920s (built in Maryland, if I’m reading my period papers correctly):
And, wouldn’t you know it, here’s a bathing beauty and a Dagmar car (1924):
You can explain the ’42 Caddy – if it ran into the back of another car, the “Dagmars” would stop the back bumper running over the top of the Caddy bumper and wrecking the grill.
The real question is:
Did the Dagmar bra fashion end, because the Dagmar bumpers ended, or did the Dagmar bumpers end, because the Dagmar bras ended, or was it just coincidence?
And then there was the Triumph 20X engine, which went into Triumph’s Le Mans cars in the early 1960s:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/robertgrounds/4826937633/
It was a/k/a “Sabrina” because the timing gear covers bore a resemblance to the chest of busty British actress Norma Ann “Sabrina” Sykes:
http://randomramblingsthoughtsandfiction.blogspot.com/2013/06/by-measurements-of-sabrina.html
And they say the 70’s were the decade that taste forgot!
OT, but that pic with Mariilyn Monroe is a great depiction of the car’s.ample rear overhang,especially compared to the front.
I’m trying very much not to pun here.
’57 Dagmars were decidedly smaller, and now sported chaste black rubber tips
Nipples. The added nipples!
July 1958, Popular Mechanics reviews Cadillac, Lincoln, Imperial. One comment: “[the Lincoln’s] tailights in perfect line with the Cadillac’s Dagmars”:
She’s a combination Anita Eckberg Mamie Van Doren, Dagmar high school confidential..
The penultimate Empress of Russia was originally Princess Dagmar of Denmark, but her family called her Minnie, perhaps because she was, in more ways than one.
An unfortunate angle of a modern statue of her namesake, medieval Queen Dagmar of Denmark:
I suspect Dagmar could also use the famous Dolly Parton line “I know I’m not dumb and I know I’m not blonde”
Car styling is much less exuberant these days and the black plastic thingies slathered on Toyota and Hyundai crossovers are more Kill-O-Zap than starlet
Do Dagmars and curvaceous cars explain why Mid-Century Modern style was otherwise so erectilinear?
Lifting a line from Animal House
“a set of major league yabos”.
This is CC gold.
But I really like to know if there were any european cars with Dagmars. I remember fins of course but no Dagmars, possibly they are a solely american thing.
While driving down I-5 en route to Seattle in the third week of June in 2017, I saw a very nice red ’61 Dodge Lancer 4-door with Washington collector licence plate № 63101 and some aftermarket adornments: a fishtail exhaust deflector, and chrome Dagmars added into/onto the grille. I could only glance briefly, but they seemed to be carefully done, not just thrown on. Driver was smiling. I’d never seen it before, and I never saw it again in reality or online.
Or maybe the other way round. Either way, what’s that round dingus on the fender, around the corner from the outboard headlamp, just above the upper chrome bumper bar?
Could it be the lock for an early aftermarket alarm system?
That’s about my only guess, and boy, do I ever shudder at the notion of drilling a big ol’ hole for such a thing!
Sabrina turned up in Australia too. Here she is is in a Caltex ad. And the fairings underneath the Hawker Hunter fighter jet were nicknamed “Sabrinas” Real duty was to catch cartridge cases and links.