The Wizard of Bras At Hollywood-Maxwell’s Intimate Apparel Shop

The September 1955 issue of The Disneyland News included a about Hollywood-Maxwell’s Intimate (CORSET AND BRAS) Apparel Shop on Main Street. Here’s the entire article:

If Hubby Is Shy, Watch Him

At Main Street Corset Shop

Is the modern male embarrassed about walking into a corseteria? No he isn’t—or at least, not as “shocked” as his father would have been, according to the Hollywood Maxwell Company, operators of a corset and bra shop on Disneyland’s Main Street.
Surprising as it may seem to some, it’s the teenagers who are most affected by the exhibit of old and new in corsets, bras, and petticoats. The younger sets’ reaction is usually one of giggles as they look at the small models in various stages of dress.
Through a system of looking glasses in the corseteria on Main Street, the visitor can by slowly turning his head see the models change from the full dress of the turn of the century into their underclothes—corsets and pantaloons. In the modern sequence, the model switches from an evening dress into bra and petticoat.
Many men hesitate to enter the shop—especially older gentlemen accompanied by their wives. It’s the older women who seem to be most anxious to shade their husbands from any “risque” experience.
But it’s the older generation of men who are the most polite—they invariably remove their hats upon entering the store!
The fathers and mothers of recent years seem to take the whole thing in stride—while the older women often are guilty of a bit of giggling, as are the teenagers.
The 10 to 12 year olds, especially the girls, are particularly appreciative and interested in the old time furnishings of the 1900 period in the store.
Hollywood Maxwell’s experience seems to lend credence to the belief that Americans are becoming more “liberal” through the years in their thoughts on such formerly “taboo” subjects.


The Disneyland News, September 1955 image and article © Disney.