A few years ago I attended a cool Rockabilly event in Toronto called “Bop & Bowl” where we “bopped” to good Rockabilly music and “bowled” at the bowling alley…clearly lol! Anyways this event got me thinking about what I should of worn at the Bowling alley that day. So while looking online for inspiration, I stumbled upon some really fun photos of “Bowling alley fun” AND “Bowling alley dress” that I thought I would share with you.

Note: See a full post I did on “Vintage Bowling Advertising“

1940’s & 1950’s Bowling

Vintage Advertising & Vintage Photos

How adorable is this 1950s Seven-Up vintage ad featuring a teenager couple on a date together at the bowling alley.

1950s Vintage Advertising for 7up pop / soda featuring two teenagers on a date at the bowling alley in 1950s fashions.

1950’s Schlitz Beer Ad featuring a couple at the bowling alley and the wife is helping her husband drink his beer while he prepares to bowl.

1950s Vintage Ad / 1950s Bowling Advertisement for Schlitz beer featuring an illustration of a 1950s wife helping her husband drink a beer while he holds a bowling ball at the bowling alley.

Source: Alamy

1951 bowling history and instructional manual from the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company. Topics include: bowling etiquette, dress and proper stance.

1950s Vintage Bowling Booklet from 1951-bowling history and instructional manual from the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company

Source: Etsy – MrsWhiteTwig

OMG! Look at how divine these 1940s women look?? The last two ladies on the right are outstanding with their hair and makeup and look at their perfect nails! I would love to know what their nails looked like AFTER they finished though. ha!

1940s vintage bowling image of 4 women with stunning 1940s hairstyles holding bowling balls in 1940s fashions.

PHOTO credit: “Advocate Mag.com” & Lauren Muncy

This is my vision of how the Bowling party will look like 🙂 Late 1940s/ Early 1950s photo of young women throwing their bowling ball down the lane at the same time.

Vintage late 1940s / Early 1950s image of women bowling.

Fun with the family at the Bowling Alley circa 1950s. The little girl with the cute dress and hair totally makes this picture.

1950s vintage photo of a family 1950s fashions at the bowling alley.

Photo Credit: Joe Herring Jr

1950s vintage photo of a woman scoring a bowling game.

I love her look, if I could wear shorts well I would totally take this 1950s look but for now it just might have to be the top.

Photo Credit: Joe Herring Jr

I just love everything about this photo of 4 women in the motion of bowling in the 1940s!

1940s vintage photo of women bowling in 1940s fashions.

The two 1940s images below are the looks I think I will go with for my “Bowling Look”. Bit of this here and bit of that there and done (cute bow in the first ladies vintage hairstyle)!

1940s vintage photo of a woman in 1940s fashion and 1940s hairstyle throwing a bowling ball down the lane.

1940s vintage pinup image of a girl bowling in a 1940s fashion illustation.

Now for the image of all images to close off this blog post…1940s women at the bowling alley in matching skirts with shorts & blouses getting ready to bowl (or already bowling as per the pretty woman on the right). SUPER 1940s Fashion Inspiration!

1940s photo of 940s women in matching skirts with shorts & blouses getting ready to bowl (or already bowling as per the pretty woman on the right). SUPER 1940s Fashion Inspiration!

Question Time: Are you a bowler? 10 pin or 5? Share any thoughts in the comment section below.

Happy bowling everyone!

FURTHER READING:

Vintage Advertising (Archived Blog posts)
Vintage Photos 1920s-1960s (Archived posts)
Vintage Fashions 1920s-1960s

Liz 🙂

Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Etsy are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase

As a Lindy Hopper, it’s pretty mandatory that you have at least one pair of Keds in your collection for dancing. They are comfortable, last for a long time and come in cool colours and now super cool designs. BUT did you know that Keds had a division that started in the 1930’s that were strictly for women called “Kedettes“? They did! and the line was stylish, really beautiful and with its shock-absorbing sole also comfortable (Keds history)!

Take a look at the following selection of vintage ads for Kedettes and start imagining how cute you would have looked on the dance floor with them on!

1950s vintage ad for Kedettes Shoes for Women featuring ballet flats and 1950s poodle and cat skirt.

Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Etsy are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

“Kedettes”-Keds Stylish Women’s Shoe Division

The Vintage Advertising

Love this dancing Kedette ad from the 1930s.

1930s vintage ad for women's Keds shoes-Kedettes. Ad features saddle shoes and open toe shoes.

1940s vintage ad for women’s shoes perfect for summer time fun! I will take the Green one’s, the Yellow ones, brown ones…..

1940s Vintage ad: 1940s vintage shoe ad for Kedettes a division of Keds. The women's shoes are perfect for summer. Fun 1940s fashion illustrations.

1950s vintage ad: “Say Saludos when you buy your next pair of new Kedettes”.

1950s Vintage ad: 1950s vintage shoe ad for Kedettes shoes a division of Keds featuring a woman in mexican style clothing.

I just loved the colours AND styles in this 1950s ad and had to add it to the collection of pics.

1950s vintage ad: 1950's shoes ad for Kedettes shoes a division of Keds. Fun women's 1950s fashionable shoes.

All of these 1940’s Kedettes would be perfect in my closet, every single one.

1940s shoe ad for Kedettes shoes for Women. 1940s fashion.

1940s for Kedettes Wedges that are perfect for Spring and Summer.

Source: Etsy

I may be tall but I’m a sucker for a wedge and these wedges don’t seem to be too tall for little old me and they are so beautiful as well. 1940s ad.

1940s vintage ad: 1940s vintage shoe ad for Kedettes shoes-1940s shoes for women.

1940’s Kedettes are simply gorgeous and I have at least 10 dresses that would look perfect with them 🙂

1940s vintage ad: 1940s vintage shoe ad for women's shoes by Kedettes a division of Keds.

Would you like to own a pair of Kedettes? Here are some examples of what was on sale on the web at time of posting (head over to Etsy to do a search for more updated finds)

1950s / 1960s Kedettes in red, white and blue slip on. So cute! (Avail as of Nov 2023).

Vintage Shoes: 1950s / 1960s Kedettes in red, white and blue slip on. So cute!

Source: Etsy – BombyxVintage

Vintage 1950s Kedettes yellow ballerina flat slipper shoes. A beautiful pair of 1950s flat shoes made of bright yellow woven cotton fabric with a yellow cord loop on top.

vintage 1950s yellow flat ballerina shoes

Source: Etsy

1940s 1950s Summerettes Kedettes canvas shoes lace-up sandals in blue and off-white.

Source: Etsy

Original Vintage 1940s /1950s Red Canvas Strappy Kedettes Summerettes Wedges Sandals.

Source: Etsy

There you have it, Keds was not always a brand for just running shoes. Now I don’t know about you but I think I might run off to ebay/etsy and see if any still exist in this world that I can drool over.

FURTHER READING:

Vintage Fashion: ‘Keds’ Turn 100
Vintage Fashion 1920s-1960s (Archived Blog Posts)

Liz 🙂

Category: Vintage Advertising