Not Pulp Covers

Rolled Stockings Question

I’m curious as to the popularity of women in rolled stockings on pulp covers, especially Spider covers. Was this considered sexy or daring at the time? Or was it just a fetish with the artist? Frankly it strikes me as a turn-off, but I’m not from that era.

I got this question via email, and thought I would share it here as well.

Rolled stockings were quite popular in the inter-war years. There was a song about the phenomenon

Roll ’em girls roll ’em girls
Go ahead and roll ’em
Roll ’em down and show your pretty knees

It was even the title of a silent 1927 comedy

Why were they so popular? The answer is partly practical, and partly fashionable, and it was certainly more than just the artist’s personal fetish.

During the 1920′s and 1930′s, stockings were not made with elastic “stay up” tops.

They were made of silk or rayon, and required some kind of support to keep them from slipping down the leg. For women who wore girdles, their stockings reached to about mid-thigh and they attached to the girdle with clips. But many women, especially in the younger crowd, did not want to wear a girdle, which made the rolled stocking garter so popular. Authentic garter rolls were soft round covered elastic bands that rolled up the leg and then back down a little catching the top of the stocking. It was not an easy thing to do, and young women were fixing their rolls several times a day.

Of course, it did not take long for young women to have some fun with the roll garter. A popular trend in the 20′s was to roll one’s stockings down just below the knee and dust rouge on knee caps.