I have always been curious about ticking during two eras; Victorian times and the 1950's. The reason for this is because, unlike today where women are equal(or should be), they were more "owned" in these time periods and therefore more prone to be victims of tickling. Now I say "victims" because as undoubtably tickling may have been playful, erotic, and just fun in many situations, I'm sure it was used as a form of punishment or just sadistic pleasure by the male, and very little recourse could be taken by the female. Reports of assault or abuse would fall on deaf ears in a male dominated society.
My theory, and it is just a theory because I know of no documentation of tickling in those times, is that far more tickling took place than we could imagine. It would have been very interesting to witness.
I just thought I'd throw my thoughts out there, and invite any thoughts from others on the situation.
Wow, Lord Zobor, you are the loudspeaker for my mind! I was going to ask a similar one, about the 50s, the 60s, and the 70s!
There's a musical.....is it "Guys and Dolls"?.....I can't remember.....but there's a song in it where the lyric is "Guess who'll be tickling her pink on Friday night..."something like that. And I remember when I saw that thinking that in the 50s and prior, this was......a thing! It was like an arrow in the head! He doesn't say "guess who'll be plooking her", he says "tickling her"....... You wouldn't write that lyric now! That lyric goes through my head whenever I see a pic of, say, Marilyn, or Lana Turner, or Bardot, or Claudia Cardinale, etc etc.....
I know in old movies, tickling was often a signal for....sexiness, flirting, foreplay....when they want to convey something sexy happening in the next room, what do you hear? Female giggling. Even in cartoons.....Bugs Bunny dresses up as a girl and immediately gets tickled by a suitor!
After the 60s and the sexual revolution, and a more open attitude towards nudity and sexuality (definitely in the movies, at least), the way sex was presented became maybe a little less playful, and more "serious".....ie: you want to convey sex, you have an actress take off her shirt and you show them actually in bed, moaning, orgasming, etc........I'm sure those directors would have said, "tickling? who needs tickling? that's kids stuff!" (to which I would have said: no, it isn't!)
I just saw a great documentary about the director John Cassavettes and one of the actresses says he would "resort to tickling", under the table, to get her to laugh. I don't know that that would go today! (I'll post that clip soon, by the way, the documentary scene of the actress talking about it....and then the scene itself!). The film she's talking about ("Faces") was filmed between 1965-1968, but it's really about (in part) the collusion of 50s middle class values and the "new freedoms" of the 60s. Great movie, sexy as hell....and apparently, with a tickled actress in it! (Cassavettes also has a long protracted scene in "Husbands" where he's all over this girl, like an octopus, often tickling her....again, that movie is in part about the collusion of 50's middle class values and the "new freedoms" of the late 60s. I'll post that too. They're both 60s clips, but they're very realistic, as opposed to most films from that period
Is there anyone here from the days of Ike? I'm with Lord Zobor, would love to hear about what it was like being into this way back then? In general I'd LOVE to hear from older members.....the OLDEST members about their experiences pre-internet.
I have a bunch of news clippings that go back to the turn of the century about husbands that tickled their wives too much, advice columns, etc. I'll try and dig them up and post them for you. I'm pretty sure at least some are from the 50s.
I'll bet there was more tickling in the Edwardian era than the Victorian! Probably administered by Edward himself! He loved the ladies!!!! Ah, to be tickled by the king.....that must have been some privilege! Can't rightly say "no, your majesty, stop it!"
🙂
