Daisy Duke (Catherine Bach). Sexy mountaineer women have a long tradition. (click to enlarge)
In the nineteenth century, poor mountain women were portrayed as being less repressed than Victorian ladies. Hillbilly gals became even more sexualized in the twentieth century. Al Capp excelled at drawing curvaceous hillbilly babes. Li’l Abner’s lovesick girlfriend, Daisy Mae, set the standard. American girls imitated Daisy Mae’s revealing outfit at Halloween and Sadie Hawkins Day parties. Capp Enterprises did license such costumes but the 1952 Gimbels “Daisy Mae Dogpatch Denims” hardly resembled her hick haute couture. This “biggest fad of the year” line of casualwear (below) looked more suburban Connecticut than backwoods Dogpatch.
Lil’ Abner coloring book, 1940s. (click to enlarge)
A comely country girl scantily clad isn’t copyrightable. The “Miss Hillbilly” outfit in the Star Bread Co. ad is clearly a Daisy Mae knockoff. The hick on the bread package hardly resembles hunky Li’l Abner though. Daisy Mae Duke continued the tradition of hot hill country temptresses in CBS’s TV series of the early ‘80s, The Dukes of Hazard. Actress Catherine Bach created many of her fetching costumes. “Daisy Dukes” have become the name for revealing cut-off jeans.
1950s magazine ad for Hillbilly Bread. Note the Daisy Mae lookalike.
Daisy Mae Dogpatch Denim ad, 1952.
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