This hand-coloured glass slide shows a male model in a brown hat, jacket and cane with yellow waistcoat standing before a garden wall.

It is unclear what this slide would have been used for, but Dr Jenny Gall, documents and artefacts assistant curator at the NFSA, speculates that it is a picture of a man in theatre costume, showing that it's not only women who need foundation garments.

It could have been used as a training slide for Berlei fitters or as part of the womens-only film screenings that travelled around NSW in the late 1930s and early 40s. Either way, it would have been used to inject some humour into the session for women feeling a little overwhelmed by their responsibilities to stay slim and look fashionable.

Notes by Beth Taylor