Yes, these really are knitted bosoms.
They were used in the 1940s as an educational tool to help women understand all about breast feeding.
How marvelous that one has stripes. I think a tea cosy pattern has been involved at some point.
I almost featured them on my other blog where I gush about gorgeous vintage finds. Almost.
See them 'in the flesh' at Weston Park Museum's Food Glorious Food exhibition (in Sheffield, UK) from now until November 28, 2010, and at the V&A Museum of Childhood, London, in 2011.
The museum and this exhibition are both free and both fantastic.