The general attitude toward nudes in advertising in the 19th and early 20th century were not dissimilar to the attitude toward nudity in fine art.

Generally speaking, nude art that had some kind of historical or mythological background was fine, but nudes of contemporary women in contemporary settings were considered much more shocking and risqué. It's why Cabanel and Bouguereau's depictions of the Birth of Venus were both considered beautiful and respectable works of art, but Manet's Olympia caused a furor. Orientalist nudes, like of Odalisques in idealized harems, were also far more acceptable than those of contemporary European women.

Most nude ads I've seen from the 19th and early 20th century are tended to have ostensibly historical, mythological, or Orientalist subject matter, which is probably why they don't seem to have drawn much contemporary criticism.