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Our third glimpse of John Vachon's leggy muse, a woman who we speculate might be his wife, Penny. 35mm nitrate negative. View full size.
Why are both of her toes taped? I can't figure that it was
because of new sandals. Any suggestions?
An online article by Tara Hanks entitled "John Vachon: A ‘Lost Look’ at Marilyn" contains this sobering fact: "His wife, Penny, suffered from depression and tragically committed suicide in 1959."
John and Penny Vachon lived in Greenbelt, Maryland at this time. Some sources indicate that the address was 3G Eastway.
This is such and unflattering and odd photo. From where it is shot and the pose of subject make her thighs look huge and her head tiny. This is the sort of photo that if I took it I would do the subject a favor and never let anyone see it.
How any self respecting male could get beyond the subjects gams is a mystery, but I managed. The artwork on the Fortune cover (February 1939) is by Tom Benrimo, titled "Navigation." It appears to be a likeness of the tireless gooney bird, a plane still at it in many parts of the world after 75 years.
Cigarette in hand, pack and matches at the ready and Fortune with a newfangled DC-3 on the cover. Let the rays begin.
Is it an optical illusion or does this photo unflatteringly reveal and document the beginnings of riding breeches and cellulite?
I guess that even toward the end of the Great Depression that would mark somebody as being somewhat better off than many others.
She reminds me of a young lady I once met and never had the courage to ask her out. I wonder if she smoked as much as Penny?
I'll take a couple of wild guesses and say that all three photos were taken on the same day and that Mrs. V has a new pair of sandals.
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