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Marilyn: 1947
Hollywood, February 1947. "Movie starlet Marilyn Monroe." And the world's luckiest phone book. Photograph by J.R. Eyerman. ... No skin and bones here either, like we see today. Marilyn's face Her face changes between 1947 and 1950; her nose ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2011 - 10:05am -

Hollywood, February 1947. "Movie starlet Marilyn Monroe." And the world's luckiest phone book. Photograph by J.R. Eyerman. View full size. Oh myIf only the women of today could have half the vibe she did then. (OK, maybe some do, but what a wonderful world this would be!) Great photo by the way!! Yowza.1947: When Va-Va met Voom. Atomic BlondeIf they made the B-17 at Boeing, where did they build this bombshell? Natural beautyThank you for posting this. She was so beautiful before Hollywood made her over with the bleached-out hair and inch-thick makeup. She had a natural beauty that just shines in this picture. No skin and bones here either, like we see today. Marilyn's faceHer face changes between 1947 and 1950; her nose narrows, her cheeks become more defined, and her chin evens out. Check out her Army blanket photos for a view of Marilyn at this age without makeup. Her face is startlingly androgynous at this point - but not three years later, when she has much more stereotypically feminine features. So this absolutely, heart-stoppingly gorgeous woman still isn't good enough for someone, and has to be changed to be acceptable. You have to ask yourself what they were thinking. Beauty MarksShe has over 10 beauty marks (that I can see)!! Dial M for MarilynHi, my first post here, yay. I wonder if the telephone book is a clue to what was going on? She played a telephone operator in her first film, which was released in 1947 -- "The Shocking Miss Pilgrim." Perhaps this is a publicity tie-in. Or not. Either way, I wonder why the cover of the book is ripped up. MetamorphosisI'm shocked. I didn't recognize her. She looks nothing like she would a few years later. Was the transformation scalpel-assisted? [I doubt it. - Dave] Not a FanAlthough I'm a big fan of other classic movie actresses (Esp Audrey Hepburn) I never really saw what the big deal was about Marilyn. In the famous photo of her with her dress being blown in the air, her legs look very chunky, especially her knees. The photo above looks like it could have come from a Lane Bryant catalog. It's possible I don't like her because of the dumbbell character she played in most of her movies but I think she is way overrated. Traffic stopperI think Marilyn was at her best with Tom Ewell in The Seven Year Itch (1955) and she had great legs. If we saw this girl walking down the street today she would stop traffic. Curves are good. TransformationThe poor thing was beautiful when she didn't have two-pound lash extensions, three pounds of makeup and heavy barbiturate use weighing those eyelids down. When the above caused her to give us those sultry bedroom eyes, how sad that that's when everyone swooned. But I think she is prettier here and in other early pictures -- with a real smile that made her eyes light up. With a natural face and a natural figure. And again with the weight comments. Why the obsession here? Here, I thought that fat people didn't exist "back in those times." A Real BeautyWow. I've always thought she was a beautiful woman, but this picture is the most beautiful that I've ever seen of her. She just looks so young and happy and real. Today, her chest would need to have implants in order to achieve that gravity-defying beach ball look that's so popular -- her look here would be declared "droopy". I can certainly see that her face is the same as it was in later years. It's amazing how much different she looks without the trademark bleached hair and with muted makeup. RIP MarilynWhat a ripper. TCM had "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" on and I looked up to see Marilyn dancing next to Jane Russell. The comparison was startling, must have sent Jane running for the vodka bottle, and she was no dud herself. I wonder what is wrong with a person who critiques MM or women with curves as being chunky-fat, even. Look at that beautiful God-given chest. The stars/starlets of today pay to have a rack like that sitting on top of their parking meter-style bodies. MM drove men to frenzy, too bad she didn't find someone who loved her enough to support her, rather than beat her. Chunky? Lane Bryant??Not taking anything away from Hepburn but she had no figure. Maybe it's women you're not into. Real women have curves. Curves and softness are what make women so special. AbsoluteAbsolute Physical Beauty. Rodeo MarilynThe Misfits was the only movie I liked her in, both character and looks. Otherwise, she's a self parody. I think that her fame was a result of her rather prolific set of celebrity romances, including adulterous, and her early death. Beyond that, not much to separate her from the other bombshells. Late MarilynSorry, I'll take early 1960's Marilyn. See her in stills from the never finished "Something's Got to Give", she looks absolutely contemporary. She's dated here... stuck in the 40's. It's interesting how many of these actress from the 40's and 50's got younger looking in the 1960's, with looser hair and sleeker clothes. Doris Day is another good example. Everything is RelativeI knew I was in dangerous territory criticizing Marilyn. I certainly do not think she was fat but for a movie star (even in the 50's) she is on the heavy side. I just don't think she deserves the reputation of being possibly one of the greatest beauties of the twentieth century. I seriously doubt that Marilyn would "stop traffic" if she walked down the street today. JuxtapositionI'm scrolling down doing my daily read. I see this beauty. "No way," I say to myself, "that cannot be her? She's so wholesome and bright in this pic!" Such a lovely woman and if you look close, this young beauty isn't using any external suspension. She just defied gravity with healthy milk-fed female curves. Oh if only today's young women would compare themselves to this they'd feel great and look better. Then I scroll to the next photo. Anyone else notice? From Bombshell to board in a few quick keystrokes! LOL the woman in the next pic is a scientist with zero curves in the 20s style, short boyish hair, and a serious expression. You could not find two more radically different women without adding racial differences! Marilyn, I'm sure you were a firebrand and a selfish woman as so many beautiful women are, but you still deserved better than you got. Size 16I have had the experience more than once of showing "Some Like It Hot" to students and listening to them giggle over Marilyn's fleshy thighs in her shorty nightgown. That tells us little about Marilyn or the 1950s and a great deal about our own time. Beauty MarksWe can't really tell from publicity photos and stills that are often airbrushed, but from her movies and some of the much later pictures (I'm thinking from the Norman Mailer book in the 1970s) she doesn't have these moles all over her chesticular region. There is no doubt from contemporary accounts that Marilyn was a very striking beauty/personality. She photographs well also, and so I think we have to disregard how her legs or curvy body may look with today's standards. I don't doubt that if present today as a 20 year old she'd be turning heads wherever she goes. MMCouldn't disagree more. She is extremely lifted and separated from the other bombshells. No comparison. From her army of imitators to her unmistakable aura, this was a one-of-a-kind. Her early death kept her that way. The fact she was basically messed up does not detract, since the public never saw it. She was breathtakingly stunning in her last unmade movie outtakes. She had a lot more mileage in her physically than she did emotionally. ImitationsExcept that "Marilyn" herself was just another Hollywood creation, an imitation of the many platinum blondes that had gone before. That it took such a toll on her does not make her movies any better, just more prone to over-valuation. CandorEven in her most artificial roles and posed photographs, there was a sense of candor and vulnerability about her that I found utterly enchanting and disarming. Even in this photo, she's styled, coiffed, tweezed, and posed, but her face looks totally open and guileless. I just want to give her a hug. So fineI do so like the Marilyn - before she went platinum! Not the "beauty"For me, the attraction has always been more than the physical beauty. Something about the vulnerability and, well I really can't put into words, the feeling that she would be a woman that "needed me"! Silly as that sounds, and I really don't care what she was like in real life, the feeling she projected was such a strong and overpowering mixture of emotions that it could hit most men deep inside their beings. Gee, that sounds pretentious doesn't it. Strange atmosphere in the theatre.I worked as an usher in a theatre when MM had a minor role in "The Asphalt Jungle," which was playing at the time. A number of men were returning day after day to see it. When I asked one why, he said, "To see her, the blonde in the black gown." When MM appeared in the scene where the light was behind her you can sense the electricity in the theatre atmosphere. It was the same every evening when that scene came on. That was the weirdest sensation I ever experienced working as an usher, and there can be a lot of weird experiences in a theatre when the lights go out! Marilyn/Britney I think Marilyn would have been destroyed by the media if she lived in these times. She would have been no more than a Britney Spears. When she started going off the deep end, they would have used her to sell tabloids. I bet even Dr. Phil would have tried to devour the carcass just as he did to Britney. Such a BeautyMarilyn Monroe was such a beauty, I reckon a lot celebrities today envy her style. Say Madonna for example, took after Marilyn's style and then Christina Aguilera. Marilyn didn't try to tan like all other celebrities today, she loved her naturally fair skin and to add to that, she loved being as real as possible. She is my style Icon, its sad that she is now dead, but she will be remembered for a long long time to come. x "Love Happy"This photo was taken in February 1949 on the set of the last Marx Brothers film, "Love Happy." Marilyn had a dynamite walk-on as Groucho's client with the line "Mr. Grunion, can you help me? Some men are following me," as she sashays off screen. Marilyn was the mistress of the sexy walk-on. Great! WOWShe is just utterly beautiful! (LIFE, Los Angeles, Marilyn Monroe, Movies, Pretty Girls)
Homebody: 1953
Hollywood, 1953. "Actress Marilyn Monroe, playfully elegant at home." 35mm negative by Alfred Eisenstaedt, Life ... that made her photos. Anyone could and many - including Marilyn - did do "saucy" photo shoots (in the nude or close to it) it was a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2011 - 10:20am -

Hollywood, 1953. "Actress Marilyn Monroe, playfully elegant at home." 35mm negative by Alfred Eisenstaedt, Life photo archive. View full size. DefinitelyDefinitely, this woman was very beautiful and very sensual The Camera Loved HerBe it a still camera or a movie camera it loved her, and she loved it right back. There's something about her facial features capped off with that beauty mark in just the right place. And as far as we know, except for weight loss and the usual plucking and primping and styling it was all natural (in other words no nipping and tucking). Someone Else the Camera LovedWhen I was writing that last comment I should have mentioned the death of someone else that the camera absolutely loved, Miss Bettie Page. There was something about her face that made it so that it was virtually impossible to take a bad picture of it. While her body is well known thanks to the type of photos she took, it was her face that made her photos. Anyone could and many - including Marilyn - did do "saucy" photo shoots (in the nude or close to it) it was a rare few who managed to stand out while doing it. Bettie Page was the queen of them ... because the camera loved her. No One ComparesWhat an amazing beauty. Nothing today can even come close. Breathtakingly stunning! If OnlyWhat another wonderful photograph. Indeed, the camera loved her. Many around the world loved her and still do. If only we could just love her back to life somehow. Without the rose colored glasses....She looks a bit stoned to me. Not StonedThose are what's known as 'bedroom eyes', A.T. She looks just fine to me. MarilynPlease don't get tired of showing us photos of Marilyn. Lord, what a compelling and special woman! Overratedi see nothing but a lot of makeup and hair dye. Marilyn MonroeAlthough Monroe was undoubtedly complicit in the creation of her iconic status as a sex symbol, the entertainment and arts industries require a great amount of compromise by the artist-entertainers in order for them make a living and sustain their viability. We sometimes forget that very talented people are often complex, sensitive, fragile, vulnerable and limited in social skills. Like John Lennon, Truman Capote, Judy Garland, Pablo Picasso, Leonard Bernstein and thousands of others whose work has given us great and lasting pleasure, Monroe was worshiped and condemned by us, sometimes almost in the same breath. She was a good but underdeveloped actress, an adored but neglected woman, and did not live long enough to become the whole person she must have hoped she could be. She looks tired.It could just be the makeup and the pose, though. She Looks Tired?The soul of every man who sees those eyes understands what they say. If not, he's never loved a woman with all his being. Those....lips and the light on them. What dyed?>>i see nothing but a lot of makeup and hair dye You could definitely do with a new monitor. Beautiful pic, you can almost smell her Chanel #5. If you have more, please keep them coming, Dave. XXX, Don Philippo (Alkmaar, Holland). Natural BeautyMarilyn was a beauty with or without makeup. The tragedy is she never realized that ... she wasn't comfortable with being just Norma Jean, but being Marilyn is what killed her in the end. It's probably better that she died at a young age (okay, so 36 isn't THAT young), otherwise she'd have been like Bettie Page, insisting that she not be photographed in her old age -- such a shame. MarilynThere is sexuallity and sensuallity. Marilyn was one of the few to possess both and was able to exude it whether clothed or not. AgreementI agree completely with MacKenzieK on this one. One can never have too much of Marilyn Monroe. These pics are fantastic. Thanks again for posting them. Then I saw her faceNow I'm a believer. Seriously, I have never been a big MM fan, generally preferring the ladies of the '20's and 30's big screen. But I must confess: Shorpy has converted me with this shot! Wow. A certain lack of characterI suppose I'm one of those oddballs who never could figure out why so much was made of a woman whose face seemed to have nothing behind it. She reminds me of a pretty little yapping dog. By the way, I do think she was a very good comedienne and "The Seven-Year Itch" a fantastic film because of her. MM Quote"It's not true I had nothing on. I had the radio on." Think again...A friend of mine worked with Marilyn when she was shooting "Niagara" here in the Falls. There was a great deal behind her face! A very lovely (in all senses of the word) person. America's favourite pastime seems to be building up entertainment icons and then tearing them down. What she wanted most was to be a serious actress, and if you watch "The Misfits," you see some of what she could have been. Unfortunately Hollywood seemed to focus on a different set of assets! My word!You don't see lips like those every day! (Alfred Eisenstaedt, LIFE, Los Angeles, Marilyn Monroe, Movies)
Ah, Wilderness: 1953
Marilyn Monroe in 1953 at the Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta, among those other ... Joe Dimaggio was retired from baseball and stayed with Marilyn at this hotel during the filming in this location. Strangest thing ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/11/2013 - 3:40pm -

Marilyn Monroe in 1953 at the Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta, among those other majestic peaks known as the Canadian Rockies. She sprained her ankle filming River of No Return. Photo by John Vachon for Look magazine. View full size. MountainsWhat mountains? Rollei perspectiveGreat shot of MM probably made with a twin-lens Rolleiflex which resulted in the low perspective and a square negative. Photographer then had the option to crop for a vertical or horizontal 8 X 10 print. Majestic peaksI got it! I got it! and note a sprained ankle and one high heeled shoe, not a great combination. TimelessEven with a sprained ankle, forever a 'knockout'. Mount RundleIn the background, with the distinctive bite taken out of the top. Majestic peaksI find the wit on Shorpy just as priceless as the photos. "Joltin Joe"Joe Dimaggio was retired from baseball and stayed with Marilyn at this hotel during the filming in this location. Strangest thingI sprained my neck watching "River of No Return." Ah, MarilynThank you, Dave for this and future photos of Marilyn. She was the icon of my childhood (I was born in '47). Aww Poor MarilynLet daddy kiss and make it better. Yowza. Not Mt. Rundle davidk: you are looking at Cascade Mountain, Mount Rundle is to the right, the round Mountain to the right is Tunnel Mountain, Mt Rundle is to the right of it. Many thanks to google maps. Re: Not Mt. RundleI'll be darned. Thank you for the clarification, Ice gang. All these years, I thought that that was Mt. Rundle. So did my parents. We're not from the Banff area, but we did the drive from the prairies a few times. I attach a photo of Cascade Mtn. (top) and the real Mt. Rundle (bottom). It's that bite mark that led to my error. Here's an ideaHow about a "View life size" button? Marilyn Monroe looked goodno matter what she wore. Where's the pool?I took this at the Banff Springs Hotel on vacation a couple of summers ago. Can't remember where the pool was, but this looks like very close to where the pic of Marilyn was taken. The CastThe cast explains the tan line in this photo. (John Vachon, LOOK, Marilyn Monroe, Pretty Girls)
Marilyn Monroe (Colorized)
Marilyn Monroe, colorized by me. (Colorized Photos) ... 
 
Posted by marilyn mortenson - 01/19/2011 - 8:39am -

Marilyn Monroe, colorized by me. (Colorized Photos)
Marilyn Monroe (Colorized)
Marilyn Monroe, colorized by me. (Colorized Photos) ... 
 
Posted by marilyn mortenson - 01/19/2011 - 8:38am -

Marilyn Monroe, colorized by me. (Colorized Photos)
A Chat With Marilyn: 1953
Marilyn Monroe in 1953 at the Banff Springs Hotel while in Canada to film River of No ... ended long ago, but O! How her melody lingers on. Old Marilyn Photos Many years ago, when I was doing free-lance work for Globe ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/18/2013 - 7:22pm -

Marilyn Monroe in 1953 at the Banff Springs Hotel while in Canada to film River of No Return. Photo by John Vachon for Look magazine. View full size. CandidShe never took a bad photo. And in 50 years, she will still be admired for her beauty. The girl you wished lived next door. BeforeI love the photos of her before she got to be really famous. She looks so much more beautiful in this photo!!!! More natural. The 55 Year ItchWhen I was but five years old, I tore a full page photo of this enchantress from "Life" magazine and, after folding it reverently, secured it in my plastic Roy Rogers billfold and carried it everywhere I chanced. I find myself still enthralled to her at age 60 with no hope of manumission. Her song ended long ago, but O! How her melody lingers on. Old Marilyn PhotosMany years ago, when I was doing free-lance work for Globe Rangefinder in NYC, I spent an hour or two looking through their files of Marilyn Monroe contact sheets with a linen tester magnifier. These photos were taken in the early 1950s, and even when Miss Monroe sneezed, was caught offguard or made a goofy face at the camera, she looked amazing. An earlier comment by switzarch is so true: she seemingly just couldn't take a bad photo. Even girls have a crush on Marilyn, she was so lovely. I enjoy seeing these photos of her so young and eager for her promising future. Simply . . . . . . . radiant. (The Gallery, John Vachon, LOOK, Marilyn Monroe, Pretty Girls)
We (Heart) Marilyn: 1953
Hollywood, 1953. "Actress Marilyn Monroe at home." 35mm color transparency by Alfred Eisenstaedt, Life magazine ... it be considering the subject and the photographer? Marilyn certainly has a look of apprehension in this shot. I wish I could ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2011 - 1:41pm -

Hollywood, 1953. "Actress Marilyn Monroe at home." 35mm color transparency by Alfred Eisenstaedt, Life magazine image archive. View full size. Scared Little GirlA wonderful photograph. Why wouldn't it be considering the subject and the photographer? Marilyn certainly has a look of apprehension in this shot. I wish I could read the titles of the books. Norma's booksI have several shots of Marilyn deeply engrossed in a novel, or what appear to be novels and the titles on the shelf can clearly be seen . . . but, apparently I lack the mental horsepower required to attach them here. Foy Las vegas Real Norma JeanA woman with extraordinary beauty. A great photo where she is not the "image" of Marilyn. R-r-r-r-r-!Not so many of the beauties of that era stand the test of time. Grace Kelly works for me and I wasn't even born until after she retired from filmmaking. A shot like this makes you realize what all the fuss was about with regard to Marilyn. BeautifulThis picture is a perfect example of why Marilyn Monroe's beauty is timeless. The Mask Slips OffMy favorite photo of Marilyn Monroe. The June 1962 3-day Bert Stern shoot (2,500 photos) for Vogue magazine, six weeks before her death at age 36. For one brief moment, the Marilyn mask slips off before the camera & you catch a glimpse of the real woman. How sad. She finally looks like a human being & not a tired cliche. (Alfred Eisenstaedt, LIFE, Los Angeles, Marilyn Monroe, Movies)
Dangerous Curves: 1947
... Angeles, February 1947. "Young upcoming Hollywood starlet Marilyn Monroe practicing in dance class." Photo by J.R. Eyerman. View full size. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2011 - 10:08am -

Los Angeles, February 1947. "Young upcoming Hollywood starlet Marilyn Monroe practicing in dance class." Photo by J.R. Eyerman. View full size. So DifferentWhat a wonderful glimpse into the life of the young Marilyn. So different than the typical image of her. Dark StarOne of the most beautiful film-noir style photos of her I've ever seen! Didn't all the stars in the heavens seem to line up for her for a while, indeed. Beyond the wistfulness, such beauty as hers is a rarity in this day and age and man-o-man what a pic! Thanks for these current postings of Marilyn as it ALWAYS makes my day. StunningWhat an amazing woman. Yes, indeed, the stars all lined up for her. It's wonderful to see these pictures. Marilyn's careerI saw an article recently that explained that about half of what propelled Marilyn Monroe's career was the amount of publicity she got in magazines. It was shots like this, as much as her movie work, which helped ctreat the legend. Beautiful Silhouette Still a goddess, even when you can barely see that beautiful face. Thank you so much for these, Shorpy, they're as gorgeous as she was. classicPoor ol marilyn: she is STILL the last word in feminine beauty; something about her look defies class, era, age group and even 'tribal affiliation' (By which i mean hippy, punky, yuppie, folksie, etc) I am sure it would take no more than 5 minutes in photoshop to reveal the lovely smile. In fact I am going to do it right now on a download copy. If you are remotely interested, i will post back the result. (LIFE, Los Angeles, Marilyn Monroe, Movies, Pretty Girls)
More Marilyn: 1953
Hollywood, 1953. "Actress Marilyn Monroe at home." 35mm color transparency by Alfred Eisenstaedt. View full ... presents you bring!! I have seen some versions of the Marilyn photos from the net that you've posted of late, but NONE are of the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2011 - 10:16am -

Hollywood, 1953. "Actress Marilyn Monroe at home." 35mm color transparency by Alfred Eisenstaedt. View full size. It's in the eyesStarting to wear that world-weary look. Sad to see and to realize what's in her future. World Weary?I'm not so sure. Far more of a "come keep me company...if you get my drift" look. What presents you bring!!I have seen some versions of the Marilyn photos from the net that you've posted of late, but NONE are of the hi-res variety as you have here nor are they as large. I simply cannot express my gratitude enough for posting these. I'm also very happy to see fine-print versions are available here as well. Merry Christmas to ME. Thanks again! (Alfred Eisenstaedt, LIFE, Los Angeles, Marilyn Monroe, Movies)
Vacation Wagon: 1964
... to leave Crescent City, CA, and heard on the radio that Marilyn Monroe had died. Deflector's actual purpose Was to break the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/31/2022 - 1:09am -

        Our annual salute to the start of vacation road-trip season, first posted here 15 years ago. Everyone buckled in? Let's go! "Great Falls, Montana. Return after 3 weeks Vacation. June 27, 1964." This Kodachrome of a 1960 Chevrolet Parkwood station wagon is from a box of slides found on eBay. View full size. family trips in those carsI also spent some hot days in a car like that on the way to the grandparents. My mother flattened the second seat, put a mattress on the floor and loaded three of us and the stuff in on top of it, us and the stuff equally loose and not tied down. We whined and fought and slept our way to Cape Cod from southern NJ. My father always "had to work" (they were her parents), so she did the drive alone, I think maybe 12 or 16 hours? Seemed like forever. NostalgicThese people still had a bright future ahead of them, full of great hopes for the days to come. They hadn't gone to the Moon yet, and to them, by 2007 we'd have personal helicopters and robots would run everything. The possibility of the President being indicted for a crime was unthinkable. My job as a web designer hadn't even been invented yet. The lawn looks like it's literally astroturf. Were the colors really like that, or is it an effect of the kodachrome? Holy cow! We had a 59 chevyHoly cow! We had a 59 chevy stationwagon back in the day. Does this bring back memories. We would drive to Florida from Virginia a two day trip usually in the heat of the summer to visit grandparents. Five children two parents no ac. Damn! [This is a 1960 Chevrolet. - Dave] DeflectorsDoes anybody know/remember what the deflectors left and right of the rear window were for? These may have been an aftermarket item. It is amazing how well the colors in this slide are preserved after almost 50 years. It looks like Kodachrome all right, including the telltale blue cast in the shadows The Astroturf look......to my eye, seems to come from the little flowers (or toadstools?) that are in the lawn. At the smaller image size, they look like specular reflections, making it seem like the grass is shiny. [The white flowers are clover. - Dave] 1964As I remember it, this was less than a year after the assassination of JFK, there were race riots in the south and we (I was 14) were all starting to question attitudes towards women, blacks, hispanics, homosexuals and the culture we had grown up with. One of the more minor cultural things was the importance of your front lawn. 50 years?I was born in 1964, and trust me, it hasn't been 50 years since then, yet.... ;) Re:DeflectorsThe deflectors on either side of the rear window were intended to blow air across the rear window to prevent snow from accumulating. A similar deflector is often fitted along the roof on station wagons from the 60s on. I think they were usually a factory or dealer option in later years, but I really don't know specifically about this model or when they might have first been used. OK, 40 years.Sorry, I was too vexed on the year of manufacture of the car. I remember that someone in our street had the sedan version of this Chevy. Like any 8 year old, I was fascinated by the winged tail and the panorama windshield. You didn't see many of these in Europe around 1960; everbody, including my father, was driving Volkswagen Beetles. (He later had a new Ford Mustang 1964 1/2 , with a 289 ci V8 and a four speed box, rally pack and (optional) front discs, which I found very impressive at the time. A real gas guzzler by European standards. Family TrucksterThis is probably what Clark Griswold's dad took the family on vacation in. It's a 1960 Chevy, and I'm guessing it's a Kingswood model. The Brookwood was the more stripped down model and I think the "full dresser" was called a Nomad. This one isn't completely chromed-out and it has the small, dog-dish hubcaps so I'm thinking it's the middle of the line model. I think the rear air deflectors also helped keep exhaust gas from entering the rear passenger compartment when the vehicle was moving with the tailgate window was lowered. Though it doesn't look like there's room for anybody in the third row of seats for this trip. With the window up they also helped keep the rear glass clear of snow and dust. These are Parents of the Year......in my book. Can you imagine going across country now without all of the luxuries and Wendy's and portable DVD players and Nintendo and cell phones and credit cards? These parents did it all the HARD way...and I'll bet they made a lot of memories that summer! My jaw droppedOnce again the red stationwagon family blows me away. The color composition here is perfect. Chevy ParkwoodThis is a 1960 Chevrolet Parkwood. Parkwoods and Kingswoods both use Bel Air trim (mid-level). The Kingswood, a nine-passenger wagon, has the third-row rear-facing seat, and two steps on the rear bumper (one on each end just outside of where the tailgate would come down). Less obvious is that all Kingswoods have power tailgate windows, an option on the other Chevrolet wagons. I still drive a '59 ChevyI recommend owning one. In 2000 We took the ultimate road trip with mine from near the Canadian border in Washington State through the desert to Las Vegas and back up through California and Oregon. There really is nothing like seeing the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet. Cruising the Strip in Vegas was a blast. We might as well have been driving a space ship with the reactions we got. Sadly, these Chevrolets were mostly scrapped and very few survive. 60 ChevySadly, the third row seat had not been invented as of yet and the deflectors were used to deflect air into the rear of the stationwagon at slower speeds. I may not be an expert but I'm old enough to have ridden and slept in the back section of a folded down stationwagon. We didn't know about SUV's yet. Chevy WagonChevy's Parkwood and Kingswood wagons could both be had with a third-row seat. And back then, for the record - wagons WERE the "SUVs" of the day! [According to the 1960 Chevrolet sales brochure, only the Kingswood was available with third-row seating. The International Travelall and Chevy Suburban Carryall were two of the SUVs of the day. - Dave] The luggage rackis something you don't see anymore. It hung on the wall of the garage when not in use. Once my dad, who was in a big hurry, didn't secure the tarp on top properly... We played car games, like Alphabet, Road Bingo, and License Plates, read books, colored,sang songs and squabbled. You took your chances with local restaurants. We hadn't got used to entertainment on demand, so we didn't miss it. And to Dave Faris: It's the film. I once assured my daughter that colors when I was a kid were the same as today. "The Fifties," she said, in her narrator's voice, "were an oddly-hued decade." Slide ConversionHow does one convert slides to digital photos? Any website links or advice? [You'd use a film scanner. I used a Nikon 4000 ED for this one. - Dave] Family TrucksterWe had a green Ford station wagon, not nearly as nice as this, and with our family of six, it was a masochistic experience to take family vacations. Every summer we said that's it, we will never do this again, until the following summer when we did it again. The best part was arriving home again, but I will say that NOT having DVD's and high tech electronic gadgets forced the kids to look out the window and they gained incredible geographic knowledge from seeing the U.S. I could truthfully call these annual trips "purgatory on wheels." Road TripMost all of my long-distance car trips were connected with moving as my father was in the USAF. In August 1954, after being in the UK 2½ years, we got in our in our '53 Chevy coupe and went from New York City to the SF Bay Area, mostly along US 40. Entertainment consisted of looking at the scenery and checking off the towns on the free roadmaps that the service stations provided in each state. Iy being the pre-Interstate era, one did go thru many towns back then! (Excepting on the PA Turnpike) Burma-Shave signs relieved the boredom in the rural areas. We had a car radio (AM only, of course), but for some reason I can only recall it being used while crossing the salt flats west of Salt Lake City. Westward HoIn 1951 our family, my wife, son and daughter, living in Detroit, started taking trips to Cheney, Washington, to visit my WW2 buddy. All on old state highways, no air conditioner, 4½ hours to get through Chicago and the kids loved it. Took these trips out west to the 1970s. We still go west to see my buddy and my daughter in Seattle and we enjoy crossing Nebraska on old U.S. 30. It is a treat to be off of I-80. Nostalgia Ain't What it Used to BeDon't look at this picture and pine for the old days. Change the car to a green Olds Vista Cruiser and that's us in 1969. Back then, dads bought a new station wagon to kick off the summer vacation. Dads don't buy an SUV today for that reason. Without repeating some of the horrors already mentioned below, there was the additional joy of Mom sending back a Coca Cola bottle for one of her sons to use in lieu of a loo. If the girls had to go, we had to pull over. Not so with the boys. Watching mom backhand-fling a Coke bottle out her window, filled with fluid far different that what was originally intended, and seeing it bounce and spill along the shoulder as we whizzed along at 75 mph (pun intended), that's about the fondest vacation memory at least from the car perspective. Today with the daughter hooked up to a video iPod and the sons enjoying their PSP, it's a pleasure to drive for distances. Back then, we didn't play License Plates. We played Punch Buggy and Slug Bug, etc. Fistfight games. Let's go!I loved car trips, and I never had DVD players and Nintendo. I watched the scenery and kept a travel diary. those were some of the greatest times of my life. Road TrripWe had to make do with pillows & blankets. A mattress would have made it actually comfortable. I don't know if Dad didn't have the imagination for that, or just not the money. I suspect the latter. We'd sing sometimes. It was 12 hours from north Georgia near the North Carolina line to south Georgia, near the Florida line, where my grandmother lived. I see the moon; the moon sees me. The moon sees the one that I want to see ... Thanks for the memoriesMy folks had the four-door sedan version of this car, in sky blue & white. My mom used to have a station wagon, don't remember what kind, but it was memorable for its pushbutton transmission on the dash instead of a gearshift! However my favorite "finned" car was our family's Buick Invicta. Now that was a car! Third Row SeatsFords had third-row seats in 1955. I'm pretty sure Chevy had them by 1958 at least. Chevy didn't offer woodgrain sides until '65. Sunday ridesWe had that same car, only in light blue. No seat belts or infant seats for us! We'd put my baby sister in one of those deathtrap baby seats that hooked over the front seat and off we went! What a picture!This picture takes me back almost 40 years to the road trips our family did during summer holidays when I was a little boy. It feels like I myself am stretching my legs after coming home. The colours, the moment -- one of my favorite pictures in Shorpy. My Favorite Car was a 1960 Chevrolet Impala 2-dr hardtop. Bluish gray with white segment on the side, red and white interior. The first car my wife and I bought. Paid $1750 for it used in 1962. We made some wonderful trips in that car. Re: Family TrucksterJust saw this item on TV yesterday about a real family named Griswold that had their station wagon modded to look like the Family Truckster from National Lampoon's Vacation movie for their trip to Disney World. http://tinyurl.com/plo5kub See the USA in Your ChevroletFor our family, it was a 1962 Buick Invicta wagon. Huge car designed for doing massive mileage on the interstates and that's what we did -- six or seven hundred miles a day from Indiana to the Rockies for our annual vacation. Procedure for Accessing the Cargo AreaWe had one of these when I was a kid as well. Ours was a silver gray color. See the chrome disk on the trunk door? Upon arriving at destination, here's what you had to do: 1) Put trunk key in center slot (separate keys for ignition and trunk back then) 2) Open flap (as seen in photo) 3) Rotate flap several times till rear window is fully down 4) Reach in and grab handle to drop tailgate Simple, huh? Looking at old red carsmakes my elbows hurt! Seemed like some of those old single stage paints, reds in particular, had to be waxed every two weeks to keep them looking decent. The widespread adoption of clearcoat finishes in the late 80's to mid 90's freed modern kids from the dreaded frequent waxing chore, thereby giving them the leisure time to start the video gaming revolution... As Long AsThis isn't really the "End of the Road"! That's a scary title for all the Shorpy Faithful. 3 Adults + 7 Children =1000 mile round trip to see grandma. We kids didn't mind a bit. Seat belts?I don't think you heard "Everybody all buckled up?" all that much in '64. I'm not sure of the exact dates, but if you had seatbelts back then, you bought them at a discount store or an auto parts store like Western Auto or J. C. Whitney, and they were lap belts only. Three point seat belts didn't come along for several more years, if I recall correctly, and it wasn't until the government mandated new cars with ignition interlocks in the 1970's that "real men" started to actually use them. Back then, we used to spend our vacations camping, so the car was packed to the gills, including the center of the back seat. My sister and I each got little cubbyholes next to the doors, with just room enough to sit for the trip to northern Wisconsin. My dad drove a two tone green '55 Oldsmobile Delta 88. I saw a picture of that car a few months ago, and as soon as I did, I started remembering a surprising amount of detail about the car's details. It was handed down to me when I went off to college in '64. Seat beltsbobdog19006 is correct in that seat belts were not standard equipment in 1960. However, they had been available as a dealer-installed option since the 50s. By 1966, they were standard in all Chevys, and by 1968, they were federally mandated. I spent many a happy hour on family roadtrips in our '68 Ford wagon, nestled in the narrow gap between the second row and the rear-facing third-row seat, no seat belt, of course. Neither did my siblings in the third row. Service StickersI remember those stickers that service stations or car dealers put on the inside edge of the driver's door when you got your car serviced. This Chevrolet has two. Our road trip rigWe had a '76 Chevy Beauville van, a ho-hum light brown rather than red, which made up for the lack of chrome spears with its cavernous interior: two bucket seats in front for Mom and Dad, two bench seats, and a homemade plywood bed. Strangely, all that space wasn't enough to prevent sibling quarrels. The best story of this van was the return trip of its maiden voyage, when my uncle, who owned a small niche-market manufacturing firm, talked my dad into towing a piece of equipment from South Texas to a parking lot near Chicago, where we would deliver it to his customer from Wisconsin. We quickly got used to being asked at every single hotel, gas station, and rest stop, exactly what was the three-wheeled contraption with the hydraulically-actuated vertical roller-chain conveyor with teeth. The looks on everyone's faces when my dad told them it was a grave-digging machine: Priceless! Curtains?Every August for years we travelled from Birmingham to Cincinnati for a week of visiting my parents' relatives. Before our last such trip in '69, we went through a black-and-white '57 Plymouth Savoy, a metallic-beige '63 Ford Country Sedan wagon (the one without wood on the sides) and a '67 Olds VistaCruiser. I'd love to have that VistaCruiser back today. Ours was burgundy red and my dad put red stripe Tiger Paw tires on it. Imagine a 442 station wagon. As for Shorpy's '60 Chevy wagon, I only just noticed the homemade or aftermarket side curtains, with vertical stripes of brown, gold and red to compliment the bright red car. Thanks, Dave, for showing us this photo again... and including all the original comments, too. Great to relive all the great summer vacation stories with everyone! Re: deflectorsIn the days before the rear window wiper on a station wagon, some folks put these on and the deflected air current would help to clean off that window to a degree. Not having either, within a mile that rear hatch would be almost impossible to see through. Been there, done that and got the tee-shirt. This does bring back memoriesWe had a similar station wagon, but it was salmon (or was it mauve, or ecru?) colored with a white top (I think). It had a 460 a/c (four windows down while traveling sixty miles per hour, some times 560 with the rear tailgate window down). I remember taking a trip from Mississippi to Six Flags over Texas on U.S. Highway 82 (two lane most of the way) in Summer, 1964. The back seats were folded down, and the four of us kids had pillows, blankets, books, and board games to pass the time. It was replaced soon after with a 1965 Ford Country Squire Wagon with a/c, and fake wood paneling on the side. Instead of a rear facing bench seat, it had two small seats on either side that faced each each other. Memories of summer tripsWe also lived in Montana back then, and our family truckster in the 1960s was a 1963 Rambler Classic station wagon. (Yes, I suffered greatly for it among my friends.) That's what I learned to drive, and we ranged all over the western US and Canada in it. Before that, however, we traveled in a 1949 Studebaker Land Cruiser 4-door sedan, which my dad (both inventive and frugal) had outfitted with a set of three back seats that, when covered with the mattress from our roll-away bed, filled the back seat and trunk area with a very passable sleeping unit. That's where I spent most of my time on our travels. At other times, I would climb over the front seatback into the front bench seat between my parents. That's where I was on August 5, 1962, when we were preparing to leave Crescent City, CA, and heard on the radio that Marilyn Monroe had died. Deflector's actual purposeWas to break the "vacuum" the "wall" that was the rear of that wagon created which would suck exhaust into the car if that rear window was open even a little bit. The fresh air, the snowless/cleaner rear window were merely bonuses... Buckle up?A 1960 Chevy wagon probably didn't have seat belts unless the owner installed them. The kids in the back were pretty much free range as long as they didn't make too much noise. Lots of people piled the stuff on the roof and put a mattress in the back for the kids. It was a great way to go and most of us survived. [Seat belts were optional on all 1960 Chevrolets. - Dave] Car playgroundMy folks had a Ford wagon of that era. No seatbelts. Folks put a mattress in the back. Became our playground on long trips. We had no desire to "sit" in a seat. Miss station wagonsI miss station wagons. I prefer them to the SUVs that replaced them. I also miss the bold bright colors that cars use to come in. No SquattingLooking at all the stuff already loaded, I'm surprised the back of this wagon isn't dragging on the ground. In fact it's sitting pretty level. I wonder if dad had overload springs installed? We've had one built for you.To BillyB: Station wagon suspensions were designed with the idea that they would have to haul some combination of eight people and their luggage, so they did OK when loaded down. They *were* softer than contemporary pickup trucks, so the back end of the station wagon wouldn't bounce all over if there were only one or two people in it. Especially at the time of this photo, gas was 25 cents a gallon and would be that price forever, so the factory didn't mind spending a little extra weight on a beefier suspension. Also, most of the really heavy luggage went on the roof rack, which was fairly close to being in the middle of the wheelbase. The back-back, behind the rear seat, tended to contain lighter things, like blankets, pillows, the picnic basket, and - as the trip progressed - bags of souvenirs. If Dad wanted to use the inside rear-view mirror, you couldn't stack stuff much higher than the seats, anyway. Source: I rode in the back of a '79 Oldsmobile wagon every summer from '79 to '87. I think the longest trip we took in it was from Kansas City to Washington, DC and back. WagonsWe had a 1956 Ford wagon, then '61 Mercury wagon, finally a (I think) 1964 Ford wagon. I remember one year with the Mercury, my mom ran low on gas. We were up in the mountains in a resort town. To get to the gas station, she had to reverse up hills, turn around for the downhills, turn around again for going up the next hill. What a ride. Another time, 1965, we were in a typhoon in the current wagon. There were eleven of us in it. Another wild ride driving on a road along the bay. Waves washing over us, my mom hugging the middle of the road (there was an island we could not get across). Wagons were great. The 283 V-8with its 170 gross horsepower is not going to have much highway passing reserve with all that weight. Cross-flags over the V on the tailgate would have indicated one of several 348's which would have given more than enough reserve. That car is 58 years old but properly equipped could have kept pace with most cars on the road today in equal comfort. A 58 year old car in 1960 by comparison was barely even recognizable as such it was so rudimentary by comparison to the 1960 version in its looks and capabilities. The same comparisons held true in all other realms of life comparing 1960 to 1902--homes, conveniences, dress, you name it. Virtually any of those later areas are not that significantly different from their 1960 versions. Those deflectors... were supposed to keep dust off the back window Nikon CoolscanI am having a problem with mine. Can you recommend a place that can repair them. [There aren't any. Try buying them used on eBay. - Dave] 283 V8Although I agree that a 348 engine would have been a better choice for this station wagon. The 170hp 283 was the base V8 engine with just a single two barrel carburetor. The next option up was also a 283 but with a four barrel which the above wagon may have had, which would have given it a little more passing power. Koolscan softwareDave. What software program do you use with your 4000? As it seems the program that came with it is only works for Microsoft VISTA. [I use the NikonScan software that came with the scanner, on a Windows 10 workstation. To install the software on a modern operating system, you have to disable Driver Signature Enforcement. And it's Coolscan, with a C. - Dave] (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Kodachromes 1, Travel & Vacation)
Dreamy Marilyn: 1961
1961. "Marilyn Monroe posed on a bed under white sheets." Photo by Douglas Kirkland for the ... Dressed or undressed, sitting, standing or lying down, Marilyn had a type of beauty few women of her era could match. Two women ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/06/2013 - 8:51am -

1961. "Marilyn Monroe posed on a bed under white sheets." Photo by Douglas Kirkland for the Look magazine assignment "Four for Posterity." View full size. A Truly Beautiful WomanThere are equally beautiful women today too, but not like her. She was one of a kind. Exceptional and unique. Incredibly BeautifulDressed or undressed, sitting, standing or lying down, Marilyn had a type of beauty few women of her era could match. Two women captivated my youthful imagination like no others: Marilyn, with her blond hair, and Liz Taylor with her jet black tresses. Marilyn's death at an early age was a tragedy: I often wonder how she would have looked as she grew older. (LOOK, Marilyn Monroe, Pretty Girls)
Dial M for Marilyn: 1953
1953. "Marilyn Monroe enacting a scene from the motion picture How to Marry a Millionaire ... had beautiful eyes. First time I ever heard of Marilyn Monroe was summer of 1953 or 54. I was about 11 years old. When I asked ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/19/2013 - 10:11am -

1953. "Marilyn Monroe enacting a scene from the motion picture How to Marry a Millionaire." Kodachrome by Earl Theisen for Look magazine. View full size. GradesPretty = A+; Posture = D-. Nice Pair!She certainly had beautiful eyes. First time I ever heard of Marilyn Monroe was summer of 1953 or 54. I was about 11 years old. When I asked an older boy who that was, he told me that she was the woman that had more curves than the Pennsylvania Turnpike. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, LOOK, Marilyn Monroe, Movies, Pretty Girls)
Bearilyn: 1953
Marilyn Monroe and friend in Alberta, Canada, in 1953 for the filming of River of No ... ... before makeup. The Dancing Bear Nice shot Marilyn, now can we see a bit more bare? High-water mark This is not a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/16/2013 - 3:03pm -

Marilyn Monroe and friend in Alberta, Canada, in 1953 for the filming of River of No Return. Photo by John Vachon for Look magazine. View full size. RRROOOAAARRR!!!The Creature From The Black Lagoon ... before makeup. The Dancing BearNice shot Marilyn, now can we see a bit more bare? High-water markThis is not a pun or a reference (intentionally, anyway) to her raft trip with Robert Mitchum in that movie, but this period of her career was the high-water mark of her beauty. She was a stunner at this age. The bear is still thereIt's in the Indian Trading Post in Banff. I'll grab a pic next time we drive out there for lunch; nice drive, about an hour. River of No ReturnGood movie this one. Highly recommended to fans of both Marilyn and the golden years of Hollywood. Now we all know of Marilyn's legendary set of figures but if one needs any visual confirmation just observe the opening scenes of this movie when she is in her 'performing costume' in her 'dressing room.' Marilyn SezI don't mind the bears. It's the wolves you really have to look out for. Worth a visit to the taxidermistI bet many a man would have gladly accepted being stuffed and mounted if it guaranteed such a close encounter with Marilyn! (The Gallery, John Vachon, LOOK, Marilyn Monroe, Movies)
Babe in the Wood: 1953
Marilyn Monroe in 1953 in Banff, Alberta, visiting Canada to film River of No Return ... so they don't catch a chill. Impressive Boles! Marilyn is not too shabby either! Marilyn She's been taking my breath ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/03/2014 - 6:46pm -

Marilyn Monroe in 1953 in Banff, Alberta, visiting Canada to film River of No Return. Photo by John Vachon for Look magazine. View full size. Wow!Her beauty was timeless. Sweater GirlMy wife of 41 years was a great "sweater girl" as a teen bride. Today the sweaters all button up for housewear over a sweatshirt and the old ones cover the three housecats at night so they don't catch a chill. Impressive Boles!Marilyn is not too shabby either! MarilynShe's been taking my breath away for 60 years...thank you for the photo, Dave Oh MyAs Freud once said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." Unusual CompositionThe two orbs bisecting her head seem to echo another feature of the composition. Not a straight line in the frameAll bumps, bulges and curves. Ageless Beauty!Forget the figure... Forget the sweater... (OK!, I'm trying, I'm trying) but honestly... from the neck up, she is probably the most beautiful woman I've seen in my lifetime. Some of todays's young adult and teen movie and TV personalities need to take some lessons from her in how to look sexy WITHOUT being obvious about it! What the......heck is Ms. Monroe leaning on you ask? Google knows all: (The Gallery, John Vachon, Marilyn Monroe, Pretty Girls)
Hollywood Hills: 1952
Marilyn Monroe and Navy pilot snapped by Charlotte Brooks in 1952 for the Look magazine ... of the lei. But we are nevertheless reminded here that Marilyn could front quite a nice appearance from any angle, even from below. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/22/2013 - 10:07am -

Marilyn Monroe and Navy pilot snapped by Charlotte Brooks in 1952 for the Look magazine assignment "Helicopter View of L.A." Also, a nice lei. View full size. Darned lei!I believe our intrepid pilot is not wholly copacetic with the unfortunate positioning of the lei. But we are nevertheless reminded here that Marilyn could front quite a nice appearance from any angle, even from below. How pretty she is! Dropping in by helicopter was quite popular at this time. I remember numerous aerial descents by Santa Claus and even the Easter Bunny at the local shopping center which was conveniently located a stone's throw from Santa Monica airport. Is there a bad photo of Marilyn?I've yet to encounter it. Whatlei? (The Gallery, LOOK, Los Angeles, Marilyn Monroe)
The Babysitter: 1952
August 1952. Los Angeles. "Marilyn Monroe attending a publicity event for the film Don't Bother to Knock ." ... About this time she and Shirley Maclaine were roommates. Marilyn stayed home a lot because Shirley got all the dates! Badonkadonk ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2022 - 10:16pm -

August 1952. Los Angeles. "Marilyn Monroe attending a publicity event for the film Don't Bother to Knock." Photo by Earl Theisen for Look magazine. View full size. Cheeky.The boy by the fence of course. Just TriviaAbout this time she and Shirley Maclaine were roommates. Marilyn stayed home a lot because Shirley got all the dates! BadonkadonkSomeone famously described the sight of Marilyn Monroe walking away as "two puppies fighting under a blanket." Adorable M.M.Marilyn is put in contrast with an image of herself, and yet the photo is about a woman who is so beautiful, and one who could be almost the same, were she to go through a makeover and a change of attitude. I noticed the1951 Cadillac on the right of Marilyn's legs. Just a sign of old age to notice the car first. Reality CheckIn 1952 I knew Marilyn Monroe was unobtainable but I did eventually get the Cadillac. (The Gallery, LOOK, Marilyn Monroe, Movies, Pretty Girls)
Starlight Park: 1921
... This is the basis for the joke in "Some Like It Hot," when Marilyn Monroe envies Jack Lemmon's figure (in drag). She says that his beaded necklace ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/27/2012 - 12:24pm -

June 1921. Eleanor Tierney at Starlight Park on the Bronx River at 177th Street. Eleanor, a Broadway chorus girl, married a banker and ended up in Larchmont. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size. Hairy gamsShe has more hair on her legs than some of those Confederate soldiers had on their chins. I bet it's a good thing her arms aren't raised. EleanorYou could almost think this was a recent photo. She has a very modern look. The suitWas this bathing suit considered risque at the time? I wonder, only because so-called "modesty suits" which are marketed to (mostly extremist) religious women these days (i.e. http://www.swimoutlet.com/product_p/11745.htm ) offer significantly more coverage than this item from nearly 90 years ago. [It's not unusual for a 1920 bathing suit. - Dave] Itchy & ScratchyThat suit looks mighty itchy... Is it wool? A Little ChubbyA lot of those 1920 bathing beauties seem to be slightly pregnant I guess they weren't into washboard abs or heroin chic. Grooming NotesWow, I guess women of the 20s were not too worried about shaving their legs. Of other interest, it appears that there is more material on the men's bathing suits of the day than on Eleanor's! A real woman*sigh* every chorus girl's dream: to marry a banker and move to Larchmont.... RE: "Chubby," Seems that some men today are too used to the hyper airbrushed "perfect 10's" they see in the media. As apparent in comments seen here and elsewhere on Shorpy. Someone always seems to pipe up about weight. Most women share a shape similar to Eleanor's. Not fat, not skinny, not hard-bodied, not total slobs--just real and healthy. That being said, most of us do shave our legs nowadays. Comment criteria?I find it interesting that every comment I've submitted to this site -- which have had to do with artistic decisions in photographs or societal conditions at the time the photos were taken -- has not appeared in the threads, and yet comments about the hair on this woman's legs or that say she looks "slightly pregnant" (please, calling her "a little chubby" is absolutely ridiculous) pass muster. This is a private blog, of course, and you may post comments or not as you please, but this thread is a bit annoying. [Indeed. - Dave] I like her attitude.I would seriously like to go back in time and hang out with this girl. Concrete beach?What is she standing on? [Concrete paving. - Dave] Starlight ParkFrom what little I can find about Starlight Park, it was at 177th and Devoe and closed around 1940. The site is now occupied by a city bus barn. From other writings, Eleanor was apparently standing on a "beach" at the edge of a large wave pool on the park grounds. The chin-up pose is striking. Eleanor had confidence. She's all that...and she knows it! Here's a woman with a healthy confidence and outlook! Real women, indeedI agree that normal women are shaped like this young lady, if they're lucky; she was indeed a beautiful girl. As a guy in his 60s, I would point out that the rage for anorexics is a fairly recent one, and I think that even young men would largely prefer a healthy woman to one who is obsessed with her weight. It seems to me that this is something that women have brought on themselves in the last 25 years or so. Maybe not. It's also true that men like me knew lots and lots of unshaven European and American girls in the '60s and '70s. Natural and feminine women can be devastatingly attractive. ShowboatAccording to http://broadwayworld.com/people/Eleanor_Tierney/ Performances Show Boat [Broadway] Original Broadway Production, 1927 Lady of the Ensemble More New York City photos requested...More photos of people and places in New York City that are no longer "there" would sure be welcomed here, a la' the vast file of DC scenes you've published to date. [We have more than 400 NYC photos on the site. - Dave] Where it was...If I'm reading my Yahoo! Map correctly, Starlight Park in the Bronx was just about where the northern terminus of Sheridan Parkway feeds off to East 177th Street, very close to East Tremont Avenue. The Bronx River is basically clean where in runs through the NY Botanical Garden, but I don't think I'd want to take a swim it it today where Starlight Park used to be. Who wants plastic anorexia?I'm a relatively young man myself (37) and it's all the starved carpenter's dreams walking around these days that makes me really appreciate the beauty of this photo. Nothing fake or plastic here - to paraphrase, "it's all her, baby!" - and that's how I personally prefer women, inside as well as outside. Since we're on the subject of "modern" women vs. the extremely appealing jazz babies I've seen here thus far, my question is, why on God's green earth have hips and real busts been outlawed the last 3 decades or so? Dave, I can't tell you what a wonderful job and service you're doing. The streetscapes - as well as the jazz babies, among the many other things here - are exceptional!!! Twiggy Go HomeTo answer the SwingMan's question: It's that darn Twiggy in the early 1970's. I wish she had quickly crawled back into the golf hole from whence she came. *sigh*"It's also true that men like me knew lots and lots of unshaven European and American girls in the '60s and '70s. Natural and feminine women can be devastatingly attractive." Heck, yes. That's a reason I keep coming back to this site. The Hepburn FactorTwiggy was a latecomer in the thin-is-stylish sweepstakes. It actually dates back to Audrey Hepburn, the quintessential high-fashion template of the 50s. On a related note, let's not forget that of Katharine Hepburn (no relation), Spencer Tracy said, "Not much meat on her, but what there is is cherce." YMMV, of course. Almost Nekkid!For its moment, ca. 1920, this is a mild news service cheesecake photo produced for one of New York's many illustrated dailies. Eleanor Tierney's two-piece wool jersey bathing suit is acceptable in 1920 but a bit risque in its lack of a skirt. Many women continued to wear corsets under their bathing suits until the mid-teens at least, and one-piece bathing suits for women would remain illegal on many American beaches until the early 1930s. Many viewers at the time would have considered her "almost nekkid." With her casually proud stance and short hair, Eleanor is expressing modernity and liberation from older values, embodying social changes that were exciting, controversial and hotly debated throughout the country. Real WomenOnce again, Shorpy proves why it is my daily online morning ritual. Cup of coffee in hand, I have to peruse the jewels set up for daily display. As a woman who would have been described a "sweater girl" back in the good old days, I have always been amazed and a bit irritated how normal, healthy women in pictures such as this are berated in the comments on Shorpy for their weight when they have the curves and lovely meat a woman is supposed to have. I'm very glad I resemble Mae West rather than Twiggy, and I know not a few men who are as well. Flat-Chested FlappersOdd that so many readers view thinness as a purely modern fashion phenomenon, although our rail-thin models are a record-setting extreme. By the mid-1920s the ideal beauty was "boyish," with very slim hips, long legs, a flat chest and very short hair. This was the culmination of a revolutionary fashion trend that began during World War I with "mannish" dresses that suppressed the hourglass body shapes of the 1890-1910 period. In the 1920s John Held's covers for Life and Judge magazines featured girls with barely noticeable breasts and no waistline. This is the basis for the joke in "Some Like It Hot," when Marilyn Monroe envies Jack Lemmon's figure (in drag). She says that his beaded necklace hangs straight, and complains that hers just go all over the place. The Boyish LookSetting aside the fact that had the current fashion for anorexic actresses been in place fifty or sixty years ago we would have been robbed of the pleasure of watching Marilyn Monroe, the boyish look of the '20s was quite common, and would later come to be thoroughly misunderstood. If you've ever seen a not very good movie called "Getting Straight" which starred Elliott Gould and Candice Bergen, you may recall a scene in which Gould's character is defending his thesis on his favourite book "The Great Gatsby." One of the professors insists that Fitzgerald's description of Daisy is distinctly boyish and points to this as proof of Gatsby's (and maybe even Fitzgerald's - it's been a long time since I've seen the film) suppressed homosexuality. I at least see it as being as much a product of the fashions of the times as the descriptions of blacks in other novels of the period. My Two CentsNot to belabor the point regarding women's curves, I can only think of the classic artists whose magnificent paintings of beautiful, fleshed-out female forms are unintentionally so much more interesting (as in erotic) than would be bone-thin, shapeless females exhibiting a dearth of both feminine hormones and sex appeal. Take for example Venus, September Morn, the entire works of Rubens, Botticelli and hundreds of other artists and paintings that celebrate the true nature of the female form. Of course, then we have Botero, who makes all his figures very short and very stocky, but they are such great fun to look at. I can't imagine the great painters even desiring to paint the anorexic girls on the runways today. Just had to add my humble opinion to the mix. Thank you for not only the fascinating photos but also the stimulating discussions they inspire. EleanorEleanor, gee I think you're swell, and you really do me well, you're my pride and joy, etcetera... ©the Turtles ...this beauty can model for me any time. WOW...That is some hairdo! Very pretty woman. Can this be back in style?I absolutely love her bathing suit. I may need to get to work on one not made out of wool... Re: Show BoatShe's a chorus girl, too? Can she GET any more awesome? Why this photo?DO you know why this photo was taken? Was it a private photo? Or was it taken as publicity for the show she is appearing in at the time (being a chorus girl) or for the park itself? It has all the hallmarks of a professional photo due to the angle and her stance. [The Bain News Service photos were all professional. - Dave] EleanorSomething about the way she is standing and the look on her faces tells me that Eleanor might have been that girl who knew how to have a good time. Love the photo. Eleanor TierneyAccording to census records and the NY Times archives, Eleanor married John A. Van Zelm. He died of pneumonia on August 1, 1937. Eleanor died on June 22, 1948. Chubby? Slightly Pregnant??!!Honestly, get a clue. She just happens to have internal organs. Gee,if only they could come up with plastic surgery to remove them. Starlight Park in my LifeI admire the candid of Ms. Tierney, but the background is most interesting. I knew Starlight Park more than a quarter century later. By then there were no remnants of roller coasters or the like. The arena had been converted to a bus barn by Third Avenue Transit( taken over and operated now by the government transit op.) Many of the stucco buildings with red tile roofs were either destroyed,falling down or abandoned playgrounds for kids. That pool she is standing beside had a large sandy beach area and was of monumental proportions. It was the length of a football field, oriented east-west. At the west end, beyond the paved promenade, was a retaining wall and the land fell off sharply to the Bronx River. When this photo was taken this was largely an area that was undeveloped. The 180th Street Crosstown trolley (X route) went by and there was the West Farms junction of several trolley routes (after 1948 all buses) about a quarter mile away. The White Plains Road IRT elevated line with a Bronx Zoo destination had a stop another few blocks further west. In the 1940s when I frequented the place, it was because I accompanied my father, who was a soccer buff, when he went there on Sundays to doubleheaders of the German-American Soccer league. Not withstanding the leagues moniker; the NY Hungarians, Praha, Savoia, Hakoah, Eintracht, Brooklyn Wanderers, Bronx Scots, my old man's former team the NY Corinthians, and a plethora of teams with non-teutonic associations made up the league. There were professional leagues that had a larger territorial range, but almost all of the players in those days were either immigrants, or their first generation progeny. The GA was the MISL of that time. There was no real money to pay living wages to soccer players so either industrial teams, like the Uhrich Truckers in St. Louis, or semi pros - like those from the G-A league were the source of the best players in the country. Yogi Berra, and Joe Garagiola who grew up on "The Hill" in St. Louis, were part of a similar world and played soccer for local Italo-American sides there as children and teens. I know this seems strange, when the American goalie Brad Fridl pulls down 5 million bucks from Aston Villa in Birmingham in the UK Premier League, but until the Spaniards and Italians started offering whatever wages they would to get the best players, the British paid washers to professional soccer players. Ten pounds a week was the fixed rate in the forties for UK soccer players. Liverpool offered a NYPD sergeant named Miller, who was the G-A all star teams goalie, a contract. He would have had to have taken a substantial pay cut to have gone there. Foreign wage pressures, and the fixing of games by underpaid players has changed that forever. The Post War would change everything, but meanwhile the German-American League was the best we had. In the early 1950s, I was at Randall's Island Stadium when the G-A League All Stars beat Kaiserslauten , the German Bundesliga champions, 2-0. So Starlight Park's large playing field, north of the pool site ruins, was, along with Sterling Oval, and a field across the road from Con Edison in the south Bronx, were the places where the best soccer in the US was being played. As a young kid, I and the sons and daughters of the immigrants tore around the ruins playing games, built fires to roast spuds and marshmallows and the like, while our parents watched the games and relived their own athletic youths. Unfortunately, it wasn't all a halcyon time in the ruins for us. Charley, a 12-year-old acquaintance, was murdered by a sexual pervert there after swimming in the Bronx River. I never knew the place in its heyday, and I wish I had been there to ride the roller coaster and swim in such an immense pool. Still, it provided a different set of experiences and meaning to another generation. Good-Luck, Peter J. Eleanor in ColorWhen this photo originally appeared on Shorpy last year, I decide it was a good experiment for hand-coloring. I did this in Adobe Illustrator CS2, not a traditional photo-manipulation program. With the recent mania for colorizing, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon. Fire away, philistines! [The system deleted your attachment because it was wider than 490 pixels. Please read and follow the posting instructions! - Dave] More Starlight PixI first became aware of Starlight Park from a photo in Roger Arcara's "Westchester's Forgotten Railway" (1960). Now, the Internet and this web page have opened a whole new box of nostalgic pleasures. I have uploaded more Starlight Park pix here. Beach hairYes, it appears that Eleanor is both confident and fun-loving! It also appears that (by the look of her carefree 'beached-out' tresses) she has been SWIMMING this lovely day. This makes me very happy! I imagine that not too many women of the day would purposely submerge their HEAD in the salt water, much less consent afterwards to having their portrait made. That said, I have no doubt that for stage and most all other social appearances, Eleanor made diligent use of hair straightening rods, pin curlers, scented hair oils, etc. How do I know this? I (and all the other women in my family) have Eleanor's hair. Pool I wonder how they took care of keeping a pool of this size clean in 1921. I don't think they had Olin's HTH product at the time. (The Gallery, G.G. Bain, NYC, Pretty Girls, Swimming)
Lounge Act: 1948
... I would say Norma Jean Marilyn Monroe did some singing along with modeling during her early career. [If only this lady looked remotely like Marilyn Monroe! - Dave] This lady's hard to find! I'm guessing ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/01/2019 - 1:06pm -

New York circa 1948. "Jazz singer at the Onyx Club, 52nd Street." We trust that this canary won't stay unidentified for long. Medium format Kodachrome transparency by Down Beat photographer William Gottlieb. View full size. Is it June Christy?It looks a lot like her so that's my guess. [Probably not. - Dave] Kodachrome NoirA photo more evocative of the 1940s than this one would be hard to imagine. Here we have the sultry blonde singer winning the rapt attention of the (likely) husband of the poised, sophisticated, bepearled, Bacall-eyebrowed smoker, who is engaged in conversation with an attentive, lacquer-manicured gent while the slicked-down, slightly scarred tough guy on the right stares menacingly at he camera. All this scene needs is Humphrey Bogart. Just a HunchI'm gonna guess it's Peggy Lee. Girl drinksThe men are drinking some kind of golden-colored liquor (whisky?) on the rocks while the women have an amber-colored cordial in a tall stemmed glass, neat. Wonder what it is. I'm 99% sure it's Peggy LeeBecause I think the pianist is her husband of many years, Dave Barbour. Google Image him and the face that comes up is a dead ringer. [These are two different people, and Dave Barbour played the guitar. - Dave] Album cover photoThis picture is used as an album cover photo. Possibly Julie London? [Doubtful. - Dave] http://www.elusivedisc.com/The-Wonderful-Sounds-of-Female-Vocals-200g-2L... A bit of Lynch too!The red curtains look like the inspiration for David Lynch and "Twin Peaks"! Looking forward to finding out details. Is there a historic Down Beat website? Studio ShotThis might be a posed photo for that album. Since several singers are listed, seems reasonable the producers would just want a shot that make the point about the different female singers. In other words, no featured singer on the cover of the album. [This is not a "studio shot." As noted in the caption, the photo was taken in the Onyx Club. It is cover art for an album released in 2018. - Dave] Wonder if there's a photo credit on the actual album? Think Vexman has a very good point. [The photo credit is "Photo by William Gottlieb." - Dave] Red HerringsIt's not someone on the LP set; they're all too young. My vote is for Jeri Southern. Helen Forrest?It rather looks like Helen and the hairstyle is one she sometimes wore as a blonde and brunette. She was headlining at clubs and theatres in the late 40s after singing with the Harry James Orchestra, recording with Dick Haymes and appearing in a couple of movies earlier in the decade. The Bartender's Standard CocktailsI'd bet the ladies are drinking Manhattans and the men Scotch on the rocks, two standards of my parents' generation. Of course my dad preferred the Old Fashioned, but the glassware is wrong for that. That album cover has nothing to do with the music on the album. It was royalty-free art so it was used. Another shot of this singer Note the mole. Shorpy hive mind ...... is letting me down! It is killing me not to know who this is, because she looks so damn familiar! It's not Frances Langford (my first thought), Peggy Lee, Martha Tilton, Helen Forrest, Helen Merrill, Jo Stafford, June Christy, Martha Mears -- augh! Definitely Peggy LeePhoto dated 1950. [I would have to say definitely not. - Dave] Might not be a singer at allThis is quite obviously a posed shot. It might even have been done in a studio, though could have been setup in a club off-hours. Lighting is done purely for the photo. [As noted in the caption under the photo, it was taken at the Onyx Club on 52nd Street. One of hundreds of similar photos taken by William Gottlieb for Down Beat magazine, none of which are "studio shots." Please READ THE CAPTION before commenting. - Dave] Good a guess as any I supposeI'm thinking Evelyn Knight OR Eva Peron (okay, just kidding on that second guess but hey, the hair matches). International Woman of MysteryIn 1948, following a gig at the Onyx Club in New York, the Exotic Esteleta Morrow played Cuba's Night Club in Asbury Park, New Jersey from August 1st to the 8th. She was never heard of before, never seen since, and no photo ever found. She gets my vote. What a great mystery!I'm with dwig. The lighting -- evidently a strobe from the left behind the camera, the careful framing of the blonde -- point to that. Even the pianist doesn't really look like he's playing. Everybody is so compact and carefully placed. It's a shot for the magazine, not during an actual live performance. So who knows who the model for the singer is? Any other pix by the photographer that also feature that model? [All of William Gottlieb's 1,700-plus photos in this collection were "shot for the magazine." They can be seen here. We can tell this was taken at the Onyx Club by comparing it with his other photos taken there. And yes, Gott did use supplementary lighting. Below, his photo of the Stan Kenton band. - Dave] Could it beLee Wiley? If so, the piano player is her husband, Jess Stacy. [Lee Wiley was born in 1908. - Dave] How about Marion Hutton?I'm too tech-impaired to figure out how to upload the photo, but to me the woman in these photos looks very much like the woman in this photo: https://loc.gov/item/gottlieb.08661 (It's one of a series of photos of Ms. Hutton with Jerry Wald, Mel Torme, and Gordon MacRae taken by William Gottlieb that ran in Downbeat in 1947.) [Marion is missing the mole. She also has attached earlobes. - Dave] Late entryAll about the NYC night club scene. Many pictures, just scroll down. http://popspotsnyc.com/jazz_clubs/ I would say Norma JeanMarilyn Monroe did some singing along with modeling during her early career. [If only this lady looked remotely like Marilyn Monroe! - Dave] This lady's hard to find!I'm guessing Dottie Reid. Same photographer, same club, same ear lobes. Could the mole be make-up? https://www.loc.gov/resource/gottlieb.12551.0 [It's not Dot. - Dave] Second GuessingRosemary Clooney? Maybe she had the mole removed later? [If this were some even halfway famous singer, she'd be named in the caption. (And if this were Rosemary Clooney, she'd look like Rosemary Clooney.) Does the answer await in some dusty back issue of Down Beat? - Dave] I didn't look through old Down Beat issues but after some sleuthing I am confident it's Betty Grable. The ear lobes provided the clue. [That's not Betty Grable. - Dave] The politics of itYou're doing a record album featuring female singers. Of course, you'd like to show a female singer doing her thing on the jacket. The problem then becomes, which female? How can you place one of the ladies from your album on the cover? That might cause issues with the other singers. If you photograph a lesser known singer [they have fans too] for the cover, HER followers will want to know why she isn't in the album. My bet is that this mystery singer is no singer at all, but a generic "stand in" for the genre. There! Peace is maintained, and all of these talented women will be willing to work for you again in the future. [Um, no. William Gottlieb didn't shoot album cover art. He was a photojournalist who took pictures for Down Beat magazine as well as other publications. - Dave] A clue, perhaps?I may not be very good at 'em, but I can't resist a challenge! I went over to the LOC site to get a closer look at the original, to see if any further details could be gleaned. Apart from what appears to be sheet music or a magazine on the piano, there's nothing that appears to give even an approximate date. I don't know much about photography, but I noticed in the upper right hand corner what seemed to be some sort of identification number (367-33). Operating on the assumption that it identified the specific roll of film used, I went back to the main page and looked around for any other Gottlieb shots with that ID (or at least the first three digits). Sure enough, there's a day shot of 52nd with the Onyx right in the center, same ID number. [This is sheet film, not roll film, and that's a lot number, shared by other exposures dated July 1948. - Dave] Gottlieb was too far away and the Onyx's front was in too much shadow to see if there were any showcards, but it appears that one Harry the Hipster was on the list that day (if he wasn't a regular feature). But what *is* clearly visible is the featured artists over at the Three Deuces: Erroll Garner, J. C. Heard, and (Oscar) Pettifo(rd). The Wikipedia article for Erroll Garner features another Gottlieb shot of the same marquee, identifying it as taken in May 1948 without any concrete attribution. Given the cool-weather dress of the good folk of New York in both pictures, however, early May or late April might not be an unreasonable assumption to make. I think it would be simple, then, to pin down when Garner, Heard and Pettiford were playing the Deuces and then, perhaps, cross-check who was playing the Onyx on those same dates. Whoever it may be, it's not June ChristyHow about Lennie Tristano in drag? No, wait a minute, Lennie's not a vocalist. I'll get back to you -- Wouldn't it have to be one of the singers on the album?Side A: 1. Cry Me A River - Julie London 2. Black Coffee - Ella Fitzgerald 3. -- [ The album is a compilation released last year. This photo was used as cover art because it was free. - Dave] Not in Down BeatI'm afraid the photos from this shoot were not used by Down Beat at all, in 1948 at any rate. Today I went through the bound volumes of Down Beat from January 1948 to June 1949, without success. To err on the side of certainty, I read every single caption with a New York dateline, and compared every headshot of a female singer (there were several in every issue, mostly obscure) to Ms. Mole. Nothing. Down Beat did have a regular feature "Where the Bands Are Playing" which listed some 200 or 300 bands and solo singers and the venues where they'd be appearing for the next couple of weeks (as DB was biweekly); but sadly it's alphabetised by name of act and not by venue! [It might be worthwhile to look in the 1947 issues as well. The years on many of these photos are based on publication dates; the pictures may have been taken weeks or months earlier. In addition, some of Gottlieb's work appeared in the July 3, 1948, issue of Collier's. - Dave] New Yorker no helpI looked at a bunch of 1948 New Yorkers but pretty much the only acts they listed for the Onyx Club (which they cover sporadically in Talk of the Town) were Charlie Parker and the Merry Macs (separately, of course). This woman doesn't seem to resemble either of the female singers with the Merry Macs at the time, Marjory Garland or Imogene Lynn, based on the very small number of pictures available online ... sigh. Uncle!I give up. I've spent far too many hours on this. I looked at every publication of his at the LOC, and googled a myriad of search terms/phrases, and I just can't figure it out. Please tell us? June Christy, I thinkWith her mouth open and her eyes closed, it's hard to compare this to other photos, but there's one on Pinterest, "Miss June Christy: Live on Stars of Jazz (1957)", that shows her ear, and the comparison is strong. Wikipedia says, "When the Kenton Band temporarily disbanded in 1948, she sang in nightclubs for a short time." So the date fits. [Below, June Christy and her attached earlobe circa 1947, definitely not the lady in our photo. - Dave] Stumped, But More InfoI tried to ID the lady and could not. However, while doing that I learned that Gottlieb left Down Beat magazine in 1947. For what it's worth, either the date of the photo shoot is off or it ran in a later issue after he left. [It may have been taken for another publication. The lot number on the transparency is the same as for other exposures dated July 1948. - Dave] Not in Collier's None of the photos accompanying the Gottlieb article in the July 3, 1948, issue of Collier's ("Good-Time Street: The story of the most raucous and colorful block in New York" by Bill Gottlieb) were taken at the Onyx. [Incorrect. The photo below of Harry Gibson, which illustrates the article, was taken at the Onyx. - Dave] My apologies! I thought "Harry The Hipster" was the owner of another nightspot! I should have recognized those red curtains, shouldn't I? Helen Merrill?Suggested earlier, but I also think she's Helen Merrill, b. 1930 in Croatia. Merrill was singing in jazz clubs at age 14, and the performer shown here certainly looks young enough to be 17-18. [Helen Merrill has attached earlobes, real eyebrows and no mole. And the lady in our photo is no teenager. - Dave] MoleThe mole means nothing. It was common for women of that era to paint one on their face as a beauty spot. ["Beauty marks" are something you're born with. And no woman would put a "beauty spot" in that spot. - Dave] (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Music, NYC, William Gottlieb)
Bejeweled: 1953
1953. A glittery Marilyn Monroe along with Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall and other assorted lovelies in a ... arrival is in CinemaScope and gives you Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe and Laureen Bacall [sic] as three dazzling gold diggers. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/23/2013 - 11:22am -

1953. A glittery Marilyn Monroe along with Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall and other assorted lovelies in a publicity still for the Technicolor extravaganza "How to Marry a Millionaire." Photo by Earl Theisen for Look magazine. View full size. Gaudily Posh Washington Post, November 20, 1953. Lots of Laughs via CinemaScope By Richard L. Coe “How To Marry a Millionaire” is the merriest comedy I've seen in a long while. The new Palace arrival is in CinemaScope and gives you Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe and Laureen Bacall [sic] as three dazzling gold diggers. So you can see that it's, above all, spectacular to look at — glamorous shots of Gotham, airplanes and ski country, as well as The Babes. Nunnally Johnson's script takes nice account of the three varied personalities, giving all some nifty lines. … As to the CinemaScope technique, one is swiftly accustomed to it, though the width still strikes me as a great barrier in the development of future films. The settings are all as gaudily posh as they should be and there's even a fashion show, mercifully brief, at least for me, though the tamales are very nice indeedy. … Beautiful!Is that skin I see, peeking out from under the arms of the demure scalloped suit on the right side? Zowee! Marilyn looks lovely, as usual. Love the lucite wedges on her heels! I wishI was the one peking from behind the curtain instead of SHORPY.WOW! OMG!I've died and gone to Heaven! Comparison timeCompare this ensemble of incredible actresses here to that of today's scrawny, puffy lipped, morose actresses and it's no contest. Hey,Betty Grable really does have good legs. Chartlotte Austin from same photo shoot!!Who can find more? Contrary to the popular expression...you now understand why it is actually A WOMAN'S WORLD! Zowee! is rightGreat comment Stefanie. Just like Joe E. Brown in "Some Like it Hot". Those "bullet bras"As worn by Mrs. Harry James, are two of the best things from the 50's! Anyone who differs in opinion needs to view "High School Confidential" with Mamie Van Doren (Mrs. Ray Anthony). Good news 60 years onLauren Bacall, who just turned 89, is still making movies. In JokesLove the in jokes in this movie--Betty Grable plays a Harry James record and Lauren Bacall tries to reassure her older suitor, played by William Powell, by telling him she like older men, "like that old man in The African Queen." Snazzy shoes!I can imagine all the lesser known ladies in this shot showing their grandkids the picture of them with Marilyn Monroe! I wonder what those plexiglass high heels that MM is wearing would go for at auction today. I wonder what ever became of them. I'll bet they're still around and in some collecter's vault. (The Gallery, LOOK, Marilyn Monroe, Movies, Pretty Girls)
Quite the Dish: 1902
... 1902, the year before his death. View full size. Marilyn's grandma And we all thought Marilyn Monroe was the first to do that blown-up skirt routine. Shorpy enlightens us ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/08/2011 - 6:42pm -

A well-rounded young lady in dancing costume as photographed in the studio of Fitz Guerin in 1902, the year before his death. View full size. Marilyn's grandmaAnd we all thought Marilyn Monroe was the first to do that blown-up skirt routine. Shorpy enlightens us once again. (Fitz W. Guerin, Portraits)
Recovering Nicely: 1953
1953. Marilyn Monroe with Look magazine photographer John Vachon in Alberta, Canada, after ... hang around and photograph some young actress named Marilyn Monroe. Nice work if you can get it. I would have taken this gig, but ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/02/2013 - 11:00am -

1953. Marilyn Monroe with Look magazine photographer John Vachon in Alberta, Canada, after she hurt her ankle filming River of No Return. View full size. Architectural themeFor Alberta hospitals c. 1953? Dreary. But the hospital "gown" is aesthetically quite OK. Two WordsHubba Hubba ! Tough JobPoor John Vachon. Travel up to a beautiful part of Canada, hang around and photograph some young actress named Marilyn Monroe. Nice work if you can get it. I would have taken this gig, but was only 1 year old at the time. Where's a time machine when you need it? SplendidRecovery, I must say. Axiom Proven Once AgainAs it is often said when a picture of the darling Marilyn is posted ... She never took a bad picture ... The lovely smile, beautiful hair and a natural body shape that still makes men drool 51 years after her death. Is that a tan line ...... on her leg? [See this photo. -tterrace] (John Vachon, Marilyn Monroe, Pretty Girls)
How to Marry a Millionaire: 1953
1953. Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable in a publicity still for the movie "How ... in the cabin scene; and I would not be surprised if Marilyn's thick glasses were not a sly poke at her Actor's Studio seriousness. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/23/2013 - 10:32am -

1953. Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable in a publicity still for the movie "How to Marry a Millionaire." Photo by Earl Theisen. View full size. One beautiful womanBoy, Lauren Bacall was/is one beautiful woman. Even between these two legendary mega-stars of the silver screen, her star shines brightest. Shoe EnvyI want a pair of each of their sandals! Heck, I'll take copies of their outfits too! Comparison timeThere is probably more screen presence, sex appeal, and charisma in any one of these ladies' pinky fingers than all of the so called A-List actors ( male & female) working today. Pure classWithout botox, lifts and tattoos. 26, 28, 36Those are their ages at the time of the photo, starting with Norma Jean. Interesting how Lauren and Betty look a little older than their years, at least to my time weary eyes. In retrospectThis is better than the poster of Farrah Fawcett I had on my wall as a teenager in 1977. SurvivorsGee, it's nice to see a Shorpy photo in which at least one famous person is still alive! Included are those pix of Dick Van Dyke and MTM. It's as nice of a surprise as to see a film on Turner Classic Movies with a still-living actor--God bless you, Kirk Douglas, Olivia de Havilland, Mickey Rooney, and Eli Wallach!! Sidebar: does anyone know if Luise Rainer is still with us? [Yes, Luise Rainer - born 1910 - is still with us. -tterrace] Nowadays, alasI know exactly what today's teenagers would say, because I've heard them say it: "Ewww, she's fat!" My! My! My!In six years of visiting Shorpy, I've never ordered a print. That may change with this one! Wowsa! Eenie, Meenie, Miny, MoOh forget it...why should you have to pick just one? Theatre Moment A few years ago, myself, my wife and a cousin of ours went to see a Broadway show. We got to the theatre a few minutes before the curtain rose. If I have to pass through a row of theatre goers, I sometimes try to lessen their burden with a stock remark "this should teach you not to come early". This time an elderly woman was in the aisle seat and we had the next 3 seats. As I passed her I made that remark and she was not amused. A few more words were exchanged, I finally squeezed past her and took my seat. A woman seated to my left leaned over and asked "what were you and Lauren Bacall talking about". Hard to believeOnly about ten years since "To Have and Have Not," Bacall's first film. Makes you wanna whistle for some reason. Even better with in-jokesLauren has a line wherein she she reassures her older beau, William Powell, that she like older men--"just crazy about that old guy in "The African Queen." Betty Grable fails to recognize a Harry James (her husband at the time) recording in the cabin scene; and I would not be surprised if Marilyn's thick glasses were not a sly poke at her Actor's Studio seriousness. Timeless BeautiesNice! This photo shows three women who all these years later, still look like they would fit right in today - so classy! This was a time when stars showed their natural beauty - so totally unlike today's stars who so often ruin their looks with multiple surgeries. Sad. BacallLauren Bacall is as beautiful today as she was then. And that dress! Wow! (The Gallery, LOOK, Marilyn Monroe, Movies)
Basking: 1951
1951. "Marilyn Monroe reclining on a contour lounge chair, with photographers." Photo by Earl ... conceal in ways that did no favors for girls who, unlike Marilyn, lacked a surfeit of features sufficient to overcome the effect. Lycra ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/08/2013 - 11:36am -

1951. "Marilyn Monroe reclining on a contour lounge chair, with photographers." Photo by Earl Theisen for Look magazine. View full size. Well-equippedLooks like a couple Anniversary Speed/Crown graphics, a Medalist (?) and some sort of TLR. Somebody's got to do itIt's quite obvious that all four of these dedicated photographers very much enjoy their work. When was the last time you saw everyone in your office smiling at the same time? Really nifty lounging chair too. Next stop: "Antiques Roadshow"Could it be found and its provenance established, that lounge chair would earn quite a handsome appraisal, I suspect. Cameras?What cameras? It's good to be the Queen. Armored fabricBathing suits of this time seemed to made out of exceptionally rigid fabric, not unlike drapery material. They tended to pinch and distort that which they were designed to conceal in ways that did no favors for girls who, unlike Marilyn, lacked a surfeit of features sufficient to overcome the effect. Lycra and Norma Jean, it would have been a beautiful thing. What Nerve!Is that a fly I see on her leg? Must be a boy fly! Low lightVery unusual position of the flash gun on the camera at center. Would be interesting to see what that image looked like. Twin lens unit is probably a Rollieflex. Would I were a fly upon her leg!Love the cameras, and of course their subject. Capital C Contour ChairContour Chair Lounge was the brand name, out of St. Louis. That's the two-person model. Very comfortable, and a favorite of blood banks. Also weighed a ton. Still wish I had ours. Contour Chair Lounge, 1949Here's a full page ad from 1949, with everything anyone could possibly want to know: Bathing suitsCirca 1959, both my mother's and my suits were heavy and thick and stiff. Hard to put on dry, worse to take off wet, terrible to put on again sopping wet and cold... which they invariably were because they were almost impossible to wring out properly and took forever to dry, even in the sun. A week at the cottage or the beach meant you often only put a fully dry suit on once, for the first swim. Peeling it off every time you had to go to the bathroom was awful! Mine was red with a red and white candystripe section at the top. Mom's was yellow. She also had a brown one at one point, with a sort of panel at the front that made it look like it was a skirt. re: Low light"Twin lens unit is probably a Rolleiflex." Or maybe a Yashica Mat? My dad had a couple of those. The flash may not be too out of place from what I remember of the Yashicas. Placement of the flash is largely dictated by the shape of the bracket holding it next to the camera. There were larger brackets and some were shaped a little differently. My dad also had one flash you held away from the camera as far as your arm would reach, with a long firing cable to connect the two. The flash on the TLR is lacking a bulb, anyway, so he wasn't using it on this shoot. The flash on the handheld Speed Graphic facing us is mounted underneath the camera lens. (The Gallery, LOOK, Marilyn Monroe, Pretty Girls)
Sweater Girls: 1943
... to my mom, she thought that the one blonde resembled Marilyn Monroe in many ways! (The Gallery, D.C., Eateries & Bars, Esther Bubley, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/19/2012 - 10:17pm -

October 1943. Washington, D.C. "In the cafeteria at Woodrow Wilson High School." Photo by Esther Bubley, Office of War Information. View full size. Health FoodWhite bread? Pie? Fudge?!? My God! How did they ever win the war and go on to be known as the "Greatest Generation" without wholewheat bread, fresh veggies and fresh fruit for dessert? Hats Off to Great-GrandmaThis image just makes me depressed about being born in the '60s. I mean, the girls at my high school didn't have a lot to work with either, but these gals are giving it all they've got! That said, I wonder what is on the menu. Sweater Girls SupremeFrom a period when high school girls dressed like ladies. The style was pretty much the same in the 1950's when I was in high school, the blouse collars were just a little smaller. The girls in these time periods liked to dress like the celeberities, the only difference being, the celeberities of that day dressed like ladies and generally when in public, acted like ladies. I don't remember any celeberities during this time going commando in public. [I can't remember the last time I saw a girl dressed like a celeberity. - Dave] Conformity...seems to have been the word of the day. Or will people look back at us in 65 years and think we all dressed the same, and had the same hair too? Glass onesI love their jugs! No really. The glass milk jugs are awesome. And to think, these kids still have 10 years before tater tots will be invented. They're missing out! Absent from schoolThe lack of sweater girls was the major flaw at St. John's when I was there in the 50's. I always knew something was wrong! Decisions, decisions...Second girl from left: "Should I have the meatloaf and mashed potatoes, or just a big hunk of that fudge..." MGM callingI think that era, for some reason, simpy defined for the 20th century what an "All American Girl" was. Those fresh faces, that bouncy hair. Those simple sweaters with pearls. It's what the boys were fighting for across the Pacific! The 1940's teenagers were archetypal. These pretty girls could have been portrayed easily by June Allyson or Judy Garland who would have been their movie star idols of the day. Hair FlowersAll of these photographs convey the timeless truth, that all across the spectrum of time, women have been slaves to the fashion trends. There is, has been, and likely always will be a set look, a 'uniform of the day', that must be strictly followed. Not saying it's good or bad, it just is. My high school daughter dresses exactly like 92% of her classmates. Here, you see the exact same 'uniform' on 1942 high school girls. Anyone knows when this started? Did Sacajawea and Cleopatra also shop with the sole goal to avoid castigation from their peers? Been a while since Hair Flowers were a necessary adornment. I like them! The latest in hair net fashion!It seems that the "lunch lady look" never changes. Mmmm! Frosty Chocolate Milk!Looks like they've got regular and chocolate. We can get "cream-top" chocolate milk in glass quarts via Whole Foods, but it costs double. Heathers 1943Great expressions! Whatever the girl with the glasses is doing to her hands is making that girl grimace pretty hard. Yet the girl between them is oblivious to what's going on. The girl on the far end seems to be taking notice as well. All the while, Miss Big Collar is making sure the server is selecting just the right piece of something. American PieIt's morning tea time Thursday morning down here in Australia and I'm enjoying this pic. That pie in the cabinet at left looks yum. Girls in SweatersGenerations of American men have fond memories of, as high school boys, going out parking with girls in "soft fuzzy sweaters, too magical to touch" (thanks, J. Geils). It's been since the early 60's that I had that pleasure, but the bright glow remains. The pieWhen do you think was the last time that pie that looks this good was served in a high school? Compared to the Wonder Bread and commercial fudge, it looks great. Hello Norma Jean When I showed this photograph to my mom, she thought that the one blonde resembled Marilyn Monroe in many ways! (The Gallery, D.C., Eateries & Bars, Esther Bubley, Pretty Girls)
Amazon Prime: 1952
February 1952. "Actresses Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe on set and in costume for the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes ." Photo ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2022 - 10:23pm -

February 1952. "Actresses Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe on set and in costume for the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." Photo by Earl Theisen for Look magazine. View full size. 100% organicNo fillers, Botox, liposuction or implants Forget about the hatsAre those flowers or cabbages at the tops of their outfits? TrueOr as I like to say, Female Version 1.0 Of corset we canThe lovely but rigorously corseted lady in the background seems to be wistfully checking out Marilyn's behind. I imagine MM had that effect on both genders. I know it's like pointing out that water is wet, but she was a true beauty as well as a knockout. Marilyn's performance in How To Marry a Millionaire ("I already think you're quite a strudel") is so incandescent that, with the help of the gorgeous Bettys -- Bacall and Grable -- it's basically a love letter to the power of sheer uncompromising feminine allure. The women of old Hollywood have always and will continue to inspire me to wear more (rather than less) mascara, lipstick, nail polish, perfume, high heels, pretty dresses, twinkling jewels, and fetching hats. After all, this ain't a dress rehearsal. So hopeful ...When I clicked on "View full size". (The Gallery, LOOK, Movies, Pretty Girls)
Star Trouper: 1954
September 1954. "Marilyn Monroe performing Latin dance number 'Heat Wave' in the movie musical 'There's ... whole package. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Dance, LOOK, Marilyn Monroe) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/13/2018 - 11:15am -

September 1954. "Marilyn Monroe performing Latin dance number 'Heat Wave' in the movie musical 'There's No Business Like Show Business'." Kodachrome transparency from photos by Robert Vose for Look magazine. View full size. Sassy!The set of the legs, the twist of the torso, the twirl of the skirts, the look on the face. She’s the whole package. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Dance, LOOK, Marilyn Monroe)
Pageant of Pulchritude: 1927
... holder." Happy Birthday Mr. President Too bad Miss Monroe didn't have the same attributes as Marilyn. :^{ Countries and towns Such a diversity of locations: from ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/19/2019 - 5:17pm -

"Second International Pageant of Pulchritude and Eighth Annual Bathing Girl Revue -- Galveston, Texas -- May 21-22-23, 1927." Panorama by Joseph M. Maurer. View full size. Blondes vs Orthochromatic FilmThere were blondes back-in-the-day, though not the percentage of faux blondes that you see today. The most common film used in Cirkut cameras in this period was Kodak Verichrome. It was very well suited to the exposure challenges this type of imaging poses and developed to a density range that was an excellent match to the contact printing papers of the day. It was, though, orthochromatic. As a result, blond hair with any yellowish or golden hue would reproduce much darker than it would seem to the eye. Miss Oak Cliff, Miss Florida, and Miss Douglas may well be blondes. Miss Amarillo could possibly be a redhead, you just can't really tell. A touching pictureMost of these young women look so happy and sweetly pleased with themselves. I hope this day was a pleasant memory for all of them, even world-weary Miss France. Pour me another."Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder." Happy Birthday Mr. PresidentToo bad Miss Monroe didn't have the same attributes as Marilyn. :^{ Countries and townsSuch a diversity of locations: from American cities and towns (Shreveport, Kerrville, Ogden, Monroe, Pine Bluff, Bessemer) to European countries (Spain, Portugal, Italy) to other nearby lands (Mexico, Cuba). Special mentions are in order: perkiest (Miss San Antonio), scowling stereotype (Miss France), coolest bathing suit (Miss Cleburne), and outstanding hair (Miss Amarillo). I can well understand the assembled crowd on the seawall, soaking in all the pulchritude. Galveston Does Not Have A Great Beach -- Been ThereFirst thing I noticed is every contestant is wearing heals heels on a sandy beach. How many sprained ankles resulted from this practice? Third from the left (between Dallas and Amarillo) is so busy showing off her beautiful ringlets she hasn't noticed her sash has flipped over. I suspect Miss Point ? (between Douglas and Bessemer) spent the most time practicing her pose in front of a mirror. I like the saucy bows on the hose of Miss Portugal. I think Miss New York and Brooklyn look lovely standing next to each other, outfitted in similar attire. Sea changeCompare the swimsuits and favored body type in this pageant to the pictures we've seen of Iola Swinnerton just five or so years earlier. What a change! A lot of beautiful curvesincluding the seawall in the background that is pretty much the same age as the young ladies. It is an engineering marvel that was completed in 1910, so it is only 17 years old in this picture. The seaway runs straight along the beach, but has a convex curved face. It only looks curved because of the way the panoramic camera (probably a Kodak Cirkut camera) scanned the image. Enthusiastic Model. My vote is with Miss San Antonio for her devil-may-care smile and sassy pose. Her name was Florence Zoeller. Game of ClonesWhat a collection of scrawny legs. However I would choose Ms. Ottawa to win in this category, IMHO. Cora, Countess of GranthamMiss Vancover (sic) looks a lot like a young Elizabeth McGovern when she was in the movie 'RAGTIME'. Take a bow. Take two.Miss Portugal's hosiery ... I can't even. She may be my style icon for today. But the winner of that whole shooting match had to be Miss Third-From-The-Left (I can't read her sash). Miss SpellingMiss "Vancover" doesn't seem disheartened by her forgotten "u." Who wonThe Charleston contest? By the way, really like the new, easier to read format! Didn't they have Blondes back then?Out of 38 contestants, not even one. And the winner was --Miss New York, Dorothy Britton. She was also Miss United States at the time. Dorothy won $2,000 and a silver plaque. (Panoramas, Pretty Girls, Swimming)
To Catch a Kitten: 1954
... more darkly mysterious; Natalie Wood was just prettier; Marilyn Monroe was more joyously sexy. But for just pure, epic beauty, Grace Kelly is ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/17/2013 - 9:17pm -

1954. "From photographs of actress Grace Kelly on the movie set of To Catch a Thief." Photo by Robert Vose for Look magazine. View full size. Frees FrameA cat in fabric does not always equal the work of Harry Frees. Say What?Why there are no fireworks in sight. Me, WowwwMy kind of kitten. Just saw her Sunday night on TV in "Rear Window" and "To Catch a Thief." BreathtakingPerhaps the most classically beautiful woman ever to "grace" the screen - or anything else for that matter. Liz Taylor was more darkly mysterious; Natalie Wood was just prettier; Marilyn Monroe was more joyously sexy. But for just pure, epic beauty, Grace Kelly is a category unto herself. Breathtaking! GorgeousWhat a stunning woman. If I had to pick out the five most beautiful women who ever appeared in Hollywood, she would be on the list, along with Julia Roberts, Ingrid Bergman, young Mary Astor, and Natalie Wood. I married Grace Kellywell, not REALLY, but about 44 years ago I married a young woman who was a dead ringer for Grace Kelly (to my love-freshened eyes, she looked even better). Now along comes this photo, reminding me that 3 years later she divorced me and I ended up with the damned cat. Thanks a bunch, Shorpy! (The Gallery, Cats, LOOK, Movies, Pretty Girls)
Niagara Falls: 1958
... are allowed in this area. The movie "Niagara," starring Marilyn Monroe, filmed the motel scenes (temporary props) off to the left of the ... 
 
Posted by Islander800 - 11/24/2012 - 10:51pm -

Shot taken using 35mm Kodachrome on the Canadian side of the Falls in 1958. Note the array of British and French cars among the American classics in the parking lot. Today, only tour buses are allowed in this area. The movie "Niagara," starring Marilyn Monroe, filmed the motel scenes (temporary props) off to the left of the picture at the gorge edge in 1954. View full size. Kustom KarThe white Ford, fourth from the left, sports a '54 Pontiac grille, a common custom modification at the time. Spiffy. SubjectiveIt's funny that in 1958 the photographer thought his subject was the falls. Now all these years later we know the subject is the cars! Those European cars.In the parking line: a black Ford Pilot (?) third from the right. Two to the left of it a grey Renault Dauphine with the roof rack and a suitcase. Nice green Hilman Minx drophead third from the left. The Minx was never a very sporty car, but in close proximity to the 'Yank Tanks' it looks positively rakish. Prospect PointThis is the first photo I've seen that clearly shows the aftermath of the fall of Prospect Point, which occurred on Wednesday, July 28, 1954. It appears as a large, smooth, angled area at the left edge of the American Falls in this view. My parents and I were there five days before the collapse (as shown in this old color slide). That's Dad and me at the railing. The people in the background are standing in the area that fell, and I guess we are, too. Trouble was already brewing. When we took the elevator down to the bottom of the falls there were cracks in the concrete walls and water all over the floor. The next Saturday I went to the movies with my friends and the actual fall was in the newsreel. Quite a thrill for me, to think that I might have been standing there when it happened. Predictably, my buddies blamed me for the fall of Prospect Point, because according to them I was so "fat." ...HA! Rare EdselOne of the first of the '58 model year (to the right of the Renault Dauphine). The HillmanI'm amazed anyone else remembers the Hillman. That could almost be my brother's. He bought it used in '65 and I think it spent more time in my folks' garage than it did on the road. I remember using the crank start more often than not and that you could use a dime instead of a key to turn on the ignition. It was such a wreck that he'd often borrow my old '57 Studebaker Scottsman for dates. RecentlyThis is a photo, not street view, from Google Maps. Poorly ParkedIt's interesting to see that poor parking is not just a modern phenomenon. One person parks over the line and it affects half a dozen others. From left to right it looks like we have: 1. Buick 1951 (Special?) 2. Chrysler 1953 New Yorker 3. Hillman circa 1953/54 Minx Convertible Coupe 4. Ford 1951 with a '54 Pontiac grille inset 5. Chevrolet 1957 Bel Air Convertible 6. Chevrolet 1953 210 7. Renault Dauphine 1956-58 8. Edsel 1958 9. Ford 1949-53 Prefect 10. Chevrolet 1957 210 Coupe 11. Ford 1952 Mainline Tudor or Business Coupe Behind the last two cars are: 12. Likely a DeSoto 1957 (yellow) 13. Probably a Chevrolet 1955 (black) The lady walking in the black dress along the wall behind the '57 Bel Air looks out of place with such a short dress on compared to the other woman in the photo. Brown Is BrownThat '53 Chrysler New Yorker on the left sports the only brown auto paint I ever thought looked good. My father had a '53 Imperial in that shade, and it was a dignified alternative to the normal conservative black yet far more stately than the washed-out pastel blues and greens prevalent on so many Cadillacs. NiagaraThis isn't a tour bus only area now, they just charge you to park here. The motel scenes in the movie "Niagara" were filmed in Queen Victoria Park which is to the right of this perspective. To the immediate left is the Rainbow Bridge. This is the area of the former Canadian terminus of the Honeymoon Bridge which collapsed in heavy ice conditions in January 1938. HillmansHad a '57 Hillman Minx convertible back in '59; not super quick, but dashing in it's own way. Drove to Toronto and back from D.C.. 3 position top, snazzy. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Sauceress: 1956
... mall, dull office park and 'McMansion' suburb. We gave up Marilyn Monroe and got Honey Boo Boo in exchange. Jane...his wife. This looks ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/17/2019 - 9:13pm -

1956. "General Motors Technical Center, Warren, Michigan. Design Center interior with stair in background. Eero Saarinen, architect." Our second look at the reception disk and its pilot. Kodachrome by Balthazar Korab. View full size. Eames wire chairEero Saarinen was a close personal friend and sometimes collaborator with my long time employers Charles and Ray Eames. The wire chair here and I'm sure others elsewhere in the building are probably Eero's personal nod to that relationship, as well as an appropriate statement of 50's modernism. My wife observesThe cleaning staff probably hated getting under the bottom of that thing. Run for your lives!It's a Disneyland teacup gone rogue! (Actually it's pretty darn beautiful, and a million times better than the cheap laminate cubicle I'm stuck in all day.) Her sisterHer sister had a similar post in the Metalunan Air Force, as seen on the silver screen a year before Korab's Kodachrome. "This Island Earth" 1955. Detroit was a wonderI would compare Detroit from the 1920s to the 1950s to Silicon Valley. It attracted the best engineering talent. It generated a huge amount of wealth. Which attracted a huge pool of craftsmen and artists. I lived in the Detroit suburbs for a few years in the 2000s, and the works of architecture and design in the region are astounding. Ikea BowlAs stunning as that workplace is in terms of shape, color, texture and space, the poor woman looks like food. WeeblesWobble, but they don't fall down! Machine-Age BeautyThis lobby is, I think, the pinnacle of post-war mid-century modern design, and why I became an architect. Unfortunately, it only lasted until the end of the JFK 'Camelot' era, whereupon it went downhill faster than an Edsel sales chart - we lost the excitement, the exuberance of looking to the future in favor of the allure of the cheap, mass-produced, "get it today and throw it away tomorrow" culture we are currently mired in, as evidenced by every crummy strip mall, dull office park and 'McMansion' suburb. We gave up Marilyn Monroe and got Honey Boo Boo in exchange. Jane...his wife.This looks like something that George Jetson would have driven to work every day. It's a shame it doesn't have the bubble on top! Student Lounge FurnitureI know the table and sofa were very expensive and made by a Designer, but that's what furniture like that has always reminded me of. Gorgeous!If such words may be applied to architecture. Another Eero Saarinen classic! I love the colorful lighting effects. I wonder if they were permanent or just created for this photo. [There are no "colorful lighting effects." -Dave] The Design Center was just one part of the GM Tech Center. And it makes sense that they would want a dramatic visual statement in the place where artists are designing the next generation of Motorama show cars, Harley Earl's Buick LeSabre and later Bill Mitchell's Corvette Sting Ray. The exterior was constantly used as the backdrop for photos of GM's dream cars. I hope GM's corporate troubles of the last few years have not diminished their architectural legacy. I still hope to visit one day to see for myself. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Balthazar Korab, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Charles & Ray Eames)
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