LIFE Archives: Wild Hearts
18/05/2011 § 1 Comment
Popularized in the 1880s, diving horses were a boardwalk attraction that became a rarity after WWII. Here, LIFE photographer Peter Stackpole captures one in Atlantic City in 1953. I can’t find the accompanying article or write-up in the LIFE archives, so I have to believe these weren’t published, leaving us to wonder who these performers were, as we watch them carry the torch for a disappearing trade.
Taken in Atlantic City in 1953 by Peter Stackpole
LIFE Archives: Circus City USA, 1947 {Hugo, Oklahoma}
25/04/2011 § 40 Comments
What I love most about the LIFE archives, is how completely I disappear down a rabbit hole for hours. Seriously. Most times, when I take a stroll through, I’ll just start off with a single word query. Could be a name, could be a place, or even just a year, it doesn’t matter — every single time I discover something amazing.
With Water for Elephants at the front of my mind, I wanted to see if I could find any old circus pictures for my Tumblr. My first query turned up some lovely images taken by one of my favorite photographers, Nina Leen, in 1949 — you can see them here and here — but little more digging revealed a photo that was unrelated to Leen’s set, and amazing in its own right.
The image of this man so lovingly tending his tiny horse immediately drew me in. Where was this? When was this? Why was this linked to a group of photos about the circus? As it turned out, this image belongs to a set taken by Cornell Capa for LIFE Magazine in April 1947, in Hugo, Oklahoma. A quick bit of research later, I discovered Hugo’s interesting history. Frequently referred to as “Circus City USA,” Hugo has been the favored winter grounds for more than 22 traveling circuses since 1937, owing to a central location, flat lands and temperate weather. In those winter months, Hugo’s elephant population is the second-largest elephant herd in the United States. Hugo is also home to one of only two cemeteries in the United States dedicated to circus performers, called “Showman’s Rest.”
The photos are amazing, but I don’t want to drown you in images, so I have included many of them after the jump. If you are so inclined to wander through, you can do so at your leisure. But before we get there, I will force you to take a look at some of my very favorites.
You cannot begin to imagine how excited I was to find these images: the handmade costumes, the obvious pride in showmanship, the families of performers, the exotic animals, juxtaposed with a regular, run of the mill Midwestern town in 1947. Capa’s images of Hugo are simply amazing.
View knife throwers, clowns, acrobats, trapeze artists,
bears, among others, after the jump.
LIFE Archives: Jam Session
06/04/2011 § 1 Comment
All images below taken by Gjon Mili in 1943, via LIFE.
Lady Day. Amaze. Amaze!
Duke Ellington at piano. Dizzy Gillespie to his right.
Ellington.
Conde Nast President Iva Patcevitch (2R),
Vogue Editor-in-Chief Edna Woolman Chase (R),
Unidentified others from Vogue.
Lady Day.
Vocalist Lee Wiley.
LIFE Archives: The American Man {also, Nina Leen}
08/03/2011 § 9 Comments
For the August 26, 1946 issue of LIFE Magazine, photographer Nina Leen was tapped again to capture distinctly American characters. After photographing the American girl for “The American Look” article in 1945, she then turned her lens on “The American Man.” Leen’s European roots — she was born in Russia, and lived in Germany, Switzerland and Italy — and her seven years living in the US were touted as perfect credentials, as she had become “thoroughly familiar with American men without becoming used to them.” Leen’s article is an amusing view on the character and habits of the “exotic” American man, coupled with beautiful images of postwar menswear.
“HE IS HUSKY, takes enormous quantities of physical exercise.
HE IS HANDSOME, but not so handsome as he thinks he is.
HE IS COLLEGIATE, manages to resmemble a Yale man for years.”
“HE LOVES SMALL ANIMALS, will often stop on the sidewalk to scratch the ears of a stray cat.
HE EATS ICE CREAM in enormous quantities, savoring it as a Frenchman would a vintage wine.
HE MARRIES EARLY, usually looks entirely too younge to be the father of his growing family.”
“HE DRINKS MILK when dining out. In Europe only invalids or men with ulcers would do this.
HE IS TALL and likes to look taller. He considers being six feet tall a personal achievement.
HIS SECRETARY is apt to be very pretty, something which European wives would not tolerate.
LEFT TO HIMSELF at the delicatessen, he runs amok, always buys too much beer, cold meat.”
“A BLUR is all one seems of him in the morning as he bursts from his house to make the train.
BUT HE DAWDLES, once in the city, stopped by excavations, shop windows, tennis matches.
HIS BUSINESS SUIT is his uniform. With it he wears a four-in-hand tie, may carry a briefcase.”
“One thing that Miss Leen immediately noticed about the American is his legs…Their favorite position, particularly during business conferences, is on tables or desks, the higher the better.”
This last group of images of the “slouching American man” is my favorite. Leen shot these at the New York office of Young & Rubicam, an ad agency founded in 1923 that still operates to this day at its original Madison Avenue address. What we are treated to are photos of real Mad Men.
Did you notice he’s drinking milk?
I was able to dig up plenty of images Leen took for this article in the LIFE archives. They are such a wonderful look at the 1946 American male, through the amused eyes of Leen.
How sweet is Hughie?!
Hey, mister suspenders — I really heart your anchor tattoo.
All images via LIFE.
Further reading: “LIFE: The American Man“
LIFE Archives: The American Look {also, Nina Leen, Veronica Lake, Bass Weejuns}
06/03/2011 § 3 Comments
In the May 21, 1945 issue of LIFE Magazine, an article called “The American Look” appeared alongside wonderful images by photographer Nina Leen. Asserting that during WWII, US GIs had travelled the world and found the world’s women lacking in comparison to the “girls back home,” the article is a charming celebration of the fresh-scrubbed American girl, a wonderful look back at fashion and beauty in the 1940s and, of course, is a bit unintentionally funny to the modern eye. For someone like me, a prep with a penchant for nostalgia, this article is a beautiful, inspiration-filled time capsule of womenswear.
“In this most immense of wars Americans have involuntarily absorbed such a knowledge of people and races as would never come their way in peacetime years. Naturally the GIs’ interest in racial strains involves girls. They have seen and evaluated the relative endowments of English girls, French girls, Australian girls, Polynesian girls. They have found some to be beautiful, some pretty, some exotic. But none of them look like American girls and the GI has come to appreciate and miss, with a deep and genuine poignance, the look that sets American girls apart from those of all other lands.”
“A friendly, luminous smile…is a cardinal element of The American Look because American girls have the finest teeth in the world, an asset that derives from the balanced diet and good dental care that are the heritage of most American children.”
“GOOD GROOMING: Good grooming shows in the American girl’s big, competent, well-cared-for hands. She has at least one manicure a week, constantly freshens nail polish and uses much hand lotion.”
“NATURALNESS: Her “natural” look is a carefully contrived one. It means an evenly powdered, slightly rouged face, a mouth firmly and deeply outlined in bright lipstick. She uses mascara and eye shadow sparingly and makes no attempt to hide her freckles under a heavy make-up base. Her eyebrows are neat and brushed. They are carefully shaped but never look plucked.”
“CONFIDENCE: She walks erect, holds her head high, and she is not nonplussed by the admiring glances or whistles that follow her. Whether short or tall she does not mince as she walks but steps forward with graceful athletic stride she acquired as a roller-skating, ball-chasing tomboy.”
“AGELESSNESS: She keeps young in spirit and appearance well past the age when other women would consider themselves middle-aged and does it by minding her diet, her figure and her clothes. No matter what her age, her favorite costume for street wear is a good, not too mannish suit and blouse.”
“THEIR LEGS ARE LONG: The American girl is growing taller and most of the additional length seems to go to her legs…Their feet are getting longer (size 7 shoe vs. 6 1/2 ten years ago), but as compensation that has the effect of making their ankles appear proportionally slimmer.”
Her penny loafers! J’adore! Even if she has big feet.
The article stands the test of time and is ah-mazing — even if some of the ideas are more than a bit outdated at this point — mainly due to the beautiful photographs taken by Nina Leen. Leen was one of the first female photographers for LIFE and is best known for her images of fashion, Americana and animals. Luckily my dear, I was able to find a few additional images Leen took that did not make it into the article.
Une femme magnifique! I want this woman’s hair, her shoes, her car…
I’d even take whatever she’s got in those packages she carrying.
Aside from the adorable boy, I am swooning over her striped dress.
Do you not see the princess sleeve with the rickrack edge? Parfait!
The epitome of classic prep style: tweed, twinsets, pleats, golf.
Even though this picture was taken in 1945, does she not still come off très élégante? Is she not the picture of a “modern woman”? Did you notice her darling driving gloves?
J’adore the high waist and the 3/4 sleeve of the suit, the stingy brim of the hat.
Her hair has me thinking of the iconic Veronica Lake.
(Before she changed her hair for safety, of course!)
All images via LIFE.
A better look at the adorable shoes.
Do we think they are Bass Weejuns?
Image via GH Bass.
While at a uniform-required Catholic elementary school, I requested penny loafers specifically — even though all the other girls were wearing light-up LA Gear monstrosities. My prep runs deep, cherie. I think spring is a perfect occasion for a new pair. If you are similarly inclined, do stick with the original: Bass Weejuns. Virtually unchanged since Maine shoemaker G.H. Bass began making them in 1934, the shoe is iconic, well-made and will not break your precious piggy bank.
Further reading: “LIFE: The American Look“
LIFE Archives: Joanne and Paul
24/02/2011 § 2 Comments
In the month of February,
my mind has been turning to great love stories…
There’s not much I can say about Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman. Married for 50 years, and ended only by Paul’s death in 2008, they were an amazing couple that set the gold standard for Hollywood romances. At the time of Paul’s death, it was the longest lasting marriage between two working actors. They were so in love and it shows in almost every photo of them.
As actors, passions ran hot and cold:
“I’m all in favor of a good screaming free-for-all every two or three months. It clears the air, gets rid of old grievances and generally makes for a pleasant relationship. Joanne has a habit of rationalizing, and when she starts that, that’s when I turn ugly! But when she tells me what she instinctively feels, I pay very close attention.”
Via Vanity Fair.
Can we pause to note how awesome Paul looks here, with his rolled cuff, natty overcoat and leather folio embossed with his own name?
This is the very moment Joanne won her Best Actress Oscar in 1957 for the “Three Faces of Eve.” Can you see how happy Paul is? How lovely…
If you can’t get enough of Joanne and Paul, I wander over to this darling Tumblr — fuckyeahpaulandjoanne — whenever I am in need of a little love moment. J’adore!
Further reading: “The Newman Chronicles”
Patricia Bosworth for Vanity Fair
LIFE Archives: Bacall and Bogart
21/02/2011 § Leave a comment
In the month of February,
my mind has been turning to great love stories…
A true May-December romance, Lauren Bacall was only nineteen when she first met Humphrey Bogart. He was forty-five, and married. He would soon divorce his third wife — a drinker who once stabbed Bogart — to marry the statuesque former model whose real name is Betty Joan Perske.
Bogart preferred to call Baccall “Baby.”
The pair was married for over ten years and had two childern. They were separated by Bogart’s untimely death from cancer in 1957. Bacall buried with her husband a small gold whistle, inscribed with a line from their first movie together: “If you want anything, just whistle.”
The couple on the set of The African Queen.
Further reading: “To Have and Have Not”
Matt Tyrnauer interviews Lauren Bacall for Vanity Fair
LIFE Archives: Elizabeth and Richard
14/02/2011 § Leave a comment
In the month of February,
my mind has been turning to great love stories…
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were drawn to each other with a force that would not be denied. Actually married twice, their romantic liaisons proved to be irresistible fodder for the gossip pages while their film performances garnered accolades, nominations, and awards.
Richard was so taken with Elizabeth that he showered her with the most extravagant jewels in the world. Most notable was the 69 carat “Taylor-Burton” diamond, which was auctioned after the couple divorced for the second time.
Images via LIFE
Further reading: “A Love Too Big To Last”
by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger for Vanity Fair
LIFE Archives: Marilyn and Joe
10/02/2011 § Leave a comment
With Valentine’s Day approaching,
my mind has been turning to great love stories…
The marriage of film siren Marilyn Monroe and Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio, which lasted less than a year, has always stood out to me as one of most passionate affairs in history. The joining of these two superstars proved too explosive to sustain, but the love they shared was to endure forever.
Quite Continental 