Is it me or does it look like a burly man is squeezing her from behind? I guess it’s a sleeve-related optical illusion.
Category: 1950s
Courtside Basketball Game
Braniff Airways Special
What a lucky group of students, off to fly the friendly skies in 1951.
But what’s going on here? Such eye-catching colors, he can’t help but be distracted.
Braniff had some great non-sexist ads as well. Check out the colors and the artwork on these!
Aren’t those fun? I could look at travel posters for hours. Maybe I will.
Johnny Got A Guitar
You have to pronounce it with emphasis on the first syllable: GUI-tar. That’s how it’s said.
So here’s what confuses me on this (my I Don’t Get It moment). This looks like a 50s rock ‘n’ roll impromptu set in the commons, some ragtag gathering of rebellious devil music. But if this Texas yearbook is a 1951 edition, then the schoolyear was only ’50-’51, and the first legit rock hit wasn’t until 1955 with Bill Haley and the Comets’ (see the Comet connection?) hit “Rock Around The Clock.” It wasn’t even written until 1952.
Elvis was only 16 in 1951. Ritchie Valens a mere 10. So what was this kid doing with his guitar? Surely not playing these top ten hits of 1951.
| 1 | Nat King Cole | Too Young |
| 2 | Tony Bennett | Because Of You |
| 3 | Les Paul and Mary Ford | How High The Moon |
| 4 | Rosemary Clooney | Come On-a My House |
| 5 | Mario Lanza | Be My Love |
| 6 | Weavers | On Top Of Old Smoky |
| 7 | Tony Bennett | Cold, Cold Heart |
| 8 | Perry Como | If |
| 9 | Mario Lanza | Loveliest Night Of The Year |
| 10 | Patti Page | Tennessee Waltz |
Now the interwebs tell me that classic rock and roll is “usually played with one or two electric guitars (one lead, one rhythm), a string bass or (after the mid-1950s) an electric bass guitar, and a drum kit.” And I’m sure Mark the Music Man will know more about this than I. It just seems a bit early to go taking your first real six-string (if that’s what it is; I am ignorant) to school to serenade your peers, especially to play lame old people music. On top of old smoky…♫ ♫ ♫
High-Class Panhandler
When Your Cat Hates You
To be fair, all cats hate you. The contempt is thinly-veiled. For those of you unfamiliar with the wide-eyed Brazil nut pictured here, it’s Carmen Miranda, aka The Chiquita Banana Lady. And wide-eyed she was!
She may have danced her way to fame with a pile of fruit atop her head, much to the chagrin of Latin nations who felt stereotyped, but she had the last laugh. By 1945, she earned more than $200,000 (over $2 million in today’s money), becoming Hollywood’s highest-paid entertainer.
Numero uno, y’all!
She must have had fabulous posture and core control to forever be balancing colorful edible headgear and bearing the burden of 27 lbs of heavy metal accessories. No pain, no gain.
In August of 1955, Miranda was shooting a a song and dance number for the The Jimmy Durante Show when she fell to one knee. Out of breath, she finished the segment and went home. The next morning, Miranda died from a heart attack at her home in Beverly Hills. She was only 46.
To see her sing and samba, catch this 1943 clip of her in “The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat.”
No Seatbelt Required
Keep It On The DL
He’s got the pen, so he must be doling it out, but what is it? His digits? A prescription for antibiotics to treat an itchy rash? The name of a Sicilian hit man to take care of some unpleasant business? A list of television networks at the time?
Prissy Overkill
Cotton Twill Shorts: Making Her Manly While Making Him Nelly
Hiding The Remains
Unrequited Adoration
I Don't Get It 