Category: Humor

Plug-Ugly Pugs

Life magazine, 12-31-45
Life magazine, 12-31-45

I had no idea folks used the term “plug-ugly” back in days of yore. I would have loved to hear my grandparents tell me someone’s hair was plug-ugly. But there’s a good chance they’d heard it:

Per http://www.phrases.org.uk,

The Plug Uglies were a street gang operating out of Baltimore, Maryland in the 1850s…Gangs called the Rip Raps, the Know Nothings and the Plug Uglies fought pitched battles in the streets and these events were widely reported at the time…’Plug-ugly’ is an expression mostly found in the USA. In other parts of the English-speaking world you are just as likely to hear ‘pug-ugly’, which has the same meaning.

pug-tongue-park

Not only are pugs hard on the eyes, they reign as the Chevy Nova of the canine world.

http://www.edhumphries.com/
http://www.edhumphries.com/

No matter how you slice it, pugs are defective. And plug-ugly.

pugspace

Well, maybe not this one.

Starter Bartering

National Geographic, June 1968
National Geographic, June 1968

Barefoot Mexcaltitán pre-schoolers practice the art of the bargain as Luz Maria gets aggressive toward Green Dress, whose lowball offer for their fruit has insulted the entire Ruvalcaba family. Twin sister Martha Estella bears a bowl of coquitos de aceite on her head, patiently enduring the exchange and the heated voice of the alpha twin.

Sensible Beachwear

Riviera Cocktail by Quinn
Riviera Cocktail by Quinn

Never one to be showy or go overboard, Liz Taylor sports a calf-length mink coat and three-pound bracelet as she walks her dogs in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat with her two sons, Michael and Christopher, in 1957.

Who could blame her for visiting southeast France, when it looks like this?

http://www.lifeinriviera.com/
http://www.lifeinriviera.com/

Here she is holding infant Christopher, whispering to husband #2 that she plans to separate from him the next year and eventually entertain five more husbands (and six more marriages).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/

But one thing is consistent: sensible beachwear.

pinterest
pinterest

Those rocky crags look comfie against bare thighs and taylor-made for high heels. See her pushing away both sons with a firm palm, while daughter Liza Todd (from husband #3) sits pensively, counting step-fathers.

Strut Out And Put It Out

Life081549Vel005

According to the August 15, 1949 Life magazine, women all over America were losing their minds.

whatwomenwant

Listen, if your husband is wearing your girdle, that’s a serious red flag. Maybe divorce isn’t such a bad option. Maybe he’s just not that into you.

Further into the article, we have a pre-Munsters Yvonne De Carlo, sporting (we assume) a “gee-whiz string.”

Life081549TheGirls006

Aha! So now we know where the term G-string came from. And where it went. Was this the same woman who played the wife of Moses in The Ten Commandments?

By the way, if you need proof that she wore G-strings in later years, you need look no further than pinterest. My blog’s a little too tame to post it.

 

Before They Were Feeble And A Hip Replacement Exceeded An Annual Salary

1953 Comet
1953 Comet

For patients without health insurance, a total hip replacement usually will cost between $31,839 and $44,816, with an average cost of $39,299, according to Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. (http://health.costhelper.com/).

horsehip

What A Day For A Sack Race

Herald Sun
Herald Sun

Ruby, Elsie, and Alison show their competitive skills in Wandin (a suburb of Melbourne) in 1957, representing for the Collingwood branch of the (before political correctness took the accuracy out of terms) Old Age and Invalid Pensioners’ Association. Way to stay active!

Early Man Buns

National Geographic 1947
National Geographic 1947

NatlGeoJan47.Lolo

Americans were searching for missing flyers and presented gifts to the wife of a Lolo chieftain.

NatlGeoJan47-031

Yes, that does say the Lolos owned Chinese slaves. Hmm, slavery in 1947, and it still goes on today. No comment.

That Deerslayer Slays Them Every Time

1953 Comet
1953 Comet

Is anything more comical than the adventures of Natty Bumppo cavorting about with his long rifle and his Mohican foster-brother Chingachgook?

Cards At The Esquivel Home

1953 Comet
1953 Comet

I purchased a yearbook this weekend at an estate sale and discovered that the owner had written words all over the images.

For example, this junior student was not only ugly, but “Granny Ugly.” Several girls held that distinguished title.

53Comet-005

This boy with glasses was labeled blind, as were about a half dozen other boys.

53Comet-004

Blind to what, I wonder? Her charms?

It may not be an insult today, but this gal was “Skinny Bones.”

53Comet-006

But lest you think she had no kind words to ink her page, she did find Judy the pretty one here.

53Comet-007

Or maybe it was Judy’s yearbook?

 

Pressure Cookers Indeed

Thomas Jefferson High School 1945
Thomas Jefferson High School 1945

A young man in Miss McFarland’s homemaking class (spared the apron) incites suspicion as he reaches for the pressure cooker. Perhaps he will fare better in the canning process.

So That’s What They Mean By Coke Bottle Glasses

1964 Western New Mexico University
1964 Western New Mexico University

Poor Billy. If only he could have used James’s frames for the portrait. Any of the Jameses would have done.