Category: Vintage

Letters To Jefferson, Part I

1945 Monticello
1945 Jefferson High School

After marching in the War Chest Parade, the Jefferson High School Lassos proudly watched the rising figures on the War Chest thermometer at the United States Postal Office.

The theme of the 1945 Monticello yearbook was “The Jefferson At War” edition. Current students exchanged letters with former active-duty students to get a glimpse of what a soldier’s life was like overseas. At time of publication, they had no idea the war would be over in a matter of months, though they wrote of “complete victory certain and, perhaps, very near.”

Soldier Bob wrote to his former high school from Luzon Island in the Philippines.

45Monticello.Luzon1 45Monticello-008

I Love A Parade

Nat'l Geographic, June 1968
Nat’l Geographic, June 1968

Youngsters enjoy popular music in a Fourth of July parade, following by foot or by tire. Antique cars, marching bands, and floats entertained spectators in the Bar Harbor celebration, culminating with fireworks on the pier.

 

And Then It Goes Kaboom

Yen and Noel Brinkley selling fireworks 1970s (Austin History Center)
Yen and Noel Brinkley selling fireworks, 1970s (Austin History Center)

A little detective work found this later blurb from The Anniston Star, March 9, 1980:

Yen has been in this country since 1968. She came here to visit friends, and that’s how it happens that Noel Brinkley, after 3 years in Vietnam, met the Vietnamese woman who would become his wife in Elgin. “And to think that I lived within a block of her during the last year I was in Saigon,” he said. When they decided to get married, Brinkley said, there was some opposition “not so much from my family as from hers. In Vietnam, you see. Americans have a bad reputation when it comes to marriage. Vietnamese have a saying that Americans change wives like they change shirts.”

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

America by Summerville
America by Summerville

A soldier from the 369th Infantry is welcomed home with a chicken dinner after the end of WWI. Germany had signed an armistice agreement with the Allies on November 11, 1918 (Yes, that is Veteran’s Day), and the troops were returning from Europe. I think his smile says it all.

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.

Picasso’s Last Breath

Riviera Cocktail
Riviera Cocktail

Rare is the image depicting a celebrity’s last breath before his untimely demise. And yet here we see artist Pablo Picasso’s son (no, not his great-great grandson as one would logically deduce) Claude about to stab his elderly father for the crime of cubism.

Actually, the 74-year-old Picasso pictured here did not die until he was 91 in 1973, while having a dinner party with friends. And down he went. His then-wife, Jacqueline Roque, bitterly prevented son Claude (born of another woman’s loins) from attending the funeral. Not cool. Jacqueline made another bad decision in 1986 when she pointed a gun at herself and pulled the trigger. We don’t have a photo of that one. 

humorpedia.com
humorpedia.com

 

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

Toto, I Don’t Think We’re On Delta Anymore

Herald Sun
Herald Sun

These lucky fliers had the good fortune to be alive during the height of plane travelin’ glory in 1950. Can you imagine being able to extend the length of your arm above you, and not smashing into the overhead compartment?

The truth is–this is a Ted Solent flying boat, which made many Australia-England runs. They could carry 45 passengers in seven lounges on two decks. Doesn’t it look dreamy?

Below is a Short Empire flying boat, which made many trips prior to WWII. Have you ever been on a flying boat or known anyone who has?

HeraldSun008

For more images of flying boats, see my earlier post.

 

 

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!