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

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.

Val Doonican Rocks In A Non-Threatening Way

kerbey's avatarThe Blog of Funny Names

Today we fondly remember Irish easy listening star, Val Doonican, who–according to The Guardian, a British daily newspaper—had “an easygoing, homely charm that enchanted middle England.” Such high-ish praise! A relaxed crooner, he was the Perry Como of the UK.

Could he be more chill?

http://forum.tz-uk.com/ http://forum.tz-uk.com/

Val is not a common male name; it brings to mind Valerie, either Bertinelli or the Steve Winwood song. In truth, the only other masculine Val with which I’m familiar is Mistah Val Kilmer, whose name is not short for anything. In today’s case, however, it’s short for Valentine.

Michael Valentine Doonican was born to a musical family on February 3 (the day the music died, but hadn’t yet), 1927 in Waterford, Ireland. His musical career began by playing in his school band at the age of six, then performing as a duo with buddy Bruce Clarke in 1947. I imagine he…

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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.

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.

Back On The Chain Gang

America by J. Summerville
America by J. Summerville

Get a load of Mr. Striped Sassypants, begrudgingly working on a Florida farm in 1910. He should just be glad he wasn’t chained to all the other convicts. Chain gangs, in which convicts were chained and forced into labor, were most popular in the Southern States prior to 1955. But some still exist.

SCStatePrison.jpg
http://www.antiwarsongs.org/

In recent years, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona has drawn criticism from human rights groups opposed to punishing criminals by making them work outside in the heat. Arizona’s modern chain gangs, instead of doing unproductive tasks like digging ditches, often do things like removing trash.

During the summer of 2003, when outside temps hit 110 degrees F, Arpaio responded to complaining inmates, “It’s 120 degrees in Iraq, and the soldiers are living in tents, and they didn’t commit any crimes, so shut your mouths.”

giphy.com
giphy.com

On the other hand, states like Ohio allow inmates to use mini-tablet computers to connect with friends and family while incarcerated. I bet that would make prison more enjoyable. And I bet those convicts below would prefer the mini-tablets to the labor. 

AmericaSummerville-002

 

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.