Not Just Another Pretty Face
Putting a large black mask over a woman’s face is supposed to block out the rest of her features so that only her legs can be judged? I don’t think so. Continue reading
Best Legs Beauty Contest 1948
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Tag Archives: 1940s
Classic Hollywood #20 – Abbott & Costello & Shemp Howard
Abbott and Costello – 1943 In The Navy
In general I have found that women do not find Abbott and Costello to be funny. Maybe they are an acquired taste.
What is interesting about this particular scene from their 1943 hit movie In The Navy, is that their co-star Shemp Howard (on left) was a member of another stalwart comedy team, The Three Stooges. Continue reading
Classic Hollywood #18 – James Cagney At Grand Central Terminal
James Cagney Grabs Lunch At Grand Central
In the days before air travel became popular, almost everyone took the train to get around the United States. On February 6, 1945 before boarding the Twentieth Century Limited for Chicago, James Cagney stopped in at a restaurant at Grand Central Terminal for a bite to eat. It appears he was enjoying a cup of coffee and a danish. Then he glanced up to see a photographer snapping this picture.
The difference between the “old days” and today is that movie stars of the golden years were not hounded by what has come to be known as the paparazzi – ruthless parasites, who violate every modicum of human decency. Yes, the old newspapers and magazines would send their photographers out to capture celebrities and news events. But there was a mutual quid pro quo back then, even if the celebrities dd not enjoy the attention, they knew the press generally helped their careers and would accommodate them. The press also kept somewhat of a respectful distance. Those days are long gone.
Honoring Lou Gehrig, His Monument Unveiled – 1941
The Day The Yankees Paid Their Final Tribute To The “Iron Horse”
This monument ceremony seen below was supposed to take place July 4 1941, on the two year anniversary of Lou Gehrig Day in 1939.
Many baseball fans know that the New York Yankees began the tradition of Old-Timers Day with a ceremony on July 4, 1939 to honor Lou Gehrig, the “Iron Horse.” On that day, the Yankees brought together Lou’s old teammates to show their deep admiration for a man who exemplified everything the Yankees were about. At the last minute Gehrig was asked to say something to the packed house at Yankee Stadium.
The words he said, now known as, “The Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth” speech, live on in immortality because it was completely spontaneous and from the heart.
What you may not know, is that you really have never heard or seen that speech.
You have only seen or heard small portions of Gehrig’s speech, because believe it or not, there is not one extant movie or audio recording of Gehrig’s complete speech. Only snippets.
As incredible as it sounds with all those newsreel cameras present to record the activities at Yankee Stadium, no complete version of the speech has surfaced in all these years. Continue reading
Joe DiMaggio’s Comeback 1949
The Yankee Clipper Gets Ready To Return To Play – June 21, 1949
Many who saw Joe DiMaggio play say he was the greatest all-around ballplayer who ever lived. Everything he did seemed effortless. Of course this is a huge exaggeration. Everything DiMaggio did so well required practice, patience and hard work.
When DiMaggio missed the first three months of the 1949 baseball season with a painful heel injury, many fans, players and sportswriters thought he might never play again.
So it was hush-hush when DiMaggio went to an empty Yankee Stadium to test out his heel in a full workout on June 21, 1949.
Things went well and DiMaggio returned to the Yankee line-up on June 28, 1949 at Fenway Park against the Red Sox to start a three game series. He hit a homerun in the first game which the Yankees won by a score of 5-4. The Yankees swept the series and when DiMaggio left Boston, he had hit four homeruns and driven in nine runs.
The impact of his return cannot be understated. In the 76 games DiMaggio played for the remainder of the year, he batted .346, hit 14 homeruns and drove in 67 runs. His on base percentage was the highest of his career, .459. In 329 plate appearances he struck out only 18 times.
The Yankees ended up edging the Red Sox by one game in the final season standings, propelling the Yankees into the World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
DiMaggio would go on to have the worst World Series performance in his storied career, batting just .111. But the Yankees still defeated the Dodgers four games to one, starting their stretch of winning five World Championships in a row.
The Coney Island Dripper
A Man, A Plan, And A Wet Subway Ride Home
Circa Late 1940’s Coney Island, New York- Acme News Photograph.
The news slug says: Continue reading
The Best Woman Presidential Candidate Ever
Comedienne Gracie Allen Enters The 1940 Presidential Race
In this newswire photograph, Gracie Allen, the zany half of the Burns & Allen comedy team “tosses her hat into the ring” to run for President in 1940.
Gracie put out a very funny book after her tongue-in-cheek Presidential run entitled How To Become President (Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1940) which has enlightening chapters such as:
Government Jobs Pay Big Money
How Not To Offend Anybody
Buying A Good Used Platform
Secrets of Unsuccessful Speechmaking
Even though the candidacy was a plot line for the Burns & Allen weekly comedy radio show, Gracie did a whistlestop tour by train and over 300,000 Americans came out to hear her make campaign speeches in cities along the route.
After “dropping out” of the race in the middle of 1940, Gracie still ended up receiving over 42,000 write-in votes in the November election.
The forgotten story of her candidacy was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered. Click here to listen.
Hair Pulling Contest 1940
And They Are Doing This Because?
On a hot July day, is there anything more entertaining than a contest featuring beautiful women pulling each others hair?
If you agree, then this July 11, 1940 news photograph entitled “Models in Hair Pulling Match” should fit the bill.
The caption reads as follows:
Palisades Park, N.J. – In the first official contest of its kind, two dozen beautiful New York models competed in a hair pulling contest at the Palisades Amusement Park on July 11th. Object of the contestants was to drag their opponents across a finish line by their lustrous locks. Here are Florence Goodman (top) and Alice Schinkel battling it out for championship near the finish line. Florence was declared the winner of the knock-down, drag ’em across contest. 7-11-40 credit: Acme
December 7, 1941
Waiting To Enlist
Sunday afternoon on “a day that will live in infamy.” Volunteers for military service stretch around the block after the Japanese launched a surprise attack against the United States at Pearl Harbor. Continue reading
Classic Hollywood #7
Fred Allen, Mary Martin and Jack Benny – 1940
I believe Jack Benny was one of the funniest comedians of all time. Benny could elicit more laughs with a look, gesture or single utterance than other comedians could with an entire monologue. He became a star in vaudeville and was one of the few entertainers who made the transition to radio, film and eventually television successfully. Although Jack Benny has been dead for over 37 years, he is still fondly remembered by millions of fans.
Radio comedian Fred Allen is almost completely forgotten today. His sharp, acerbic wit Continue reading