Tag Archives: 1950s

The World’s Smallest Horse

Woman Riding Shorty, The World’s Smallest Horse 1953

NOT FOR GROWNUPS
New York; – Pat Powell, an airline passenger service representative, tries to take a ride on “Shorty,” the world’s smallest horse, who is enroute from London to Atlanta, GA., where he will go on exhibition at a children’s playground. “Shorty” weighs 59 pounds and is just 30 inches long, although he is full grown. Credit: United Press 3/26/1953

Shorty, the two-year-old, fully ground stallion was 7 hands high (28 inches) and was purchased for $500.

Virginia Hyde & Thistle May 23, 1966 credit: Montreal Gazette

After Continue reading →

Yankees Manager Casey Stengel & Pitcher Vic Raschi

Casey Stengel Concerned Over Star Pitcher Vic Raschi’s Sore Arm – 1950

Raschi’s Arm Dims Yankees Hope
Chicago: Vic Raschi (r), New York Yankees’ 20 game winner and Yank manager Casey Stengel look melancholy today at the game with the White Sox. The arm trouble which took Raschi out of last night’s game, which the Yanks lost 4-3, may result in a knockout blow to the New Yorkers’ pennant hopes. photo Acme 9/20/1950

The news slug comments on Raschi’s arm trouble, yet in that 4-3 loss which Raschi did not figure in, he allowed only six hits and two runs over six innings.

On September 19, the Yankees held a half game lead over both the Red Sox and the Tigers for first place. Until playoffs came about in 1969, only each league’s winner would advance to the World Series.

But, Raschi would pitch again Continue reading →

Marilyn Monroe’s 100th Birthday – What She Would Look Like In 2026

June 1 Is The 100th Anniversary Of Marilyn Monroe’s Birth

What Would Marilyn Look Like Today?

Marilyn Monroe in New York City sitting by a fountain. c 1955 photo Sam Shaw

The odds that any female movie legend reaches the age of 100 are extremely slim.

Currently Eva Marie Saint (On The Waterfront; North By Northwest) is 101. Lee Grant (In The Heat of the Night; Shampoo) is 100. Olivia de Havilland lived to 104. Gloria Stuart (Titanic, The Invisible Man) was 100 when she died. If movie stars do reach the magic age of 100 they generally stay out of the spotlight and will not allow photographs to be taken of them.

Had Marilyn Monroe not died at age 36 on August 4, 1962, it is unlikely she would have lived to be 100-years-old. Life expectancy actuarial tables bear this out. Marilyn’s documented medical issues, both physical and mental, would be another longevity barrier, Speculating what Marilyn would look like at 100 is preposterous.

But why should that stop Artificial Intelligence programs from creating an image of what Marilyn would look like at age 100?

Marilyn Monroe 2026 AI photo edited

If Marilyn Had Aged

Marilyn Monroe’s mother- Gladys Pearl Monroe Baker Mortensen Eley c 1970s.

Gladys Baker Eley July 6 , 1963 photo: AP

Marilyn’s mother Gladys Monroe Baker lived until 1984, dying at  the age of 81.

These two photographs of Gladys, Continue reading →

Bugs Bunny Looks At A “Jim Crow” Newspaper For A Job

“Hurdy-Gurdy Hare” Has Bugs Bunny Consulting A Newspaper Wanting White Employees

In these politically correct times even the smallest transgressions will be pointed out and removed by “cancel culture”.

Frequently in Warner Bros. cartoons the animators would superimpose whatever they wanted for a headline and visual in real newspapers. They would leave the rest of the page unaltered. Continue reading →

Brooklyn Dodger Star Roy Campanella & Sons At Spring Training 1951

Roy Campanella Shows His Sons The Tools Of The Trade

Dodgers Have A Family Act
Miami, Fla – If the boys turn out to be chips off the old block, the Dodgers will be all set in the catching department, if, and when, catcher Roy Campanella hangs up his mask and gloves. Here is Campanella with his sons, David, 7, and Roy, Jr., 2, as he puts them through their paces at Miami Stadium. The Dodgers won their first game yesterday in the Grapefruit League by shading the Boston Braves, 10-9 in an error-spangled game. photo: Herb Scharfman International News,  March 12 1951

Roy Campanella, because of the color barrier with an Italian father and Black mother, did not enter the major leagues until 1948 when he was 26. He played 10 sterling seasons, all for the Dodgers, and would win three Most Valuable Player Awards. Baseball legend Ty Cobb was impressed enough to say “Campanella will be remembered longer than any catcher in baseball history.”

Campanella’s career came to a tragic end Continue reading →

Who And What Are The “Best Legs” Judges Looking At?

Best Legs Contest – Really?

Unfortunately this is an undated photograph with no location or news slug to identify any of the specifics. The photo appears to be from the 1950s based upon judges and participants hairstyles and outfits.

Obviously it is a best legs competition. Unlike many other Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #189 – Andy Griffith & Wife Barbara

Andy Griffith & Wife Barbara On The Set Of No Time For Sergeants

Star and Wife
Andy Griffith poses happily with his wife Barbara who joined him in Hollywood when he was starring in Warner Bros. film version of the Air Force comedy “No Time For Sergeants,” which Griffith also did on the stage. The Griffiths make their home on an island farm off the North Carolina coast. photo: Warner Bros. April 17, 1958

Andy Griffith as Sir Walter Raleigh with wife Barbara Griffith in The Lost Colony. photo: New York Daily News 1954

No Time For Sergeants was a huge Broadway success, running 796 performances from 1955 -1957. Griffith would leave the show after over 300 performances to begin his motion picture career.

North Carolinian, Barbara Bray Edwards was the first of Andy Griffith’s three wives. The pair met when they were both students at The University of North Carolina. Andy and Barbara married August 26,1949.

After being graduated in 1949, Andy would teach high school music in Goldsboro, N.C..

During his third year teaching Andy realized Continue reading →

Brigitte Bardot Dies At 91 – First American News Feature Was 1952

Brigitte Bardot Dead

Was Noticed By A Hollywood News Writer In 1952 Before Worldwide Fame

Brigitte Bardot in Madrid, Spain, 1957 photographer: Peter Basch

Brigitte Bardot, who quit film acting at age 39 in 1973 to devote herself to animal rights is dead.

The Fondation Brigitte Bardot who announced her death did not reveal a cause, place or date that she died.

Her obituary appears worldwide, so we will not cover the details of her long and sometimes controversial life or film career.

What interested us is: when did Bardot first come to notice in the United States? Continue reading →

What Did The Rear Entrance To Ebbets Field Look Like?

The Less Than Iconic Rear Facade Of Ebbets Field

The Dodgers left Brooklyn after the 1957 season, breaking many Dodgers fans hearts. The Dodgers home park Ebbets Field was razed in 1960. A housing project is now on its site.

But the memories of what the ballpark looked like is etched in anyone’s mind who ever visited Ebbets Field. If you do remember visiting you are at least 70 years-old. The reality is, few people are still around who actually saw the place.

It’s really photographs of the ballpark, especially the front entrance, that baseball fans are familiar with.

The main entrance was at the corner of Sullivan Place and McKeever Place. McKeever Place was originally Cedar Street, but renamed in 1932 after one of the contractors who built Ebbets Field.

This is what the front  looked like.

Ebbets Field 1940s

The exterior of the front of the New York Mets home Continue reading →