Tag Archives: 1950s

1956 – Joe DiMaggio And Hollywood Stars Attend A Charity Ball

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Fundraiser For Boys Towns Of Italy Draws Top Celebrities 1956

Elsa Maxwell Cleo Moore Joe DiMaggio Linda Darnell Shirley Jones 1956 3 22

The woman seated is Elsa Maxwell, a gossip columnist who was famous for hosting parties featuring royalty, the wealthy and movie personalities. Standing from left to right are stars Cleo Moore, Joe DiMaggio, Linda Darnell and Shirley Jones.  At the event, DiMaggio, crowned Shirley Jones queen of the Boys Towns of Italy.

Called the “Ball Of The Year,” the benefit was held on March 22, 1956 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The support for Boys Towns of Italy came primarily from American contributions. The organization was founded in 1945 at the end of World War II to help war refugee children.

At the time DiMaggio was rumored to be dating Cleo Moore, a look-alike to his ex-wife, Marilyn Monroe. Moore was groomed by Columbia Pictures to be their answer to   Monroe, but her career never took off and she retired from films in 1957 at the age of 33. Moore died in 1973, three days before her 49th birthday of a heart attack.

A Close Play At The Plate In Game 3 Of The 1951 World Series

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Alvin Dark Slides In Safely As Yogi Berra Drops The Ball And The Yankees Fall Apart

Giants shortstop Alvin Dark is safe at home plate as Yankees catcher Yogi Berra can't handle the ball

Giants shortstop Alvin Dark is safe at home plate as Yankees catcher Yogi Berra can’t handle the ball

NEW YORK: ERROR FOR BERRA – Giant Alvin Dark is safe at the plate as Yogi Berra drops the ball trying to tag him. Bobby Brown threw to Berra from third on Monte Irvin’s grounder in the Giants big five-run sixth inning. The National League champs made it their second victory over the Yankees in the third game of the 1951 World Series at the Polo Grounds, Oct 6, with a 6-2 score.  Credit (ACME) 10-6-51

The New York Giants had every reason to believe that this was the year they would win the World Series. They had defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers just days before in a best of three tie-breaker playoff series. On October 3, Giants fans witnessed the “Miracle of Coogan’s Bluff” – Bobby Thomson’s dramatic 9th inning home run off of Ralph Branca that propelled them into the Series against the Yankees.

The World Series would be a match-up between cross-river rivals and their respective rookie stars Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle and it would end up being the finale for Joe DiMaggio’s career.

On October 6, 1951 with 52,305 fans packed into the Polo Grounds, the largest crowd ever to see a World Series game in a National League ballpark, the Giants fans were cautiously optimistic.

The series was tied at one game apiece and the Giants were holding a slim 1-0 lead in the fifth inning, when depending on how you look at it, the Giants erupted or the Yankees fell apart. Continue reading →

Joe Collins Second Home Run In Game 1 Of The 1955 World Series

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Yankees Win Game 1, But Brooklyn Wins Their Only World Series

Duke Snider Joe Collins home run WS 9 28 1955

The World Series began on September 28, 1955. Yes, they actually used to begin the “fall classic” right after fall began. Yankee first baseman Joe Collins slugged his second home run of the game, a two run shot in the bottom of the sixth, to put the Yankees up 6-3 in a game they would go on to win 6-5. The outfielder in the photograph leaping in vain for the baseball is Dodger centerfielder Duke Snider.

This was also the game where Jackie Robinson stole home, which to this day is still disputed by Yankees catcher Yogi Berra who insists Robinson was out.

As covered previously by stuffnobodycaresabout, this World Series would be the Brooklyn Dodgers moment of glory as they ended up beating the Yankees in seven games.

Old New York In Photos #29 – Times Square In Vintage Color Photographs

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Advertisements & Scenes of Times Square In Vintage Color Photographs 1954

Times Sq 7 1954

It’s been almost 60 years since these photographs were taken by an anonymous amateur photographer who was interested in the signage, ads and the streets surrounding a vibrant, now vanished Times Square.

The city began sterilizing all the flavor from the crossroads of the world in the late 1980’s. It was a few years later that most New Yorker’s began noticing the mall-ification of Times Square. True, Times Square had denigrated into a rather sleazy place from the mid-1960’s until the “revitalization” took place. But what has it become?

For anyone who lived through Times Square’s final heyday in the 1950’s, today the place must seem extremely distasteful with its countless tourist barkers, ill-planned pedestrian plazas and glass monolith buildings sheathed in gaudy LED light ads. It’s overcrowded with people moving slowly, chain stores, costumed kitsch characters and modern day hucksters hawking their products to tourists for a “real New York experience.” Give me the days of three card monte games and prostitutes over eight people wandering around in Mickey Mouse costumes any day.

As Nik Cohn said in 1997, ‘Times Square has always changed every 20 years. But this time it’s changed to a corporate, generic American city that doesn’t particularly express the uniqueness of New York.”

Times Sq looking southeast 1954But let’s go back in time to 1954 when it was a better time for Times Square. Legitimate theatre was still great, movies offered up Cinemascope entertainment and real Broadway characters (not criminals and freaks) roamed the streets.

Enjoy these Kodachrome views of what you would have seen looking around Times Square on a sunny, warm July day in 1954.

Minimal commentary has been added for identification purposes. Click any photo to enlarge.

Times Sq 6 1954Times Square looking south from 46th Street. Shown are: Times Tower Building, Bishop’s Crook Light, Hotel Astor with The Astor Roof Garden, Victoria Theater showing About Mrs. Leslie starring Shirley Booth and Robert Ryan, on the extreme left a portion of the statue for the giant block long Bond Clothes advertisement.

Times Sq 1954 1Looking west from Broadway and Seventh Avenue along 45th Street. Shown are: the Astor Theater with a large billboard for Indiscretion of an American Wife starring Jennifer Jones and Montgomery Clift, and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musicals Me and Juliet  and The King and I, and the 26 story Hotel Piccadilly at 227 West 45th Street. Continue reading →

Nellie Fox, Eddie Robinson and Phil Rizzuto

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Before The Game -1951

Nellie Fox Eddie Robinson Phil Rizzuto 1951

Chicago, June 10, 1951 – Scooter Makes Them Laugh — Phil “Scooter” Rizzuto (right), diminutive New York Yankees shortstop, draws a laugh from Chicago White Sox infielders Nelson Fox (left) and Ed Robinson before game in Comiskey Park yesterday. Fox is batting at a healthy .360 clip while Robinson leads the American League in the runs batted in department with 48 and is tied with Ted Williams in homers with 11. Rizzuto drew the laugh when he told Fox not to stand on his toes in an attempt to look taller than he. (AP Wirephoto)

Collision At Home Plate – Red Sox Billy Klaus Crashes Into Yogi Berra 1955

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Billy Klaus Takes Down Yogi Berra, Ted Williams Picks Up 2,000th Hit – 1955

Yogi Berra Billy Klaus Red Sox Aug 11 1955 1 © Daily News Yogi Berra Billy Klaus Red Sox Aug 11 1955 2 © Daily News

Yogi Berra Billy Klaus Red Sox Aug 11 1955 3 © Daily News Yogi Berra Billy Klaus Red Sox Aug 11 1955 4 © Daily News

Yogi Berra Billy Klaus Red Sox Aug 11 1955 5 © Daily News Yogi Berra Billy Klaus Red Sox Aug 11 1955 6 © Daily News

In this series of photographs from August 11, 1955 at Yankee Stadium, Red Sox shortstop Billy Klaus smashes into Yankees catcher Yogi Berra.

The play unfolded in the fifth inning after Klaus singled and Ted Williams hit a ground-rule double advancing Klaus to third. Norm Zauchin then hit a fly ball to right and Hank Bauer made a great throw to Berra.  Klaus barreled into Berra knocking the ball loose.

What I like about the photograph besides the action, is that umpire Jim Honochick looks on rather passively not moving very far from where he calls balls and strikes, to make what should have been a very close call at the plate!

The Red Sox would lose this game 5-3. After the game with an ice bag pressed to his face Berra was sore and said, “I don’t know what he hit me with, but I hurt all over.”

One very important event happened in the game, Ted Williams became the 96th player in major league history to record 2,000 hits. He picked it up on a bloop single in the first inning that fell in left center between Phil Rizzuto, Mickey Mantle and Elston Howard. When Williams reached first he jokingly commented to Yankee first basemen Moose Skowron, “What a smash.”

With the hit, Williams became one of only four active players to be in the 2,000 hit club, the others being Stan Musial, Enos Slaughter and Mickey Vernon.

New Yorker’s Starved For News -1953 The End Of The Strike

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Newspaper Strike Ends December 8, 1953

Photo UPI

Beginning November 28, 1953, six of New York’s seven daily newspapers went on strike. 400 photo engravers demanded better pay and working conditions and the other newspaper employees honored their picket lines. For eleven days New York City had only one newspaper available to them, The New York Herald Tribune. Because the Herald Tribune had an outside commercial firm doing their photo engraving, they were the beneficiaries of added readership. Continue reading →

Miss Pigtail Contest – New York 1955

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Childhood Innocence In A Unusual Contest

Chester Bugello age 7, borrows Maureen Albanese’s pigtail at the Miss Pigtail contest held at the Sullivan Street Children’s Center, New York City, July 8, 1955.

The look on Maureen’s face is priceless.

There were no “classy” contests like Toddler’s and Tiaras in the 1950’s. Whatever became of Chester and Maureen?

From our reader (comment below) – Margaret Mangiero Campbell winner in 1962 of the longest pigtail (year based on the crown worn by 5-year-old Michelle Paolercio.)

I Hear You Knocking But You Can’t Come In

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Smiley Lewis And Early Rock n’ Roll

Smiley Lewis

There are controversies over what song marks the birth of rock’ roll. Rather than engage in a protracted debate or discussion, I thought it would be good to just take a look at one under-appreciated classic R&B song that seems to qualify as one of the first rock songs.  I Hear You Knocking was written by Dave Bartholomew and Pearl King in 1955 and performed the same year by New Orleans musician Smiley Lewis.

It is definitely a lesser known progenitor of what sort of music would become  popular during the magical year of 1955 with artists such as Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Little Richard and Elvis Presley all emerging onto a national stage performing early rock n’ roll.

Click here to listen to Smiley Lewis’ version of I Hear You Knockin’.

Few people are familiar with Smiley Lewis’ version of the song, as it was popular during a time when radio was segregated and R&B artists did not get their songs played on many stations. However the song did make it to number two on the Billboard R&B charts.

There are at least thirty other versions of the song by other popular artists, but I Hear You Knocking was really rescued from oblivion by the great Dave Edmunds when he covered the song in 1970 and it became a number one hit in the United States and England. Edmunds version is still played regularly on many classic rock stations, perpetuating the popularity of this catchy, R&B/early rock classic. Below is a video of an uncharacteristically wasted-looking Edmunds, lip-synching his hit in 1971 in front of a freaky looking audience that one youtube commenter noted, “I didn’t know the Manson Family had a variety show.”

UPDATE 2022 Unfortunately in the intervening years since this story was first written, Warner Music has pulled the video. Below is Edmunds live version, unfortunately without the 1971 stoned audience.

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The Day Brooklyn Will Never Forget – October 4, 1955 The Brooklyn Dodgers Become World Champions

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Johnny Podres Shuts Out The Yankees to Win Game 7 of The 1955 World Series

Cover Daily News Oct 5 1955

The Brooklyn Dodgers had appeared in seven World Series previous to 1955. They had lost all of them. But on Tuesday, October 4, 1955, a magical afternoon (yes the World Series was always played in the daytime until 1971) occurred at Yankee Stadium in front of 62,485 fans. Amazingly the game was not sold out.

Johnny Podres, after winning game three of the World Series, was matched up in game seven against Yankee veteran Tommy Byrne. An interesting side note: Byrne rode the IND subway from 59th Street to Yankee Stadium unrecognized by anyone. Podres ended up pitching the game of his life – an eight hit, 2-0 shutout. The Dodgers had finally vanquished the Yankees who had beaten them in five previous World Series.

The Dodgers played without Jackie Robinson who was nursing a strained Achilles tendon. And the Yankees were equally handicapped without Mickey Mantle, who, even though he pinch hit in this game, missed most of the Series with a torn leg muscle. Other Yankees and Dodgers stars like Duke Snider and Hank Bauer played despite being injured.

First pitch of Game 7, 1955 World Series Yankee Stadium. Tommy Byrne throws a strike past Jim Gilliam

The Dodgers scored one run in the fourth when Roy Campanella doubled and a single by Gil Hodges drove him home. The Dodgers added a run in the sixth with Hodges hitting a sacrifice fly to drive in Pee Wee Reese.

Sandy Amoros Catch 10 4 55

The acknowledged defensive play of the game was made by Dodgers left fielder Sandy Amoros.

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