61 Amazing Vintage Photos of Life in New Mexico during the Early 1940s

New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region of the western U.S. with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona, and bordering Texas to the east and southeast, Oklahoma to the northeast, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora to the south. The state capital is Santa Fe, which is the oldest capital in the U.S., founded in 1610 as the government seat of Nuevo México in New Spain; the largest city is Albuquerque.

New Mexico is the fifth-largest of the fifty states, but with just over 2.1 million residents, ranks 36th in population and 46th in population density. Its climate and geography are highly varied, ranging from forested mountains to sparse deserts; the northern and eastern regions exhibit a colder alpine climate, while the west and south are warmer and more arid; the Rio Grande and its fertile valley runs from north-to-south, creating a riparian climate through the center of the state that supports a bosque habitat and distinct Albuquerque Basin climate. One–third of New Mexico’s land is federally owned, and the state hosts many protected wilderness areas and national monuments, including three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the most of any state.

New Mexico’s economy is highly diversified, with major sectors including oil and mineral extraction, cattle ranching, agriculture, lumber, scientific and technological research, tourism, and the arts, especially textiles and visual arts. Its total gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 was $95.73 billion, with a GDP per capita of roughly $46,300. State tax policy is characterized by low to moderate taxation of resident personal income by national standards, with tax credits, exemptions, and special considerations for military personnel and favorable industries; subsequently, its film industry is one of the largest and fastest growing in the country. Due to its large area and economic climate, New Mexico has a significant U.S. military presence, including White Sands Missile Range, and strategically valuable federal research centers, such as Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories. The state hosted several key facilities of the Manhattan Project, which developed the world’s first atomic bomb, and was the site of the first nuclear test, Trinity.

In prehistoric times, New Mexico was home to Ancestral Puebloans, Mogollon, and the modern Comanche and Utes. Spanish explorers and settlers arrived in the 16th century, naming the territory Nuevo México after the Aztec Valley of Mexico, more than 250 years before the establishment and naming of the present-day country of Mexico; thus, the state did not derive its name from Mexico. Isolated by its rugged terrain and the relative dominance of its indigenous people, New Mexico was a peripheral part of the viceroyalty of New Spain. Following Mexican independence in 1821, it became an autonomous region of Mexico, albeit increasingly threatened by the centralizing policies of the Mexican government, culminating in the Revolt of 1837; at the same time, the region became more economically dependent on the United States. At the conclusion of the Mexican–American War in 1848, the U.S. annexed New Mexico as part of the larger New Mexico Territory. It played a central role in American westward expansion and was admitted to the Union in 1912.

New Mexico’s history has contributed to its unique demographic and cultural character. One of only six majority-minority states, it has the nation’s highest percentage of Hispanic and Latino Americans and the second-highest percentage of Native Americans after Alaska. New Mexico is home to part of the Navajo Nation, 19 federally recognized Pueblo communities, and three different federally recognized Apache tribes. Its large Hispanic population includes Hispanos, who descend from early Spanish settlers, as well as Chicanos and Mexicans. The New Mexican flag, which is among the most recognizable in the U.S., reflects the state’s eclectic origins, bearing the scarlet and gold coloration of the Spanish flag along with the ancient sun symbol of the Zia, a Puebloan tribe. The confluence of indigenous, Spanish, Mexican, Hispanic, and American influences is also evident in New Mexico’s unique cuisine, music genre, and architectural style. (Wikipedia)

These photos were needy lives but full of joy of people in New Mexico in the early 1940s. They were taken by photographer John Collier Jr..

A boy reading in one-room school in an isolated mountainous Hispanic community, Ojo Sarco, New Mexico, 1943
A dance, Peñasco, New Mexico, 1943
A family around the kiva fireplace, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
A family around the kiva fireplace, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
A family around the kiva fireplace, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
A gunsmith as well as a cattleman chatting in front of his shop, Moreno Valley, Colfax County, New Mexico, 1943
A family in their wagon, Peñasco, New Mexico, 1943
A man and his wife studying maps of the world, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
A man with his family, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
A ninety-nine-year-old man reading in his room, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
A nurse and an interpreter trying to reach a patient’s house beyond passable roads, Llano Quemado, New Mexico 1943
A nurse from the clinic operated by the Taos County cooperative health association, Peñasco, New Mexico, 1943
A stockman churning butter after a hard day in the saddle, Moreno Valley, Colfax County, New Mexico, 1943
A young nurse lying on bed, Peñasco, New Mexico, 1943
An old couple, Peñasco, New Mexico, 1943
Around the woodstove in the general store, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
Boy with his chemistry set, Moreno Valley, Colfax County, New Mexico, 1943
Children asleep in their bed, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
Children in Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
Christmas Eve pageant, New Mexico, 1942
Congregation leaving after mass, San José de Gracia, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
Congregation leaving after mass, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
Cutting and splitting wood for the fireplace and the cook stove, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
Dentist making an extraction, Questa, New Mexico, 1943
Dinner in the kitchen, Moreno Valley, Colfax County, New Mexico, 1943
Doing homework on the kitchen table, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
Doing the family washing, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
Emergency transport, Peñasco, New Mexico, 1943
Father and parishioners, Taos County, New Mexico, 1943
Father giving a sermon in Spanish, San José de Gracia, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
Father on a field trip with a boy scout troop in Peñasco, New Mexico, 1943
Going to the mountains for wood, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
Gunsmith at work, Moreno Valley, Colfax County, New Mexico, 1943
Harnessing up the team to get ready for a trip to the mountains in order to collect for wood, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
Boy in grade school, Questa, New Mexico, 1943
Homework on the ranch, Moreno Valley, Colfax County, New Mexico, 1943
In front of the general store, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
In Peñasco, New Mexico, 1943
In the general store, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
In the one-room school, Ojo Sarco, New Mexico, 1943
Leaving church on Sunday, Peñasco, New Mexico, 1943
Listening to folk songs, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1943
Man and his son cut down a dead tree for firewood, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
Man and his son drawing water from the river, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
Men rebuilding house roof, Ojo Sarco, New Mexico, 1943
Mother helping her children with their homework, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
Mother helping her children with their homework, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
Old woman in her room, Peñasco, New Mexico, 1943
Orchestra at a dance, Peñasco, New Mexico, 1943
Pitching hay into a hay rack for winter feeding, Moreno Valley, Colfax County, New Mexico, 1943
Sewing, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
Snow being melted down for wash water, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
Sorting beans for the morning meal, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
Spinning wool by the light of the fire, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
Starting out on the range in a snowstorm, Moreno Valley, Colfax County, New Mexico, 1943
Students in front of one-room school, Ojo Sarco, New Mexico, 1943
The keeper of the general store, Trampas, New Mexico, 1943
The radio is the only contact with the outside world, Peñasco, New Mexico, 1943
Troop of boy scouts, Taos County, New Mexico, 1943
Writing to a boyfriend in the United States Army, Moreno Valley, Colfax County, New Mexico, 1943

(Photos from John Collier Jr.)

62 Vintage Photos Showing Women’s Fashion During the 1940s

Born in San Francisco, Louise Dahl-Wolfe (1895-1989) worked as a staff photographer for Harper’s Bazaar from 1936 through 1958. She introduced a witty, relaxed, and natural aspect to fashion photography and, in the process, helped “define the post-war look of American women.”

Dahl-Wolfe also made memorable portrait photographs of leading figures from politics and the arts, “discovered” a teenage Lauren Bacall, and was a pioneer in the technique of color photography.

Dahl-Wolfe’s work was shown in important touring exhibitions, and she had several retrospectives. In 1989 Dahl-Wolfe received an honorary doctorate from Moore College of Art in Philadelphia, the first women’s art college in the United States; her work is often cited as a significant influence on later photographers, notably Richard Avedon.

“Louise Dahl-Wolfe was the definition of elegance and beauty. She led the way out of the European tradition into the supremacy of American photography.” – Richard Avedon.

“Her work was inventive and new. The things she did with her models and with color were so fresh. I always admired her: in fact I was quite jealous of her!” – Horst P. Horst.

Here is a stunning photo collection from her work that defined women’s fashion in the 1940s.

Photos by Louise Dahl-Wolfe (1895-1989)

Vintage Hollywood In 52 Photos

James Dean only appeared in three films before he was killed in a car crash. He received two posthumous Academy Award nominations for East of Eden and Giant.
Marilyn Monroe meets with the Queen of England.
Rock Hudson, the studly man grasping Elizabeth Taylor in a passionate embrace, was a popular leading man in Hollywood.
America was shocked to discover that Hudson was homosexual, though it was commonly known throughout Hollywood. He passed away in 1985, the first major celebrity to die from an AIDS-related illness.
Brigitte Bardot tells Jane Birkin a secret.
Elvis Presley signs autographs.
Cary Grant changed his name from Archibald Leach when he became a legal citizen of the United States in 1942, after emigrating from England. With his debonair charm, good looks and knack for the slapstick after his time in Vaudeville, Grant became a household name.
Brigitte Bardot glances at a young Sean Connery.
Warren Beatty has had enough of Jack Nicholson and Lauren Bacall’s lip.
An English film director and producer, Alfred Hitchcock would change the face of suspense and thriller movies, framing shots to maximize fear and tension and mimicking points of view.
Marlon Brando types away as a kitten warms the small of his neck.
A young David Bowie clings tightly to Liz Taylor.
Jayne Mansfield was a singer, actress and an early Playboy playmate. She had five children with three husbands, one of which is the actress Mariska Hargitay, daughter of Mickey Hargitay. While Jayne was famous for her beauty, she has unfortunately often been remembered for her death. She died in a tragic car accident in 1967 at 34 years old.
A young Marilyn in 1946.
Best known as wacky housewife Lucy Ricardo, Lucille Ball had a career that spanned the golden age of Hollywood and lasted into the 1980s. Once a pin up model, she pushed the envelope on her television show by denying the typical housewife tropes.
The aging Charlie Chaplin with the vibrant Paulette Goddard.
Arguably the first star of the silent film era, Mae Murray got her big fame off of The Merry Widow. She was also one of the first female actresses to have her own production company. She married who she thought was a prince and he swindled her out of all of her money and forced her to lose custody of her only son. A founding member of the Motion Picture and Television Fund, they helped care for her in her old age.
Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon square off beneath the Eiffel Tower.
Catherine Deneuve exchanges words with her sister, Françoise Dorléac.
Michael and Kirk Douglas.
A young Marlene Dietrich hits the beach.
Clint Eastwood with his first wife, Maggie, in 1955.
Young and suave Clark Gable, 1930s.
Born Norma Jean Mortensen, the woman that would become the singer, actress and sex symbol known as Marilyn Monroe would star in a number of successful films and also start her own production company. Plagued by controversy, miscarriages, failed marriages and depression, her death in 1962 of an overdose has been the basis for much conjecture involving murder and the CIA.
Elizabeth Taylor flaunts her lasso.
Judy Garland with her daughter Liza Minnelli.
Audrey Hepburn plays games with a fawn.
A young Jane Fonda fools around in the back of a car.
Francis Ford Coppola showing Akira Kurosawa his new polaroid.
Sophia Loren does Disneyland.
Veronica Lake was another popular actress during the golden age and was one of the most reliable box office draws in Hollywood. Popular for launching the peek-a-boo hairstyle, Veronica would acquire her pilot’s license in 1946 and would fly herself and her children to New York when she left her second husband.
Stanley Kubrick stands erect next to a penis.
Woody Allen and Diane Keaton laugh on set.
Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate stroll together.
With her bright platinum blonde locks, Jean Harlow had a meteoric rise to fame appearing in at 36 films in ten years. Married three times, she divorced her first and third husbands, but the second was found shot to death in her home, which only increased her popularity. She died in 1937 of kidney failure at the age of 26.
Michael Caine and Nancy Sinatra wine and dine together.
The original Star Wars cast.
Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons.
Jon Voight with newborn Angelina Jolie.
Signed to MGM at age 16, Lana Turner would find fame as the femme fatale from the late 1930s throughout the 1950s. In 1958, her daughter stabbed Turner’s lover, Johnny Stompanato to death. While many theories were floated through the media, the murder was deemed justifiable homicide.
A young Christopher Walken.
Fred Astaire
Joe DiMaggio, Bob Hope & Marilyn Monroe
James Dean & Ursula Andress
Judy Garland
Charlie Chaplin’s first high profile romance involved his 19 year old co-star Edna Purviance. 1916.
The first ever star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, belonged to Joanne Woodward in 1960, after she starred in The Three Faces of Eve.
The Rat Pack
Raquel Welch Lounging – 1967
Elvis Serenading a Hound Dog – 1956
Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra, 1956
Gene Tierney
Dorothy Dandridge

53 Gorgeous Photos of Actress Sandra Dee From the 1950s and 1960s

Sandra Dee (born Alexandra Zuck; April 23, 1942 – February 20, 2005) was an American actress. Dee began her career as a child model, working first in commercials, and then film in her teenage years. Best known for her portrayal of ingénues, Dee earned a Golden Globe Award as one of the year’s most promising newcomers for her performance in Robert Wise’s Until They Sail (1958). She became a teenage star for her performances in Imitation of Life and Gidget (both 1959), which made her a household name.

By the late 1960s, her career had started to decline, and a highly publicized marriage to Bobby Darin (m. 1960–1967) ended in divorce. The year of her divorce, Dee’s contract with Universal Pictures was dropped. She attempted a comeback with the 1970 independent horror film The Dunwich Horror, but rarely acted after this time, appearing only occasionally in television productions throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. The rest of the decade was marred by alcoholism, mental illness, plus near total reclusiveness, particularly after her mother died in 1988. Afterwards she sought medical and psychological help in the early 1990s, and died in 2005 of complications from kidney disease, brought on by a lifelong struggle with anorexia nervosa. (Wikipedia)

Take a look at these photos to see her innocent beauty from the 1950s to 1960s.

50 Amazing Vintage Photos From the 1940s Volume 3

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People kneeling before pieta in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, 1942.
Marilyn Monroe at a beach in California, 1949.

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30 Vintage Photos Showing Life in Lima, Peru During the 1930s

Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of the country, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima Metropolitan Area. With a population of more than 9.7 million and more than 10.7 million in its metropolitan area, Lima is one of the largest cities in the Americas.

Lima was named by natives in the agricultural region known by native Peruvians as Limaq. It became the capital and most important city in the Viceroyalty of Peru. Following the Peruvian War of Independence, it became the capital of the Republic of Peru (República del Perú). Around one-third of the national population lives in the metropolitan area.

Lima is home to one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the New World. The National University of San Marcos, founded on 12 May 1551, during the Viceroyalty of Peru, is the first officially established and the oldest continuously functioning university in the Americas.

Nowadays, the city is considered to be the political, cultural, financial and commercial center of the country. Internationally, it is one of the thirty most populated urban agglomerations in the world. Due to its geostrategic importance, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network has categorized it as a “beta” tier city.

Jurisdictionally, the metropolis extends mainly within the province of Lima and in a smaller portion, to the west, within the Constitutional Province of Callao, where the seaport and the Jorge Chávez Airport are located. Both provinces have regional autonomy since 2002.

In October 2013, Lima was chosen to host the 2019 Pan American Games; these games were held at venues in and around Lima, and were the largest sporting event ever hosted by the country. It also hosted the APEC Meetings of 2008 and 2016, the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in October 2015, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December 2014, and the Miss Universe 1982 contest. (Wikipedia)

35 Menacing Mugshots Of Female Criminals From The Late 19th & Early 20th Century

Dorothy Mort, 32, convicted of murdering her lover, a young doctor named Claude Tozer. 1921.
Alice Fisher, 41, served two consecutive sentences of four months for larceny. New South Wales. 1919.
Laura Belle Devlin murdered and dismembered her 75-year-old husband with a hacksaw, throwing some of him in the wood stove and the rest in their backyard in Newark, Ohio. 1947.
Amy Lee was described in court as a “good looking girl until she fell victim to the foul practice” of snorting cocaine. New South Wales. 1930.
Eugenia Falleni, alias Harry Crawford, spent most of her life masquerading as a man. In 1913, Falleni married a widow, Annie Birkett, whom she later murdered. The case whipped the public into a frenzy as they clamored for details of the “man-woman” murderer. New South Wales. 1920.
Clara Randall reported to police that her flat had been broken into and a quantity of jewelry stolen. It was later discovered she had pawned the jewelry for cash. New South Wales. 1923.
Alice Clarke, 42, was convicted of selling liquor without a license from a private residence. New South Wales. 1916.
Catherine Flynn, 34, was sentenced to six months in Newcastle, England for stealing money. 1871.
Kathleen Ward had convictions for drunkenness, indecent language, and theft. New South Wales. 1925.
Jeanne Malpet, 51, arrested as an anarchist in Paris. 1894.
Isabella McQue, arrested for stealing a sealskin coat. North Shields, England. 1915.
Valerie Lowe was arrested for breaking into an army warehouse and stealing boots and overcoats, among other theft charges. New South Wales. 1922.
Teenager Annie Gunderson was charged with stealing a fur coat from a Sydney, Australia department store. 1922.
Esther Eggers, 22, charged with malicious injury to property and wounding a police officer with intent to do grievous bodily harm. New South Wales. 1919.
Elizabeth Singleton had multiple convictions for soliciting and was described in police records as a “common prostitute.” New South Wales. 1927.
Alice Adeline Cooke of New South Wales, Australia. Convicted of bigamy and theft. By the age of 24, Cooke had amassed a number of aliases and at least two husbands. 1922.
Emily Hemsworth, 24, killed her three-week-old son but could not remember any details of the murder. She was found not guilty due to insanity. New South Wales. 1925.
Mary Brewis, arrested for larceny of coal. North Shields, England. 1908.
Catherine O’Neill, arrested in New York for an unspecified crime. 1906.
Clotilde Adnet, 19, arrested as an anarchist in Paris. Circa 1891–1895.
Nellie Cameron, 21, was one of Sydney’s best-known, and most desired, prostitutes. 1930.
Edith Ashton was a backyard abortionist who also dabbled in theft and fencing stolen goods. New South Wales. 1929.
Eileen May O’Connor, 17, arrested for stealing a wallet. New South Wales. 1927.
Annette Soubrier, 28, arrested as an anarchist in Paris. 1894.
Ellen Healey, arrested for stealing a pair of boots. North Shields, England. 1908.
Elizabeth Ruddy, a career criminal who was convicted on theft charges. New South Wales. 1915.
Jane Cartner, 22, stole a silver watch and was sentenced to six months in Newcastle, England. 1871.
Phyllis Carmier stabbed her “bludger,” or pimp, to death during a violent altercation. She attracted much sympathy in the media, who labeled her crime a justifiable homicide. New South Wales. 1921.
Lillian Tibbs, arrested for petty larceny in North Shields, England. 1914.
Mary Rubina Brownlee, convicted of unlawfully using an instrument to procure a miscarriage. She was sentenced to 12 months light labor, but her male accomplice was acquitted. New South Wales. 1923.
Maud M. Garmey, arrested for theft in North Shields, England. 1905.
Elizabeth Cross, arrested for larceny. North Shields, England. 1906.
Elizabeth M. Cambettie, arrested for stealing a skirt. North Shields, England. 1906.
Susan Joice, stole money from a gas meter. North Shields, England. 1903.
Mabel Smith, arrested for larceny. North Shields, England. 1903.

55 Vintage Photos of Hotpants during the 1960s and 1970s

Hotpants or hot pants describe extremely short shorts. The term was first used by Women’s Wear Daily in 1970 to describe shorts made in luxury fabrics such as velvet and satin for fashionable wear, rather than their more practical equivalents that had been worn for sports or leisure since the 1930s. The term has since become a generic term for any pair of extremely short shorts. While hotpants were briefly a very popular element of mainstream fashion in the early 1970s, by the mid-1970s they had become associated with the sex industry, which contributed to their fall from fashion. However, hotpants continue to be popular as clubwear well into the 2010s and are often worn within the entertainment industry, particularly as part of cheerleader costumes or for dancers (especially backup dancers). Performers such as Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue have famously worn hotpants as part of their public performances and presentation. (Wikipedia)

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