The woman who will always be remembered as the crazy, accident-prone, lovable Lucy Ricardo was born Lucille Desiree Ball on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. Her father died before she was four, and her mother worked several jobs, so she and her younger brother were raised by their grandparents. Always willing to take responsibility for her brother and young cousins, she was a restless teenager who yearned to “make some noise”. She entered a dramatic school in New York City, but while her classmate Bette Davis received all the raves, she was sent home; “too shy”. She found some work modeling for Hattie Carnegie’s and, in 1933, she was chosen to be a “Goldwyn Girl” and appear in the film Roman Scandals (1933).
She was put under contract to RKO Radio Pictures and several small roles, including one in Top Hat (1935), followed. Eventually, she received starring roles in B-pictures and, occasionally, a good role in an A-picture, like in Stage Door (1937) or The Big Street (1942). While filming Too Many Girls (1940), she met and fell madly in love with a young Cuban actor-musician named Desi Arnaz. Despite different personalities, lifestyles, religions and ages (he was six years younger), he fell hard, too, and after a passionate romance, they eloped and were married in November 1940. Lucy soon switched to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where she got better roles in films such as Du Barry Was a Lady (1943); Best Foot Forward (1943) and the Katharine Hepburn-Spencer Tracy vehicle Without Love (1945). In 1948, she took a starring role in the radio comedy “My Favorite Husband”, in which she played the scatterbrained wife of a Midwestern banker. In 1950, CBS came knocking with the offer of turning it into a television series. After convincing the network brass to let Desi play her husband and to sign over the rights to and creative control over the series to them, work began on the most popular and universally beloved sitcom of all time.
With I Love Lucy (1951), she and Desi promoted the 3-camera technique now the standard in filming sitcoms using 35mm film (the earliest known example of the 3-camera technique is the first Russian feature film, “Defence of Sevastopol” in 1911). Desi syndicated I Love Lucy.
Lucille Desiree Ball was the first woman to own her own studio as the head of Desilu Productions.
Lucille Ball died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, age 77, of an acute aortic aneurysm on April 26, 1989 in Los Angeles, CA.
Alex Ross (1851–1894) came to Calgary, Alberta in 1884 and set up a photographic studio at the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Osler Street. He had previously worked for a photographer in Winnipeg, but felt the time was right to strike out on his own and establish his own business.
He quickly became well-known for his photographs of the First Nations people in the Calgary area, especially the Tsuu T’ina (called Sarcee at that time) and the Blackfoot. Some of the photographs were taken outdoors, but many more were carefully-posed studio shots. By 1891 the studio seems to have closed, and three years later Ross died at the relatively young age of 43.
Blackfoot boys, 1886-94
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A “flattop” is a type of short haircut where the hair on the top of the head is usually standing upright and cut to form a flat-appearing deck. This deck may be level, or it may be upward or downward sloping. This type of haircut is usually performed with electric clippers, either freehand or using the clipper-over-comb method.
When a flattop is viewed from the front, varying degrees of squarish appearance are achieved by the design of the upper sides as they approach and round or angle on to the flat deck. Possibilities are somewhat limited by skull shape, the density of the hair and the diameter of the individual shafts of hair, but may include: boxy upper sides with rounded corners; boxy upper sides with sharp corners; rounded upper sides with rounded corners; rounded upper sides with sharp corners. The hair on the sides and back of the head is usually tapered short, semi-short, or medium.
Since the haircut is short and quickly grows out of its precisely-cut shape, maintenance haircuts are required at least every few weeks, and some flattop wearers get haircuts as often as once a week. Flattops have almost exclusively been worn by men and boys, being most popular among military men, athletes and blue collar workers.
The flattop has maintained a contingent of dedicated wearers since it was introduced. It was very popular in the 1950s, but faded in popularity with the emergence of longer hair styles in the late 1960s and 1970s. It had a brief reappearance in the 1980s and early 1990s, before dropping off again.
George Herbert Walker Bush (June 12, 1924 – November 30, 2018) was an American politician and businessman who served as the 41st president of the United States from 1989 to 1993. A member of the Republican Party, Bush also served as the 43rd vice president from 1981 to 1989 under Ronald Reagan, in the U.S. House of Representatives, as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and as Director of Central Intelligence.
Bush was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, and attended Phillips Academy before serving in the United States Navy Reserve during World War II. After the war, he graduated from Yale and moved to West Texas, where he established a successful oil company. After an unsuccessful run for the United States Senate, he won the election to the 7th congressional district of Texas in 1966. President Richard Nixon appointed Bush to the position of Ambassador to the United Nations in 1971 and to the position of chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1973. In 1974, President Gerald Ford appointed him as the Chief of the Liaison Office to the People’s Republic of China, and in 1976 Bush became the Director of Central Intelligence. Bush ran for president in 1980, but was defeated in the Republican presidential primaries by Ronald Reagan. He was then elected vice president in 1980 and 1984 as Reagan’s running mate.
In the 1988 presidential election, Bush defeated Democrat Michael Dukakis, becoming the first incumbent vice president to be elected president since Martin Van Buren in 1836. Foreign policy drove the Bush presidency, as he navigated the final years of the Cold War and played a key role in the reunification of Germany. Bush presided over the invasion of Panama and the Gulf War, ending the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait in the latter conflict. Though the agreement was not ratified until after he left office, Bush negotiated and signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which created a trade bloc consisting of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Domestically, Bush reneged on a 1988 campaign promise by enacting legislation to raise taxes with the justification of reducing the budget deficit. He also signed the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and successfully appointed David Souter and Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. Bush lost the 1992 presidential election to Democrat Bill Clinton following an economic recession, his turnaround on his tax promise, and the decreased emphasis of foreign policy in a post–Cold War political climate.
After leaving office in 1993, Bush was active in humanitarian activities, often working alongside Bill Clinton, his former opponent. With the victory of his son, George W. Bush, in the 2000 presidential election, the two became the second father–son pair to serve as the nation’s president, following John Adams and John Quincy Adams. Another son, Jeb Bush, unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination in the 2016 Republican primaries. Historians generally rank Bush as an above-average president. (Wikipedia)
George Herbert Walker Bush is pictured when he was one and a half year old.Five-year-old George H. W. Bush stands with his sister Mercy in Milton, Massachusetts, 1929.Here Bush is as a young teenager, July 1937.George H.W. Bush at summer camp, 1939.The future president poses in his Phillips Academy Andover baseball uniform, 1941.Bush served in the Navy from June 1942 to September 1945.George H.W. Bush, Naval Aviator Cadet, 1943.The wedding of George H.W. Bush and Barbara Pierce, in Rye, New York, 1945.Bush was a Navy pilot during the war.Baseball legend Babe Ruth (left) presents his papers to Yale University, received by Yale baseball team captain George Bush, 1946.George Bush is shown as captain of the Yale baseball team, 1947.George H. W. Bush became Bush Sr. a year before this picture was taken at Yale University, 1947.The Bush’s pose for a family portrait, 1956.George H.W. Bush and son George W. Bush at the commissioning ceremonies for the Scorpion off-shore drilling platform, 1956.George Bush and his wife Barbara cast their votes in Houston for the Texas senate primary race in 1964, his entry into politics. Bush was seeking the Republican primary victory over opponent Jack Cox, and went on to oppose (and lose to) Sen. Ralph Yarborough in the November general election.George Bush Sr. proudly displays his son George Bush Jr.’s Texas Air National Guard uniform, 1968.George H.W. Bush, R-Texas, appears in Washington, March 1968.Rep. George H.W. Bush, R-Texas, talks with a group of young people at a rally in Houston, Texas. October 1970U.S. Congressman George Bush speaks to students on SMU campus during his run for a Republican Senate seat, a race that he lost, 1970. Bush was a U.S. Congressman from Texas from 1966-1970.Here is Bush’s portrait as chairman of the Republican National Committee, May 1974.Bush looks pensive while discussing U.S. intelligence reform, February 1976.Bush gives a speech as the Republican vice presidential candidate, July 1980.Vice Presidential candidate George H. W. Bush sits with his family dog Fred in Kennebunkport, Maine, September 1980.Former President Gerald Ford lends his support to Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan and his running mate George H.W. Bush, in Peoria, Ill. Nov 3, 1980George H. W. Bush stands beside President Reagan at his inauguration, November 1981.Newly elected Vice President George H. W. Bush poses on his porch, 1982.Vice President Bush meets Princess Diana and Prince Charles at the British Ambassador’s Residence, November 1985.Bush, then a presidential candidate, laughs with his wife, August 1988.Bush speaks at campaign rally near the end of his presidential race, September 1988.President-elect George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara wave to supporters in Houston, Texas after winning the presidential election. Nov 8, 1988Outgoing President Ronald Reagan congratulates newly-inaugurated President George H.W. Bush, as first lady Barbara Bush (center), George W. Bush (top right) and others applaud during the swearing-in ceremony, 1989.President George H. W. Bush and First Lady Barbara stand in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the inauguration ceremony, January 1989.George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States.
(Photos: Getty Images, AP Photo, and George Bush Presidential Library)
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)
Harley-Davidson, Inc., H-D, or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer founded in 1903 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Along with Indian, it was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression. The company has survived numerous ownership arrangements, subsidiary arrangements, periods of poor economic health and product quality, and intense global competition to become one of the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturers and an iconic brand widely known for its loyal following. There are owner clubs and events worldwide, as well as a company-sponsored, brand-focused museum.
Harley-Davidson is noted for a style of customization that gave rise to the chopper motorcycle style. The company traditionally marketed heavyweight, air-cooled cruiser motorcycles with engine displacements greater than 700 cc, but it has broadened its offerings to include more contemporary VRSC (2002) and middle-weight Street (2015) platforms.
Harley-Davidson manufactures its motorcycles at factories in York, Pennsylvania; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Kansas City, Missouri (closed May 2019); Manaus, Brazil; and Bawal, India. Construction of a new plant in Thailand began in late 2018. The company markets its products worldwide, and also licenses and markets merchandise under the Harley-Davidson brand, among them apparel, home décor and ornaments, accessories, toys, scale models of its motorcycles, and video games based on its motorcycle line and the community. (Wikipedia)
Below is a collection of 34 wonderful vintage ads of Harley-Davidson during the 1970s.
The Harley-Davidson Out-Performers for 1970Meet Baja 100 The Desert-Rat, 19707 mph the pegs, of flat out at 70, 1970Sportster makes the dust the others eat, 1970Baja wins in wild country, 1971Super Glide FX call it the night train, 1971Sprint SS gets it all together, 1971Leggero Mini cycle… maxi fun, 1971New Sprint SX350. Light the fire and hang on!, 1971Sportster. Pull the trigger!, 1971Electra Glide. On the road it stands alone, 1971Rapido. The starchy torquer, 1971Sprint SS350 another outperformer from Harley-Davidson, 1972Baja 100. Another outperformer from Harley-Davidson, 1972Sportster 1000. Another outperformer from Harley-Davidson, 1972Sprint SX350. Another outperformer from Harley-Davidson, 1972Rapido. Another outperformer from Harley-Davidson, 1972Leggero. Another outperformer from Harley-Davidson, 1972Super Glide. Another outperformer from Harley-Davidson, 1972Shortster… the mini-cycle that’s mighty like a motorcycle, 1972Harley-Davidson X90. The Great American Freedom Machine, 1972Harley-Davidson Z90. The Great American Freedom Machine, 1973Harley-Davidson SX-350. The Great American Freedom Machine, 1973Harley-Davidson TX-125. The Great American Freedom Machine, 1973All new Harley-Davidson SX-175, 1973Harley-Davidson XLCH-1000, 1973Harley-Davidson SS-350, 1973Harley-Davidson FX-1200, 1973Harley-Davidson FX-1200, 1974Harley-Davidson suggests: give your family the finest gift of all, 1974Harley-Davidson SR-100, 1974Satisfying millions of motorcyclists is easy, 1975Dual in the sun, 1975Until you’ve been on a Harley-Davidson you haven’t been on a motorcycle, 1979
Iconic fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld died at age 85 in Paris on February 19, 2019 following a short illness.
He was born Karl Otto Lagerfeldt in 1933 in pre-war Germany. Lagerfeld changed his original surname from Lagerfeldt, because he believed it sounded “more commercial”.
He emigrated to Paris as a young teenager, and became a design assistant for Pierre Balmain, before working at Fendi and Chloe in the 1960s.
The German designer was known as the creative director of the French luxury fashion house Chanel (from 1983 until his death), as well as creative director of the Italian fur and leather goods fashion house Fendi and his own eponymous fashion label.
Over the decades, he collaborated on a variety of fashion and art-related projects. He was well recognized around the world for his white hair, black sunglasses, fingerless gloves, and high starched collars.
Shown is a gallery of 30 vintage photographs of a young Karl Lagerfeld in the 1950s and 1960s.
Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969) was an American actress, singer, vaudevillian, and dancer. With a career spanning 45 years, she attained international stardom as an actress in both musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist, and on the concert stage. Renowned for her versatility, she received an Academy Juvenile Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Special Tony Award. Garland was the first woman to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, which she won for her 1961 live recording titled Judy at Carnegie Hall.
Garland began performing in vaudeville as a child with her two older sisters and was later signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a teenager. She appeared in more than two dozen films for MGM and is remembered for portraying Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz (1939). Garland was a frequent on-screen partner of both Mickey Rooney and Gene Kelly and regularly collaborated with director and second husband Vincente Minnelli. Other starring roles during this period included Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), The Harvey Girls (1946), Easter Parade (1948), and Summer Stock (1950). In 1950, after 15 years with MGM, the studio released her amid a series of personal struggles that prevented her from fulfilling the terms of her contract.
Although her film career became intermittent thereafter, two of Garland’s most critically acclaimed roles came later in her career: she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in A Star Is Born (1954) and a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). She also made record-breaking concert appearances, released eight studio albums, and hosted her own Emmy-nominated television series, The Judy Garland Show (1963–1964). At age 39, Garland became the youngest and first female recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in the film industry. In 1997, Garland was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Several of her recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and in 1999, the American Film Institute ranked her as the eighth-greatest female screen legend of classic Hollywood cinema.
Garland struggled in her personal life from an early age. The pressures of early stardom affected her physical and mental health from the time she was a teenager; her self-image was influenced by constant criticism from film executives who believed that she was physically unattractive and who manipulated her onscreen physical appearance. Throughout her adulthood she was plagued by alcohol and substance use disorders, as well as financial instability, often owing hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes. Her lifelong substance use disorder ultimately led to her death in London from an accidental barbiturate overdose at age 47 in 1969. (Wikipedia)
Fortune telling is the practice of predicting information about a person’s life. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination. The difference is that divination is the term used for predictions considered part of a religious ritual, invoking deities or spirits, while the term fortune telling implies a less serious or formal setting, even one of popular culture, where belief in occult workings behind the prediction is less prominent than the concept of suggestion, spiritual or practical advisory or affirmation.
Historically, Pliny the Elder describes use of the crystal ball in the 1st century CE by soothsayers (“crystallum orbis”, later written in Medieval Latin by scribes as orbuculum).
Contemporary Western images of fortune telling grow out of folkloristic reception of Renaissance magic, specifically associated with Romani people. During the 19th and 20th century, methods of divination from non-Western cultures, such as the I Ching, were also adopted as methods of fortune telling in western popular culture.
An example of divination or fortune telling as purely an item of pop culture, with little or no vestiges of belief in the occult, would be the Magic 8-Ball sold as a toy by Mattel, or Paul II, an octopus at the Sea Life Aquarium at Oberhausen used to predict the outcome of matches played by the Germany national football team.
There is opposition to fortune telling in Christianity, Islam, Bahá’ísm and Judaism based on scriptural prohibitions against divination.
Terms for one who claims to see into the future include fortune teller, crystal-gazer, spaewife, seer, soothsayer, sibyl, clairvoyant, and prophet; related terms which might include this among other abilities are oracle, augur, and visionary.
Fortune telling is dismissed by the scientific community and scientific skeptics as being based on magical thinking and superstition. (Wikipedia)
