26 Vintage Photographs From Inside a Doll Factory, 1931-1955
16 Vintage Celebrity Driver’s Licenses
It’s easy to forget that celebrities are real people, especially ones that were before our time. But these vintage driver’s licenses of celebs show us that whoever you are, you still need the right papers to ride your own cars.
60 Wonderful Color Photos Showing Disneyland on Opening Day on July 17, 1955
Few smiles could be found at the “Happiest Place on Earth” when Disneyland opened its gates for the first time on July 17, 1955. Epic traffic jams, counterfeit tickets, broken rides, food shortages and a lack of water on a 100-degree day all plagued the theme park’s unveiling.
Below is a gallery of 60 amazing color photographs capture Disneyland on its opening day in 1955. These photos were taken by LIFE photographers Allan Grant and Loomis Dean.
41 Fabulous Photos of Dancefloor Styles That Defined 1970s Disco Fashion
30 Beautiful Photos of Actress Diana Dors From Between the Late 1940s and 1950s
Diana Dors was born Diana Mary Fluck on October 23, 1931 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. She and her mother both nearly died from the traumatic birth. Because of the trauma, her mother lavished on Diana anything and everything she wanted–clothes, toys and dance lessons were the order of the day.
Diana’s love of films began when her mother took her to the local movies theaters. The actresses on the screen caught Diana’s attention and she said, herself, that from the age of three she wanted to be an actress. She was educated in the finest private schools, much to the chagrin of her father (apparently he thought private education was a waste of money). Physically, Diana grew up fast. At age 12, she looked and acted much older than what she was. Much of this was due to the actresses she studied on the silver screen and Diana trying to emulate them. She wanted nothing more than to go to the United States and Hollywood to have a chance to make her place in film history. After placing well in a local beauty contest, Diana was offered a role in a thespian group (she was 13).
The following year, Diana enrolled at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA) to hone her acting skills. She was the youngest in her class. Her first fling at the camera was in Code of Scotland Yard (1947). She did not care that it was a small, uncredited role; she was on film and at age 16, that’s all that mattered. That was quickly followed by Dancing with Crime (1947), which consisted of nothing more than a walk-on role. Up until this time, Diana had pretended to be 17 years old (if producers had known her true age, they probably would not have let her test for the role). However, since she looked and acted older, this was no problem. Diana’s future dawned bright in 1948, and she appeared in no less than six films. Some were uncredited, but some had some meat to the roles. The best of the lot was the role of Charlotte in the classic Oliver Twist (1948). Throughout the 1950s, she appeared in more films and became more popular in Britain. Diana was a pleasant version of Marilyn Monroe, who had taken the United States by storm. Britain now had its own version.
Diana continued to play sexy sirens and kept seats in British theaters filled. She really came into her own as an actress. She was more than a woman who exuded her sexy side, she was a very fine actress as her films showed. As the 1960s turned into the 1970s, she began to play more mature roles with an effectiveness that was hard to match. Films such as Craze (1974), Swedish Wildcats (1972), The Amorous Milkman (1975) and Three for All (1975) helped fill out her resume. After filming Steaming (1985), Diana was diagnosed with cancer, which was too much for her to overcome. The British were saddened when word came of her death at age 52 on May 4, 1984 in Windsor, Berkshire, England.
Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis: 39 Amazing Photographs of the Comedy Duo in the 1940s and 1950s
In 1945, comprising singer Dean Martin met a young comic named Jerry Lewis at the Glass Hat Club in New York, where both men were performing. Martin and Lewis debuted at Atlantic City’s 500 Club on July 25, 1946, when Lewis suggested to the club owner that Martin would be a good replacement for the scheduled singer who was unavailable. The duo were not well received. The owner, Skinny D’Amato, threatened to terminate their contract if the act did not improve. Martin and Lewis disposed of pre-scripted gags and began improvising. Dean sang, and Jerry dressed as a busboy, dropping plates and making a shambles of Martin’s songs and a mockery of the club’s decorum. They performed slapstick and delivered vaudeville jokes to great fanfare.
Their success at the 500 Club led to a series of well-paying engagements along the Eastern seaboard, culminating with a triumphant run at New York’s Copacabana Club. The audience were convulsed with laughter by Lewis interrupting and heckling Martin while he was trying to sing, and ultimately by the two of them chasing each other around the stage and having as much fun as possible.
Eventually, the two hired young comedy writers Norman Lear and Ed Simmons to improve their act. By 1950, Lear and Simmons were the main writers for Martin and Lewis.
One of the secrets to their success was the diversity of their audience as Jerry Lewis explained: ‘Who were Dean’s fans? Men, women, the Italians. Who were Jerry’s fans? Women, Jews, kids. Who were Martin and Lewis’ fans? All of them.’ When the partnership ended in 1956, the comedians fell into a bitter feud that lasted for decades only did they reunite on rare occasions until Dean Martin’s death in 1995.
Jerry Lewis died at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 20, 2017 at the age of 91.
27 Amazing Mugshots of Men and Women From Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1915
(Photos via Mark Michaelson)
34 Vintage Photos of Couples During the 1920s
51 Stunning Vintage Photos Of The Crow Tribe during the Early 20th Century
The Crow, called the Apsáalooke in their own Siouan language, or variants including the Absaroka, are Native Americans, who in historical times lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota, where it joins the Missouri River. In the 21st century, the Crow people are a Federally recognized tribe known as the Crow Tribe of Montana, and have a reservation located in the south central part of the state.
Pressured by the Ojibwe and Cree peoples (the Iron Confederacy), who had earlier and better access to guns through the fur trade, the Crow had migrated to this area from the Ohio Eastern Woodland area of present-day Ohio, settling south of Lake Winnipeg. From there, they were pushed to the west by the Cheyenne. Both the Crow and the Cheyenne were pushed farther west by the Lakota (Sioux), who took over the territory west of the Missouri River, reaching past the Black Hills of South Dakota to the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming and Montana. The Cheyenne eventually became allies of the Lakota, as they sought to expel European Americans from the area. The Crow remained bitter enemies of both the Sioux and Cheyenne. The Crow managed to retain a large reservation of more than 9300 km2 despite territorial losses.
Since the 19th century, Crow people have been concentrated on their reservation established south of Billings, Montana. They also live in several major, mainly western, cities. Tribal headquarters are located at Crow Agency, Montana.
When it became clear that the battle would be lost, Hairy Moccasin put on the clothing of a Crow warrior, wanting to die a Crow. Montana. 1910.
Montana. 1910.
Montana. 1910.
30 Wonderful Vintage Portrait Photos of the Dare Sisters, Phyllis and Zena, From the Early 20th Century
Two of the most stunning and popular actresses of Edwardian England were the sisters Dare, Phyllis (1890–1975) and Zena (1887–1975), who for decades delighted audiences in London’s West End and on tour. At the height of their fame, their likenesses graced hundreds of picture postcards, which were sold across the country. As a boy, the famed critic James Agate was said to have harbored a picture of Zena Dare in his school locker.
Daughters of a judge’s clerk, the sisters made their stage debut in 1899 in the pantomime Babes in the Wood. In 1900, Phyllis went on to make her first provincial appearance at the Theater Royal, in Manchester, in Little Red Riding Hood. She was then engaged by actor-manager Seymour Hicks to play at the Vaudeville Theater in London, where she charmed audiences in Bluebell in Fairyland and The Catch of the Season. Her big break came in 1906, when she took over the lead in the musical comedy The Belle of Mayfair after the renowned actress Edna May left the show. Though she was triumphant in the role, Phyllis’ success was short-lived because she had also signed a contract to appear in an Edinburgh Christmas pageant. (The lead in The Belle of Mayfair was subsequently taken over by Billie Burke.)
In 1909, after her appearance in Edinburgh and a tour in The Dairymaids, Phyllis appeared in the highly acclaimed Robert Courtneidge musical comedy The Arcadians, which played 809 performances at the Shaftesbury Theater. In 1911, the legendary theatrical manager George Edwardes tapped her for the title role in Peggy. During the run of the show, Phyllis recorded “Ladies Beware” for the fledgling recording company, His Master’s Voice. She also recorded four songs from the show Tina, which opened at the Adelphi in 1915. Her career continued throughout the war years, both in variety and review. In 1919, she was in Kissing Time, followed by The Lady of the Rose, The Street Singer, and The Maids of the Mountains. During the 1930s and 1940s, she appeared in show after show, straight comedies as well as musicals.
Phyllis Dare never married, though at age 22, while playing in The Sunshine Girl, she met and fell in love with the show’s composer Paul A. Rubens. The couple announced their engagement, but Rubens fell ill with tuberculosis. With no hope of recovery and not wanting to burden Phyllis, he broke off the engagement. He died in 1917, at age 40.
Zena Dare’s career paralleled her sister’s. As a young girl, she appeared in pantomime in Scotland, toured in An English Daisy, and played Cinderella at the Shakespeare Theater in Liverpool. In 1904, she was cast in her first adult role in Seymour Hicks’ The Catch of the Season, a part originally intended for Hicks’ wife Ellaline Terriss, who temporarily retired due to pregnancy. A great success, the show ran for 621 performances, although after a year Zena was replaced by her sister Phyllis because of another contract commitment. Like Phyllis, Zena also worked for George Edwardes, playing in the musicals Lady Madcap, The Little Cherub, and The Girl on Stage. In 1906, she rejoined Seymour Hicks, playing a variety of roles, including Victoria Siddons in The Gay Gordons and Peter Pan.
In 1911, at the peak of her success Zena retired from the stage to marry Maurice Brett, second son of the second Viscount Esher. They had a son and two daughters. Zena returned to the stage in 1926, at age 39. Rather than continuing in musicals, she enjoyed great success in straight roles, including Mrs. Cheyney in The Last of Mrs. Cheyney and a role opposite Noel Coward in The Second Man. In 1926, she formed her own company and toured South Africa. On her return, Zena teamed with Ivor Novello in Proscenium, in which she enjoyed her greatest success since her preretirement musical days. She also paired with Novello in 1936, playing the Manager of a beauty parlor in his musical Careless Rapture. The Times of London described her roles with Novello as “exactly suited to her years and to her bent for mild caricature.”
In 1940, Zena and Phyllis appeared together on stage in a tour of a revival of Novello’s Full House. Zena followed this with a comic performance of Lady Caroline in a revival of Dear Brutus, after which she took the role of the Red Queen in Alice through the Looking Glass. In 1949, the sisters were joined again on stage in Novello’s musical King’s Rhapsody, with Zena playing Novello’s mother and Phyllis his mistress. An enormous success, the play even ran seven months after Novello’s death in 1951. Following King’s Rhapsody, Phyllis retired to Brighton, at age 61. Zena remained on stage for another ten years, in a variety of popular plays, including Sabrina Fair, Double Image, and Nude with Violin. Her last appearance was as Rex Harrison’s mother, Mrs. Higgins, in My Fair Lady, which opened in April 1958 and played in London for five years before going on tour. Zena retired in 1965 and died on March 11, 1975. Six weeks later, on April 27, her sister Phyllis also passed away.
