Photograph Studio Portrait of Helen Wallace, ca. 1925, the cousin of Bess Truman wearing a fur cape and hat. I’ve never seen a hat like this before, what kind of fur do you think it was?
1920s studio portrait of Helen Wallace in a strange fur hat
1920s
Flappers with sleek bobs, cupid blow lips, long strings of pearls and lots and lots of sass, the roaring twenties were the place to be!
1920s girls playing in the surf
It’s tipping it down with rain here today and I’m sitting here with a living room full of new garden furniture which needs oiling before it goes out in the garden. Oh how I *wish* we had the weather to be frolicking in the surf like these 1920s girls! Isn’t this photo great? I love(…)
1920s photo: another lost beauty
Another beautiful portrait of a woman whose name has got lost somewhere in the mists of time. She was photographed in 1924 by Frank A. Kunishige and may (or may not) have been called Betti. I love her beautiful hat (and very serious expression, she looks like she may have been a bit cross with(…)
3 vintage beauty queens from the 1920s
These 3 vintage beauties are the winners of a Beauty contest at the Venetian Pool in Coral Gables, Florida in 1924. Who do you think was the winner and who were the runners up? Or do you think they were winners in 3 different categories…?
Making health fun (and frightening) for kids in the 1920s
Health was clearly an important issue to be tackled in schools in the 1920s, so the authorities brought out the big guns. Presumably the Health Fairy (above) would visit all the children who had been good, and Cho Cho the Health Clown would scare the bejeezers out of all the naughty children (or something like(…)
Beautiful portraits of forgotten women
These beautiful photo portraits of all of women photographed in the 1920s and 1930s in Sydney Harbour, Australia. Sadly all of the names have been lost and none can be identified. Aren’t they stunning photos? [6 photos]
1920s wooden bathing suits
The gorgeous 1920s “Spruce Girls” photographed on a beach wearing spruce wood veneer bathing suits during “Wood Week” to promote products of the Gray Harbor lumber industry, Hoquiam, Washington c. 1929. Aren’t they stunning? I don’t know how comfortable a wooden bathing suit would be though. Do you fancy that…? [6 photos]
Josephine Baker in her famous banana skirt
The fabulous and controversial 1920s cabaret dancer Josephine Baker in her famous Banana Skirt from the Folies Bergère production “Un Vent de Folie” 1927
1920s fur coat adverts, which make me a bit uncomfortable!
I’m sure you all know by now that I’m very anti-real-fur, so I constantly find it strange to see vintage adverts for fur when it was seen as something desirable and, well, socially acceptable! These adverts for furs are both from the 1920s. I just don’t think you’d get adverts for fur coats any more(…)
Joan Crawford 1920s
Joan Crawford looking very different to her 1930s and 40s screen image. This photo dates from 1927.She was signed to MGM in 1925 and just received small flapper roles until she managed to promote herself into more prominent roles.
1920s swimwear photos
A group of young women photographed in 1920s swimwear, some of which is lovely and some of which is terribly unflattering. The photos were taken at Potomac Tidal Basic beach in Washington in 1922. The woman on the left above (and in the boat below) is actress Kay Laurell, but I don’t know about the(…)
Josephine Baker in costume (well, some feathers & rhinestones)
French actress and dancer Josephine Baker in an amazing stage costume which seems to be made of just rhinestones, feathers and confidence! I’ve known about and admired Josephine Baker for years, but I didn’t realise until recently that she was quite such a remarkable woman outside her stage and cinema career. She was an important(…)
Colour video of London in the 1920s
I discovered this video today and I thought it was absolutely fascinating! It is original colour video footage taken in London in 1927. It was taken by an early British pioneer of film, Claude Frisse-Greene, who made a series of travelogues using the colour process his father William – a noted cinematographer – was experimenting(…)
Josephine Baker dancing the Charleston
The fabulous and vivacious Josephine Baker dancing the Charleston at the Folies-Bergère, Paris in 1926.
1920s monokini (topless swimsuit)
I thought the topless swimsuit was invented by Rudi Gernreich in the 1960s, but apparently a slightly baggier version was around in the 1920s! This monokini was worn by Guna Mori, a Follies Bergere girl. Apologies for the size of the photo, I couldn’t find a higher-res photo! Which version do you prefer this one,(…)
1920s portrait of Dorothy Dickinson
1920s portrait of American actress, singer and Ziegfeld Follies girl Dorothy Dickinson, 1927.
Barbara Stanwyck when she was in the Ziegfeld Follies
Before she got into movies, Barbara Stanwyck spent a couple of years working as a Ziegfeld Follies showgirl. This photo looks like it is from this period, which would be 1922 and 1923. I wonder whether it’s by Alfred Cheney Johnston who was the main photographer for the Ziegfeld girls throughout the 1920s. Source and(…)
10 things you didn’t know about Clara Bow (including the truth about those scandals)
Clara Bow was the quintessential ‘it’ girl and a flapper icon. She was one of the few silent movie stars who made it successfully into ‘talkies’ with her thick Brooklyn accent in tact. Bow was notorious for her loose living and scandalous lifestyle, so you’ve probably heard the rumours and gossip but here are 10 facts(…)