I’ve had a lot of interest in the photographs I posted yesterday of the female Nazi concentration camp guards of Bergen-Belsen* and the sentences they all received. *Bergen-Belsen is the concentration camp where Anne Frank died – I didn’t realize that until today. A few of you wondered about the back-stories of these women and(…)
These are photos of the female prison camp guards which were taken after the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen Nazi concentration camp.while they were awaiting trail in 1945. Their sentences ranged from a few short years imprisonment to the death sentence. Here’s an interesting challenge, see if you can guess just by looking at the photos(…)
This very serious young man is Ernest Hemingway photographed in 1923 from his passport. To be fair we all look ridiculous in passport photos, why on earth don’t they let you smile in them? (or is that just in the UK?) Source and copyright: This work is in the public domain in the United States(…)
When you think of 1940s fashion, you probably think of tailored looks, tea dresses, victory rolls and red lipstick (even after makeup the had run out), but fashions were very different in Nazi Germany. Hitler had a very specific idea of how women should look. He even created a German Fashion Board, the Deutsches Modeamt(…)
I hope you don’t think these photos are too macabre, but there’s something terribly poignant about seeing these ordinary domestic scenes which have been turned upside down by a tragedy or a moment of rage. Somehow the fact that the pictures are in black and white makes them more interesting, perhaps it gives them a(…)
A touching page from American President Theodore Roosevelt’s diary on Thursday February 14th 1884. The day his wife died 2 days after giving birth. And just to make sure you don’t suddenly think he was a sentimental kind of chap here’s a picture of him proudly standing over a dead bull-elephant he’s just shot. Make of that(…)
I had to share this with you today. It’s a bit different to my usual posts in that it’s not about 20th century fashion, cinema or cake, but I found this book was fascinating and I thought you might too. Anyone who’s a designer out there will know about Pantone and their colour guides. I(…)
During World War 2, the American Magazine for GI’s (called YANK would you believe?) featured a number of fabulous pin-ups to help boost morale of the troops. Many were big cinema stars like Rita Hayworth, Betty Grable and Ingrid Bergman (waving below) but, however famous, all of them were fabulous.
It’s spring, and so of course my thoughts have returned to Paris, the beautiful city of blossom and boulevards, baguettes and bicyclette *sigh*. But Paris has always had a certain charm it was a very different place when Zeppelins were in the sky or there were German soldiers on the streets. Take a look at(…)
A little Jackie Kennedy looking very grown up! This photo was taken in 1935 which I think would make her 6 years old. What a little lady eh? No wonder she became a style icon later in life!
If you were of the right class and in the right circumstances the 1930s was an incredibly stylish place to be. Even if you weren’t one of the privileged few the fashions helped you be stylish anyway. A few of these photos are of Hollywood stars or models, but the majority of them of the(…)
They are an interesting collection of women who were all photographed in the custody of New South Wales police between 1916 and 1929. They range from notorious brothel madams, to bigamists, murderers, drug dealers, prostitutes and simply the unfortunate, like Kate Ellick who was sentenced to prison because her family were dead and she was(…)
I think the tragic disappearance of Flight MH370 is probably pre-occupying all of us at the moment and it goes without saying that all of our thoughts and prayers go out to those missing and the families of all involved. The seemingly impossibly long wait for news got me thinking about some past mysteries and(…)
So, you thought the selfie was something new? Apparently not! Here is the evidence that people have been taking selfies since the late 1800s – even naked selfies! It’s not just the celebrities of today who love showing off their bods! These photos range from the 1890s to the 1970s, some are self-portraits done with(…)
We all know the story of the ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic. At least I assume we do, I can’t imagine there’s anyone out there who doesn’t know the story, but just in case here’s a brief recap of the tragic tale with a few facts you might not know. The RMS Titanic was(…)
In February 1954 Marilyn Monroe travelled to South Korea to entertain the troops. She performed a quickly thrown-together show titled ‘Anything Goes’ to audiences which totalled over 100,000 troops over 4 days. She flew to Korea during her honeymoon in Japan with husband Joe DiMaggio. The baseball star was said to be annoyed by the(…)
From the 1920s through to the 1950s Atomic energy was terrifically fashionable. Radium was used in everything from beauty and cosmetics, to household cleaning products (see the photo below of the Radium hand cleaner which ‘takes off everything but the skin’ – yikes!). So, why were people so keen to use radioactive products in every(…)
Beauty throughout the 1940s was dominated by wartime shortages and rationing. Clothing rationing ended in 1949 and soap rationing in 1950 so a real ‘make do and mend’ attitude was needed to get through the post-war years (sweets rationing didn’t end until 1953!). I remember my grandma telling me stories how they had to paint(…)