What on earth were the WAMPAS Baby Stars you might well ask? Well, if you lived in 1920s and 30s America you would have been very much aware of this campaign. It was run by the United States Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers (WAMPAS) who picked a lucky group of young actresses every year(…)
I have just read the most fabulous book! Silent Murders is a stylish murder mystery set in 1920s Hollywood. Not only is it an un-put-downable (that’s totally a word) story, but it’s set against a fascinating backdrop of real life film stars. The main character, Jessie, an ex-Vaudville actress with a rather shady past, lands(…)
Rubye De Remer was a particuarly pretty silent movie actress during the 1920s. She landed a spot in the Ziegfeld Follies after being spotted after winning a New York beauty contest, and was dubbed “the most beautiful blonde since Venus” by Florenz Ziegfeld. Like many Ziegfeld Girls she went on to work in the movies,(…)
Boy have there been some strange beauty contests over the years! These photos include the contestants for ‘Miss Psywar’ (doesn’t that stand for Phsychological Warfare…?), ‘Miss War Worker’ and ‘Miss Bobbed Hair 1925’…
Alfred Cheney Johnston is most well-known for his photographs of the girls who performed in the Ziegfeld Follies in the 1910s and 20s. Here are some of his more risqué photos of the girls, including one of Gloria Swanson. They probably aren’t particularly suitable for viewing at work, depending on how open-minded your boss is(…)
It’s easy to get carried away and think that swimwear styles in the past was more beautiful, more elegant and more chic than those available today, but as these photos prove that wasn’t necessarily the case! The photo above, for example, is a gorgeous photo full of joy and laughter, but unfortunately those flimsy woolen(…)
You might be surprised to know that during the 1910s and 20s the biggest name in American cinema was that of Lillian Gish. I’m sure you’ve heard of her more notorious contemporaries (good time girl Clara Bow springs to mind) but Miss Gish was the star known as The First Lady of The Silent Screen.
Who doesn’t love letting their hair down (or putting their hair up) and having a good dance? And if you’ve not got the moves yourself then watching dancing can be just as therapeutic. Just watching this amazing Charleston video (below) made me grin from ear to ear and I hope it has the same effect(…)
Another day another bevy of vintage bathing beauties – this time I’ve found some amazingly clad 1920s contestants from the Galveston Texas Bathing Girl Review. I think most of the costumes must have been homemade – quite a few of them are more like fancy dress costumes than swimsuits – especially that amazing Ancient Egyptian-style(…)
Whatever your personal feelings about beauty pageants, they serve as a great reminder that fashion dictates what each generation considers to be beautiful. These 1920s title-holders, many of whom won the coveted Miss America crown probably wouldn’t have thought to even enter the competition today. I’m guessing unless you have pneumatic breasts, perfect teeth and(…)
Amelia Earhart was a pioneering aviatrix who was the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic. She mysteriously disappeared in her plane whilst attempting to circumnavigate the globe in 1937, the wreckage of which has never been found. Here are 10 surprising facts you may not know about Amelia Earhart: She was nicknamed “Lady(…)
Marion Davies is as well known for being a famous man’s mistress as she is for being a movie star. She already had a successful movie career when she first met newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst and became his lover. The relationship didn’t do her career any harm at all. He both financed her movies(…)
My blog seems to have taken a decidedly Russian turn this week, what with clearing up the rumours about Rasputin and the last Tzar’s family photos! I’m continuing the trend today with the beautiful Vera Karalli, who was a successful ballerina at the Bolshoi in the 1910s as well as being a popular Russian silent(…)
Continuing on the theme from yesterday with Hollywood stars before they were famous, here’s a very young and rather risqué photo of Joan Crawford back in her flapper days. Totally different to her later on-screen image isn’t it! Image source and copyright: Some rights reserved
We all know what Mae West looked like (above). Her sexy on-screen image is probably one of the most iconic of all time. So much so that she had life preservers named after her during WW2 and Salvador Dali created his iconic lips sofa because of his fascination with her. But what did she look(…)
‘I learnt one thing on my honeymoon – to take drugs’. Tiger Woman is the autobiography of Betty May, a bohemian wild-child and the unlikely heroine of this truly astonishing story. Born in a poverty-stricken area of London, we hear Betty’s shocking journey which culminates in her becoming a notorious 1920s flapper and artists muse,(…)
Marie Doro was an American silent movie actress of the early 1920s. Isn’t she stunning? She started out as a chorus girl and actress at which time she inspired a young Charlie Chaplin to fall madly in love with her. She moved into silent movies in 1915 but sadly 13 out of the 18 movies(…)
French Impressionist painter Monet, photographed in his gardens in Giverny, the inspiration for his famous Water Lilies series of paintings. Monet painted more than 200 paintings of water lilies during the last 30 years of his life, many of which were painted whilst he had cataracts. I’ve seen the paintings so many times, and it’s(…)