From 1957: Andy Warhol, The Early Years

July 1957

Harper's Bazaar

A Serious Case Of The Sads

 Annette Funicello
1942-2013

From 1952: Palmolive Soap

Thank heavens there was a girlfriend to help our singing star find the path to a lovelier complexion...with Palmolive!

"Look here, Marge...here's the score.  Us girls down at Monsieur Henri's House Of French Coiffures have been cleansing our skin the Palmolive way...and you should, too!"

Personally, I'm a big believer in doing beauty the old-fashioned way (or what we would consider "old fashioned" today).  I switched recently from fancy-schmancy facial wash to plain old Dr. Bronner's rose bar soap for facial scrubbery.  My skin has never been cleaner nor clearer.  And it's cheaper and organic!

From 1955: Sniffles and Sneezes

Hey everybody:

Thanks for the warm wishes that some of you sent to me, wondering if I was okay.  The truth is, I wasn't.  I had the flu for the better part of December, including over the Christmas holiday.  It morphed into Whooping Cough, which was scary and awful.  It also thoroughly kicked my ass.  I am only just now starting to feel human again.

Let's take this as a learning opportunity and watch an educational film about the spread of viruses from 1955, Sniffles and Sneezes.

"Medicine...but only those that your doctor prescribes.  No others."  Don't take any of those beatnik remedies!

Stay healthy, my sweets.

Love, Laura

p.s. If you only watch a few seconds of this clip, make it at the six-minute mark.  It's the 1950s: children were already terrorized by The Red Menace.  Why not fill their nightmares with visions of deadly diseases, too?

From 1957 and 1958: TWA Jetstream

1957

The TWA Jetstream was a common site in movies in the 1950s.  Two films that immediately come to mind are Funny Face and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?  In the latter, you see Jayne Mansfield languishing in one of 
the Jetstream's luxurious sleeper beds.

1958

I always love Trans World's colorful, eye-catching advertising from this era.  Many of their travel advertisements could have doubled as art for the home, and often did.

Be sure to double-click each ad so that you can read 
all of the text!

From 1956: As I Lay Dyeing

 

This ad is a divine double-clicker!

From 1954: When Someone Barfs On The Table And Calls It "Supper"

Women's Day

March 1954 

It's the little lemon slices that make this dish elegant!

From Our Cousins Across The Pond: Love To Lard You, Baby

1950

From 1958: Back When You Could Say "Beef Balls" Without Having Someone Snicker

I love old recipes.  This is a terrific double-clicker and we might just have all four of these dishes over the next couple of weeks.

The Beaver: Proud American

I have the sudden urge to Like Ike.

Since I'm Wide Awake With This Lousy Cold In The Middle Of The Night Anyway, I Might As Well Do My Part To Fight Communism

From 1952: Lustre-Creme Shampoo Ad Featuring St. Joan of Crawford's Mugshot

Double click for larger text and more detail.

More about St. Joan of Crawford

What This (And Every) Blog Needs: More Campbell's Soup

1959

If there's anything I like more than morbidly obese animated children extolling the virtues of My Canned Childhood (we ate a lot of Campbell's in my house growing up), it's using wink-wink nudge-nudge stereotypes about Scottish people to sell soup. "It's thrifty, too...aye, you can add seven or eight cans of water to that soup to make it stretch farther!"

Have you had your soup today?

As I Take Ken To Sky Harbor...

...I am reminded of the golden age of aviation.

This charming owl first appeared in TWA ads in 1952.

The plane featured in this ad is a Lockheed Constellation, commonly referred to as "Connie."

From 1957: Diorissimo

Illustration by
René Gruau

From 1956: Smoking Cigarettes Is The American Way!

No, this commercial doesn't actually say that, but it might as well.

God, I miss cigarettes. I quit my two-pack-per-day habit almost twenty years ago. Wanna see a 40-year-old woman drop 50 pounds without even trying? Give me a couple of cartons of Marlboros and I'll demonstrate it for you.

From 1958: What My Alternate Universe Looks Like

This film introduces Boeing 707 jet service on Pan American World Airways.



I long to live in this more civilized world; certainly I was born several decades too late.

On that note, allow me to tell you that I admire the spacious "powder rooms" on this jet the most. Remind to tell you guys sometime about the time Ken and I flew home from Singapore via Tokyo and Minneapolis, 21+ hours of flight time, as I suffered from a raging case of the stomach flu. I started feeling ill in Changi Airport and it all went downhill from there. Even though we were in First Class on all three flights home, it was still miserable.

From 1954: Maybe She's Born With It

And Finally, The Chef Himself

Notice how he pronounces his last name: Boy AR dee.

Chef Ettore (Hector) Boiardi
1898-1985

Chef Boyardee Pizza Pizza Pizza!

Sorry, Ken and I have been watching Strangers With Candy again and I've got Jerri Blank on the brain.

This clip is from the mid Fifties. I especially like the end where the little slices of pizza disengage themselves from the rest of the pie. I'm unsure as to whether or not Chef Boyardee is the equivalent of pizzeria pizza, as the clip claims, but it does have a special flavor all its own that I am sure has nostalgic value for many of you here.

Enjoy!