A Gallery of 50 Amazing Photos of a Young Laura La Plante in the 1920s

Laura La Plante (born Laura Laplante; November 1, 1904 – October 14, 1996) was an American film actress; her more notable performances were in the silent era. During the 1920s, La Plante reigned as Universal Pictures’ most popular star and highest-grossing box-office attraction, appearing in over 60 films during the decade. Known for her bright dimples, easygoing charm, and signature bleached-blonde bobbed hair, she effortlessly transitioned from early slapstick comedy and Westerns into prestigious main-event features where her name routinely received top billing above the title.

After starting out as a teenage extra to support her family, she got her first major footprint playing Nora in shorts based on the Bringing Up Father comic strip (1920) and starring in the acclaimed silent film The Old Swimmin’ Hole (1921). She initially built stamina co-starring in a half-dozen Hoot Gibson Westerns. Her refusal to be typecast paid off when she was named a WAMPAS Baby Star in 1923, prompting Universal to grant her more substantial dramatic and comedic leads. For her role in the 1924 film Butterfly, she chopped her naturally long brown hair into a fashionable short bob and dyed it blonde, a quintessential “flapper” style that defined her career look.

As the decade drew to a close, La Plante successfully weathered the initial arrival of “talkies” with early sound hybrids like The Love Trap (1929) and her first all-talking picture Hold Your Man (1929). While her voice translated beautifully to the microphone, the late-20s wave of incoming talking-picture talent began to shift the studio's focus. She parted ways with Universal after starring in the lavish Technicolor musical King of Jazz (1930), leaving behind a legacy as one of the definitive faces of silent-era Hollywood.

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40 Beautiful Photochrom Photos of the Late 19th-Century Netherlands

These beautiful Photochrom photos offer a rare and vivid glimpse of the Netherlands in the late 19th century.

Created using the Photochrom process, a technique that added realistic color to black-and-white images through multiple lithographic stones, the pictures capture canals, windmills, historic town centers, markets, and everyday life with remarkable clarity and warmth.

From Amsterdam and Haarlem to quieter rural scenes, the images preserve the architecture, costumes, and atmosphere of the period in rich, carefully rendered color. They provide a nostalgic and historically valuable view of the Netherlands more than 120 years ago.

Amsterdam. Dam Square with the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) on the left, Netherlands, circa 1890s

Amsterdam. Fishmarket and weighing house, Netherlands, circa 1890s

Amsterdam. Mint tower, Netherlands, circa 1890s

Amsterdam. Nicolaaskerk (St. Nicholas Church), Netherlands, circa 1890s

Amsterdam. Old Zÿds, the Kolk (canal), Netherlands, circa 1890s

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1942 Ford Super DeLuxe Station Wagon: Rare Woodie of the War Years

The 1942 Ford Super DeLuxe Station Wagon stands as one of the rarest and most distinctive “woodie” wagons of the prewar era. Produced in limited numbers before civilian automobile manufacturing ceased in early 1942 due to World War II, only 5,483 examples were built.

Featuring real wood bodywork of maple framing and mahogany panels crafted at Ford’s Iron Mountain plant, the Super DeLuxe wagon offered seating for up to eight passengers and was powered by Ford’s reliable 221-cubic-inch flathead V-8. With its updated grille, lower stance, and elegant wood construction, the 1942 model represents the final flourish of Ford’s classic woodie design before the war interrupted production.

These beautiful photos capture the elegant wood craftsmanship and wartime rarity of the 1942 Ford Super DeLuxe Station Wagon.

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Candid Photographs of Marilyn Monroe With James Haspiel, a Well-Known Fan and Lifelong Friend of the Actress

The relationship between Marilyn Monroe and James Haspiel stands as one of the most unique and enduring stories in Hollywood history, transitioning from a teenage fan’s infatuation into an eight-year-long trusted friendship. Haspiel met Monroe in September 1954 when he was just 15 years old during the New York City filming of The Seven Year Itch. After boldly asking her for a kiss on the cheek, he began documenting her life, eventually capturing some of the most candid, human moments of the global icon.

Haspiel first encountered Marilyn during her famous skirt-blowing scene in New York. Encouraged by her to get a camera, he bought a $5 Brownie Hawkeye and began capturing unposed, raw photographs of her across Manhattan. Unlike standard autograph hunters, Haspiel and a small circle of fans (often associated with the “Monroe Six”) treated her with genuine decency. Recognizing this, Monroe began inviting him into her inner circle—sharing taxi rides, running casual errands to drugstores, and inviting him into her apartment.

In a famous memory shared by Haspiel, Marilyn invited him into a taxi and called him “Jimmy.” When he realized he had never actually introduced himself, he asked how she knew his name. She responded, “I called you Jimmy. Your name is James Robert Haspiel,” even spelling out his last name, which she had quietly researched from others. On his 21st birthday in February 1959, Marilyn gave him a kiss, pulled back to leave a distinct lip print, squeezed his waist, and jokingly told him, “Jimmy, I remember when you were 17 sweet.”

Through his books, such as Marilyn: The Ultimate Look at the Legend, and home movie footage, Haspiel spent decades protecting Monroe’s legacy and honoring her humanity over her sexualized persona. He recalled her as a “gentle soul” who would venture into the Bowery District completely unrecognized to anonymously hand out money to the unhoused, or pay neighborhood boys to free trapped pigeons from local parks.

Haspiel remained a fixture in her life through her major milestones, observing her marriages and subsequent divorces with Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller, until he saw her for the final time in the summer of 1962, just two and a half months before her tragic death.

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Mercedes-Benz T80, the Fastest Car in the World That Never Ran

The Mercedes-Benz T80 (Type 80) was a specialized, six-wheeled land speed record vehicle completed in 1939 that became famously known as the “fastest car in the world that never ran.” It was an extraordinary engineering collaboration born from the personal ambition of racing driver Hans Stuck, the design genius of Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, and the corporate backing of Daimler-Benz. Officially sanctioned and funded under Adolf Hitler’s regime, the T80 was engineered to showcase German technological supremacy on a global stage, but the outbreak of World War II permanently halted the project before it could ever make an official record run.

Mercedes-Benz T80. Hans Stuck’s project designed for over 373 mph (600 km/h) by Dr. Ferdinand Porsche.

Chassis of the T80 with the DB 603 engine connected to the transmission. Note the drive arrangement to the four rear wheels and the fuel tank.

The framework of the T80’s body is shown here, illustrating how much longer the body was than the chassis.

44.5-litre displacement for the world record-breaking car: in the end the T 80 was equipped with a Mercedes‑Benz DB 603 aircraft engine.

In 1936, legendary German auto racer Hans Stuck dreamed of reclaiming the absolute world land speed record for Germany, which was dominated by British drivers like George Eyston and John Cobb. Stuck brought his vision to three powerful figures: Wilhelm Kissel (Chairman of Daimler-Benz), Dr. Ferdinand Porsche (who officially signed the design contract in January 1937), and Ernst Udet (an Air Force general who helped secure aviation hardware).

Porsche initially designed the car to achieve 550 km/h (342 mph). However, as British rivals continuously pushed the record higher in the late 1930s, the T80’s target speed was aggressively raised to 650 km/h and ultimately projected at 750 km/h (466 mph). Hitler saw the project as a massive public relations triumph. The plan was to broadcast the record attempt on German television as the first absolute land speed record achieved on German soil, specifically on a cleared 10-kilometer stretch of the Dessau Autobahn.

Built at a cost of roughly 600,000 Reichsmarks (about $5 million today), the T80 pushed the boundaries of aerodynamics and mechanical layout. The car had three axles: the front provided steering, and the two rear axles were driven by a 2,717 cu in (44.5 L) Daimler-Benz DB 603 inverted V-12 aircraft engine. Ernst Udet, director of Germany’s Aircraft Procurement and Supply, provided the third DB 603 prototype engine for installation in the T80. The supercharged DB 603 engine with mechanical fuel injection was specially tuned to 3,000 hp (2,240 kW). The engine ran on a special mixture of methyl alcohol (63%), benzene (16%), ethanol (12%), acetone (4.4%), nitrobenzene (2.2%), avgas (2%), and ether (0.4%); it utilized MW (methanol-water) injection for charge cooling and anti-detonation.

Power from the engine was transmitted to the four drive wheels via a hydraulic torque converter to a single-speed final drive. To maintain traction, the T80 had a mechanical “anti-spin control” device. The front and rear wheels each had a sensor to mechanically detect wheel spin. If the rear wheels began to spin faster than the front, fuel to the engine was automatically reduced.

The T80 was 26 ft 8 in (8.128 m) long and 4 ft 1 in (1.245 m) tall. Its body width was 5 ft 9 in (1.753 m) and 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) wide including the wings. All six wheels were 7 in x 32 in and had a 4 ft 3 in (1.295 m) track. The vehicle weighed about 6,390 lb (2,900 kg).

The T80 as it looks now in the Mercedes-Benz Museum.

The vehicle was fully completed by late 1939, and the world record attempt was tentatively scheduled for January 1940. However, the invasion of Poland in September 1939 launched World War II, instantly grounding the project.

The T80 was stripped of its massive DB 603 aircraft engine, which was returned to the military for wartime use, and the vehicle chassis was moved into safe storage to survive the conflict. Because it was never tested on an open road, its true performance threshold remains one of automotive history’s greatest “what-ifs.” Today, the pristine, fully preserved body and chassis can be viewed by the public on display at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany.

Yvonne Furneaux: The Grace of Mid-Century European Cinema

Yvonne Furneaux (1926–2024) was a British-French actress celebrated for her refined beauty and international career in mid-century European cinema.

Born Elisabeth Yvonne Scatcherd in Roubaix, France, to English parents, Furneaux studied at Oxford and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before beginning her film work in the early 1950s. She collaborated with major directors including Michelangelo Antonioni (Le Amiche, 1955), Federico Fellini (La Dolce Vita, 1960), and Roman Polanski (Repulsion, 1965). Equally at home in art-house films and genre pictures, she brought a distinctive elegance and quiet intensity to her roles.

With her dark features and sophisticated presence, Furneaux remains one of the graceful faces of 1950s and ’60s European film. These elegant photos capture the refined beauty and understated grace of Yvonne Furneaux, a distinctive presence in mid-century European cinema.

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26 Portraits of Austrian Actress Luise Ullrich in the 1930s

During the 1930s, Austrian actress Luise Ullrich (October 31, 1910 – January 21, 1985) emerged as one of the most prominent, versatile, and recognizable film stars in German and Austrian cinema. This decade marked her transition from a successful teenage stage actress in Vienna to a major silver-screen celebrity based in Berlin.

After training at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, she joined Max Reinhardt’s prestigious ensemble at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. She debuted on screen in Der Rebell (1932) alongside Luis Trenker, but her true film breakthrough came in Max Ophüls’s celebrated adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's Liebelei (1933), where her naturalistic emotional range gained wide acclaim.

In the mid-1930s, she starred in major hits including Vorstadtvarieté (1934), Regine (1935), and Ich liebe Dich (1938), culminating in her winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice International Film Festival for Annelie (1941). By the end of the decade, her international appeal had grown so significant that Hollywood mogul Louis B. Mayer offered her an MGM contract in 1938. Ullrich ultimately declined the offer, choosing to stay and continue her career in Europe rather than move to the United States

In studio portraiture of the 1930s, often captured by notable Berlin fashion photographers such as Yva, Ullrich epitomized classic European screen glamour: soft sculpted Marcel waves, expressive eyes, tailored mid-1930s silhouettes, and a balance of youthful charm with deep dramatic tension.

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