Lucy & Desi: 28 Beautiful Color Photographs of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in the 1950s

Model and comedienne Lucille Ball, 28, met Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz, 23, in 1940 while filming Too Many Girls. They fell for one another instantly and eloped later that year. From the start, friends say Lucy doted on Desi, eager to make him happy. If he wanted something, she'd get it. If they sat down together and he needed more space, she'd scoot over. “I found it surprising because she was such a strong, independent lady, but when it came to Desi, she was very old-fashioned,” friend and actress Ruta Lee told Closer.

In 1951, they debuted the hit television series I Love Lucy, starring as the zany middle-class couple Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. With near-perfect timing and a genius for ad-libbing, the red-haired Ball cruised through 179 episodes. The duo also founded Desilu Productions in 1950, a successful independent television production company. Ball and Arnaz divorced in 1960, ending one of television's greatest marriages, though they remained friends until his death in 1986.

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Before Smartphone and Webcam, These Cool Snaps Prove That People Probably Knew How to Make Their Selfies For a Long Time Ago

In 2013, the Oxford Dictionaries announced their word of the year to be “selfie”, which they define as “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.” Although the rampant proliferation of the technique is quite recent, the “selfie” itself (if defined as being a photograph one takes of oneself) is far from being a strictly modern phenomenon.

Indeed, the photographic self-portrait is surprisingly common in the very early days of photography exploration and invention, when it was often more convenient for the experimenting photographer to act as model as well.

In fact, the picture considered by many to be the first photographic portrait ever taken was a “selfie”. The image in question was taken in 1839 by an amateur chemist and photography enthusiast from Philadelphia named Robert Cornelius. Setting up his camera at the back of the family store in Philadelphia, Cornelius took the image by removing the lens cap and then running into frame where he sat for a minute before covering up the lens again. On the back of the image he wrote “The first light Picture ever taken. 1839.”

Robert Cornelius' self-portrait; the first ever “Selfie” (1839)

And here are some humorous pics that show people probably knew how to make their selfie for a long time before smartphone. Even some of them seem to use their selfie-sticks.

Take a look.

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Vikki Dougan: Seductive Sex-Bomb Whose Daring Backless Dresses Inspired the 1950s Women's Fashion

Actress and model Vikki Dougan earned her nickname “The Back” thanks to the dangerously low-back, curve-hugging dresses she wore in the 1950s and 1960s. Dougan's alluring back has even inspired a song written by folk music legends The Limelighters whose lyrics passionately request that she “turn her back” on them.

Dougan would begin her modeling career at the age eleven in 1940. In 1948, nineteen-year-old Dougan (who had changed her name from Edith Tooker to “Vikki Stappers Dougan”) was named the winner of the New York Skate Queen competition. This success landed Dougan a spot in what sounds like the greatest fashion show of all time held by the Roller Skating Institute of America (RISA) which showcased the latest in roller rink fashions.

Dougan's fame would take flight, and she would score roles in various films, photo spreads in prominent magazines such as LIFE (photographed by Ralph Crane) as well as posing for commercial advertisements for lingerie. Dougan also did a couple of mostly PG-13 spreads for Playboy and was romantically linked to some of the most famous men in Hollywood including Frank Sinatra.

Take a look at these photos of Vikki Dougan from the 1950s to see the reason why her nickname is “The Back”.

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Vintage Photos From a Family Album Show How People Having Fun in Freeport, Illinois in the Early 1900s

How did Americans have fun a century ago? These interesting vintage snapshots from a family album in Freeport, Illinois give us a glimpse of how people had fun in the early 1900s. These photos were shared on Reddit by a user named Darkwater64.

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Just Hanging Out With Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, 1968

Both Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin became famous after appearing at the Monterey Pop Festival. It was an event that threw them into the national spotlight. They became friends and hung out backstage whenever they played the same gig. The rumors that they were lovers are false!

36 Amazing Color Photographs Capture Everyday Life in West Germany Just After the War

The Federal Republic of Germany (popularly known as West Germany) is formally established as a separate and independent nation. This action marked the effective end to any discussion of reuniting East and West Germany.

In the period after World War II, Germany was divided into four occupation zones, with the British, French, Americans, and Soviets each controlling one zone. The city of Berlin was also divided in a like fashion. This arrangement was supposed to be temporary, but as Cold War animosities began to harden, it became increasingly evident that the division between the communist and non-communist controlled sections of Germany and Berlin would become permanent.

In May 1946, the United States halted reparation payments from West Germany to the Soviet Union. In December, the United States and Great Britain combined their occupation zones into what came to be known as Bizonia. France agreed to become part of this arrangement, and in May 1949, the three zones became one.

These 36 amazing color photographs were taken in 1949, they show us what West Germany looked like just after the war.

Frankfurt

Along the Neckar River

Baden Baden

City Hall Stuttgart

Darmstadt

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30 Color Snapshots That Capture Street Scenes of Olongapo, Philippines in the Mid-1970s

Olongapo is a 1st class highly urbanized city in Central Luzon (Region III), Philippines. Located in the province of Zambales but governed independently from the province

Along with the municipality of Subic (and later, Castillejos and San Antonio as well as the municipalities of Dinalupihan, Hermosa and Morong in Bataan), it comprises Metro Olongapo, one of the twelve metropolitan areas in the Philippines.

These color photos were taken by Edgar that captured street scenes of Olongapo, Philippines in 1974.

The Victory Liner terminal

 Outside of the NAVBASE Subic Main Gate, looking back across the bridge toward Olongapo

A little farther down the street but looking forward (towards Rizal and Magsaysay intersection)

Around the corner onto Magsaysay

Closer still to the Main Gate, but looking back away from it

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55 Fascinating Color Snaps That Capture Street Scenes of Waikiki Town, Hawaii in the 1950s

Waikīkī, also known as Waikiki Beach, is a beachfront neighborhood of Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oʻahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii.

Waikiki is most famous for Waikīkī Beach, but it is just one of six beaches in the district, the others being Queen's Beach, Kuhio Beach, Gray's Beach, Fort DeRussy Beach and Kahanamoku Beach.

Waikīkī is home to public places including Kapiʻolani Park, Fort DeRussy, Kahanamoku Lagoon, Kūhiō Beach Park, and Ala Wai Harbor.

These fascinating snapshots from Kamaaina56 that captured street scenes of this beautiful town in the 1950s.

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40 Rare Snaps From Janis Joplin's Childhood You Probably Haven't Seen Before

In the Rock 'n Roll firmament of the 1960s, Janis Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was a shooting star who burned white hot for five short years. She died of a heroin overdose at age 27. Joplin sang her own brand of the blues in an incendiary style. Yet in her short time — between 1966 and 1970 — she carved out a piece of music history that was distinctly her own.

Developing a love for music at an early age, Joplin sang in her church choir as a child and showed some promise as a performer. She was an only child until the age of 6, when her sister, Laura, was born. Four years later, her brother, Michael, arrived. Joplin was a good student and fairly popular until around the age of 14, when some side effects of puberty started to kick in. She got acne and gained some weight.

At Thomas Jefferson High School, Joplin began to rebel. She eschewed the popular girls' fashions of the late 1950s, often choosing to wear men's shirts and tights, or short skirts. Joplin, who liked to stand out from the crowd, became the target of some teasing as well as a popular subject in the school's rumor mill. She was called a "pig" by some, while others said that she was sexually promiscuous.

Joplin eventually developed a group of guy friends who shared her interest in music and the Beat Generation, which rejected the standard norms and emphasized creative expression (Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg were two of the Beat movement's leading figures).

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Fabulous Kodachrome Photo Booths of Unknown Pretty Models From the Mid-1950s

Times have changed since the 1950s, these booth models at some photos show in 1955. The photographer took a number of shots of pretty girls, but he cut the heads off on a number of them!

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