50 Fascinating Color Photographs of a Young and Beautiful Brigitte Bardot From the 1950s and 1960s

Brigitte Bardot (famously known as B.B.) was born born on September 28, 1934 in Paris to a bourgeois French family, her father being a successful industrialist. At the age of 13 she entered the Conservatoire Nationale de Danse to study ballet, before deciding to get work as a model.

In May 1949, Bardot appeared on the cover of Elle magazine, and was noticed by Roger Vadim, then an assistant to the film director Marc Allegrét.  Vadim was infatuated with Bardot and encouraged her to start working as a film actress. (Later, Vadim would become Bardot's first husband, although the marriage would only last five years.) 

Bardot's film career began with Jean Boyer's 1952 film Le Trou normand. A string of similar small parts followed but it wasn’t until she appeared in Vadim’s 1956 film Et Dieu... créa la femme that she achieved celebrity. The film was a sensation, on both sides of the Atlantic, and earned Bardot an instant international reputation as a sex goddess. 

Film directors were quick to capitalize on Bardot’s money-spinning potential. Although she appeared in a few American films, her preference was for French cinema. The actress starred in a number of high profile films, including Autant-Lara’s En Cas de malheur, Clouzot’s La Verité and Louis Malle’s Vie privée. She also starred in Jean-Luc Godard’s landmark 1963 film Le mépris, although this film was far less successful at the box office. During this period, she began recording songs.

Bardot’s film career showed a steady decline in the late 1960s and early 1970s. After a series of flops, and tired of the pressures of being an actress (which pushed her to the brink of suicide on a few occasions), she decided to retire from film making. After her last film in 1975, B.B. announced that she would dedicate the rest of her career to her main passion in life: animal rights. 

In 1976, the former actress set up the Birigitte Bardot Foundation for Distressed Animals, an organization for which she has worked actively ever since. For this work, she was awarded the Légion d'honneur in 1984.

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Armrest for Car, 1950

Easy-chair comfort for the car driver was provided by an adjustable armrest which hooked over the back of the front seat, in 1950.

The driving aid––a flexible metal bar with a sliding cushion––fitted all cars. A small lever permitted the foam-rubber cushion to be adjusted to the most comfortable height, then locked in place. The metal bar was covered with fabric to prevent damage to the car upholstery.

25 Beautiful Photos of American Model Joan Romano in the 1950s

Born 1932 in White Plains, New York, American fashion model Joan Romano did her first job for Vogue magazine with Karen Radkai as the photographer in 1953. She modelled until 1959 working with many photographers: Horst P. Horst, Irving Penn, Dick Rutledge, Clifford Coffin, Cecil Beaton, Schiavone and Leombruno Bodi, featuring predominantly in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Charm magazine.

Joan Romano in the 1950s

Joan met Bob Taft (also a successful model) on a shoot in 1953 and a few years later Bob piloted a plane to fly them to Santa Barbara to be married. Bob set up the Taft Damon Modeling Agency, which Joan soon joined.

At the end of Joan’s modeling career, Sports Illustrated featured Joan and Bob together on a trip to Europe, photographed by their friend Louise Dahl-Wolfe. They moved from NYC to a remote stone house in Croton-on-Hudson, NY in 1960 when Joan decided not to model any longer but to stay at home to raise her two children and run the PTA. Bob sold the modeling agency and became a fashion photographer. They moved to London in 1972 where Joan ran a successful grooming course for Barclays Bank staff in the ’70s, which received a huge amount of press.

Joan Romano was known for her great sense of humor, her positive attitude to life and of course, for her beauty. She died in 2015 at the age of 83. Take a look at these beautiful photos to see portraits of young Joan Romano in the 1950s.

Joan Romano in Cerulean EMBA mink jacket by Maximilian, photo by Virginia Thoren, Vogue, February 15, 1954

Joan Romano in Topaze EMBA mink stole by Ritter Bros., dress by Christian Dior, jewelry by Cartier, photo by Virginia Thoren, Vogue, February 15, 1954

Joan Romano is wearing a printed linen turban and a full red fleece coat by Originala over a navy dress with a large collar in white pique by Larry Aldrich, photo by Richard Rutledge, 1954

Joan Romano in a yellow wool coat by Swansdown, cloche by John Frederics Charmer, gloves by Kislav, bag by J. Mas, photo by Leombruno-Bodi, 1955

Joan Romano in bright red wide wale corduroy slacks and colorful sheer wool jacket, photo by Sharland, Ladies' Home Journal, October 1955

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Romantic Photos Clark Gable and Constance Bennett of During the Filming of ‘After Office Hours’ (1935)

After Office Hours is a 1935 crime drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring Clark Gable and Constance Bennett. The screenplay was written by Herman Mankiewicz.

Jim Branch (Clark Gable), a newspaper editor, falls for wealthy socialite Sharon Norwood (Constance Bennett), after having fired her as a reporter, all while trying to solve a murder mystery.

According to MGM records the film earned $759,000 in the US and Canada and $522,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $492,000. Take a look at these romantic photos to see portraits of Clark Gable and Constance Bennett together during the filming of After Office Hours in 1935.

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Night-Driving Glasses Use Wire-Mesh Lenses, 1940

“Blinders” of wire mesh in new spectacles designed for night driving are said to shield the eyes from the glaring headlights of oncoming cars, 1940. Mounted in an eyeglass frame, the screening absorbs enough light to prevent retinal fatigue, without interfering with safe vision.

Wire screening in place of glass lenses cuts down the light that reaches the eyes.

25 Vintage Photographs of a Young Meat Loaf in the 1970s

Meat Loaf flew onto the music scene like a bat out of hell during the 1970s. Equal parts beast and beauty, he performed with a feral elegance and passionate theatricality that came to define his decades-long career. Whether entering paradise by the dashboard light or declaring he’d do anything for love (but he won’t do “that”), Meat Loaf showed that music isn’t just something that you hear; it’s something you feel. And he certainly struck an emotional chord with listeners. 1977’s Bat Out of Hell, the first installment in the “Bat Out of Hell” trilogy, became the fifth best-selling album of all time, according to Billboard.

Also passionate about acting, Meat appeared in dozens of films since the 1970s. But behind the scenes his life was a screenwriter's fever dream. The cast of characters included the queen of England, and salmon, and Charles Manson. At times the details are more grim than fairy tale, and some details contain more tale than truth. These are some vintage photographs of a young Meat Loaf from the 1970s:

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40 Lovely Studio Portrait Photos of Families During Edwardian Era

The first commercial use of photography was in the production of portraits. Photography replaced painting almost completely from the 1840s, with fully equipped studios in existence. The photography process was much shorter and simpler compared to painting, in which the subject and even the painter used to suffer.

It became relatively easy and cheap to set up a photographic studio, so by the 1870s there were many thousands of portrait studios in Europe and America. Despite this, remarkably few of the studios have survived to this day in a recognizable form.

Since the early years of the 20th century the business functions of a photographic studio have increasingly been called a photographic agency leaving the term “photographic studio” to refer almost exclusively to the workspace.

Here below is a set of lovely photos from The Past on Glass at Sutton Archives that shows studio portraits of Edwardian families.

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