35 Beautiful Photos of British Actress Patricia Medina in the 1940s and ’50s

Born 1919 in Liverpool, British actress Patricia Medina began acting as a teenager in the late 1930s, and worked her way up to leading roles in the mid-1940s, when she left London for Hollywood.

Darkly beautiful, Medina was often typecast in period melodramas such as The Black Knight (1954). Two of her more notable films were William Witney’s Stranger at My Door and Orson Welles’ Mr. Arkadin, based on episodes of the radio series The Adventures of Harry Lime, itself derived from The Third Man film.

Although prolific during the early 1950s, her film career faded by the end of the decade. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the films Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954) and Mr. Arkadin (1955).

Medina died at age 92 in 2012, from natural causes at the Barlow Respiratory Hospital in Los Angeles, California. Take a look at these beautiful photos to see portraits of young Patricia Medina in the 1940s and 1950s.

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Vintage Family Photos of Pontiac Automobiles and Their Owners

Founded in 1907 in Pontiac, Michigan, by Edward Murphy, a manufacturer of horse-drawn carriages, Pontiac was an American automobile brand owned, manufactured, and commercialized by General Motors. Introduced as a companion make for GM’s more expensive line of Oakland automobiles, Pontiac overtook Oakland in popularity and supplanted its parent brand entirely by 1933.

People with their Pontiac automobiles

Sold in the United States, Canada, and Mexico by GM, in the hierarchy of GM’s five divisions, it was slotted above Chevrolet, but below Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac. Starting with the 1959 models, marketing was focused on selling the lifestyle that the car’s ownership promised rather than the car itself. By emphasizing its “Wide Track” design, it billed itself as the “performance” division of General Motors, which “built excitement.”

Facing financial problems and restructuring efforts, GM announced in 2008 that it would follow the same path with Pontiac as it had with Oldsmobile in 2004. It would discontinue manufacturing and marketing vehicles under the Pontiac brand by the end of 2010. The last Pontiac-badged cars were built in December 2009, with one final vehicle assembled in January 2010. Franchise agreements for Pontiac dealers expired on October 31, 2010, leaving GM to focus on its four remaining North American brands: Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC.

Here below is a set of family photos from Vintage Cars & People that shows people posing with their Pontiac automobiles from between the 1920s and 1950s.

A cheerful young lady posing in the passenger seat of a 1928 Pontiac Landau Coupe in a suburban street. A sign reading "Tulsa Okla – The Magic City" can be seen attached to the car's tie bar, circa 1928

A stylish couple embracing in front of a 1929 Pontiac on a rural driveway in wintertime, circa 1929

A young mother and her daughter posing with a 1929 Pontiac in winter sunshine. The car is equipped with a radiator grille cover for winter driving and registered in the city of Berlin, circa 1930

Two young ladies, possibly sisters, posing with a 1928 Pontiac in a suburban street. The palm trees in the background suggest that the location could be somewhere in Southern California, circa 1930

An elegant lady wearing a dark female suit, opera gloves and a white jabot-style collar posing with a shiny 1934 Pontiac Economy Eight Sedan in front of a row of timber houses, circa 1934

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36 Vintage Photos of a Peasant Wedding in the Schermer in 1942

Two years after the German troops invaded the Netherlands, the small village of Stompetoren filled with curious audiences. They saw that on that Sunday, April 26, 1942, not only many photographers (according to some, as many as 80!), but even the reporters of the Polygoon news had come to the Schermer. There, in the old school building where the municipal secretariat was temporarily located, the wedding would be solemnized between the 23-year-old bride Geertje Elisabeth Helder and the 24-year-old groom Piet Korver.

Not an ordinary wedding, because at the initiative of the mayor of the municipality of Oterleek, Jacob Posch, the wedding was celebrated entirely in the old West Frisian tradition. Complete with costumes, old carriages and traditional customs.

The engaged were both born and raised in the Schermer and came from local cattle ranching families. Recently, the children of the then newlyweds donated the photo album of the wedding day to the Regional Archive.

The bridal couple, like many guests, was dressed in an original West Frisian costume. The bride’s “golden iron” was striking. Originating from a clip to keep the hat in place, this had grown into a piece of jewelry, with the projections (the ‘books’) often richly decorated. In this unique example, the ‘books’ were more than twice as large as normal. The groom wore the traditional black wedding suit, with long white stockings. With an original silver sheath knife from 1780 put in the pocket and of course an old-fashioned pipe was also present.

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Dizzy Dali Dinner: A Surrealistic Night in an Enchanted Forest at Hotel Del Monte in Monterey, California, 1941

A 1941 newsreel of the famous/notorious dizzy dinner given by Salvador Dali in the Bali Room of the Hotel Del Monte, Monterey, California. The event was titled A Surrealistic Night in a Surrealist Forest and it was a fund raiser to help European artists displaced by the Second World War.

 

Transcript: Mr. Salvador Dali gives a party. The Spanish painter of surrealism dresses Mrs. Dali in a unicorn’s head – just to start things off. As hostess, she presides from a red velvet bed. The party is a benefit for refugee artists, and costumes are supposed to represent the guests’ bad dreams. Artist Dali wears ear flaps, representing anatomy. A puzzled guest, Bob Hope, sees the fish course served in satin slippers… presumably the fish is sole. Soldier Jackie Coogan and Mr. Hope see the main course – the party is surrealism, but them frogs is real! [Frogs begin to jump off Bob Hope’s dinner plate...]

It’s also noteworthy that his wife Gala was dressed as a unicorn, lounging on a velvet bed, and that guests – including celebrities like Bob Hope, Alfred Hitchcock, Bing Crosby, and Ginger Rogers – were asked to wear costumes representing their dreams. Details and photographs of the planning and preparations for the party can be found in the short book, “A Surrealistic Night in an Enchanted Forest” by Barbara Briggs-Anderson and Julian P. Graham (2012).

Spectacular Black and White Photos of People Celebrating New Year’s Eve in the Past

New Year’s celebrations have been going on for a long time around the world, and it turns out that the way partygoers get down in the evening of the last day of the year hasn't changed that much over the decades.

From the 1910s to 1980s, take a look through these fascinating black and white pictures and see how things have changed and how they have stayed the same:

New Year's Eve in the dressing room of a theatre in Germany, 1911.

Couples dancing in the street during New Year's Eve, Berlin, 1914.

The end of a New Year's Eve party.

Three New Year's Eve revelers mug happily for the camera.

Guests at a New Year's Party at the Auto Club in London, 1922.

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Vintage Photos of Celebrities on Their Honeymoons

There’s nothing quite like the couples of Old Hollywood. All legends in their own unique ways, their love—or loves—are something we reminisce on. Whether their weddings were ever-so-spectacular and over-the-top, or extremely low-key and under-the-radar, these love birds had the wonderful opportunity of celebrating their romance on a honeymoon.

Take a look back at where some of the most iconic couples ventured off to together post-wedding.

Bette Davis and William Sherry spent their honeymoon in Mexico City, and ended it in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in 1945

Elizabeth Taylor's first honeymoon was spent with Conrad "Nick" Hilton, hotelier and great-uncle of Paris Hilton in 1950. The two went on a three month honeymoon in Paris, where they reportedly fought constantly

Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra made a stop in Miami before traveling to Havana, Cuba during their honeymoon in 1951

In 1952, Elizabeth Taylor spent her second honeymoon in Paris, as well. This time, it's with actor Michael Wilding, with whom she had her first two children with

Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer rented a villa outside of Rome for their honeymoon in 1954

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“Covered Bicycle” Guards from Wind and Rain, 1941

Many ingenious adaptations of the bicycle have been evolved by Europeans since shortage of gasoline, due to the war, has limited the use of automobiles. One Frenchman in occupied Paris, faced with the necessity of using his bike through the winter, constructed a shelter that covers him from head to foot in 1941.

This rider has protected himself from cold wind and rain by building a tent-like shelter on his bicycle, 1941.

Fascinating Vintage Pictures of Christmas Past

Not only does the holiday season always bring joy but somehow it also makes us all a little bit more nostalgic than the rest of the year. Whatever the case may be, there’s no denying that a look backward may help add another heartwarming glow to all the festivities.

From the aftermath of a holiday sale at Macy’s to people in Santa costumes handing out presents, travel back in time and take a look at celebrations and preparations from years past through these fascinating vintage pictures:

A young Santa Claus with Christmas toys on a sled drawn by white turkeys, circa 1909.

Christmas tree market, Berlin, 1899.

Children looking at Christmas toys in a shop window, New York, 1900s.

Christmas mail, ca. 1910.

Santa Claus in an airplane, 1921.

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Fascinating Vintage Photos of Santa Claus in the Past

The holiday season always brings joy, nostalgia and Santa Claus, the beloved iconic symbol of Christmas.

Otherwise known as Saint Nicholas, the Father Christmas goes by other monikers, such as Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, and is named after St. Nicholas, a bishop who was famous for his generous gifts to the poor.

While the tradition was inspired by the 4th-century Greek Christian bishop, Santa Claus has now become a worldwide phenomenon and a symbol of the season's kindness and generosity.

Take a look through these fascinating and funny photographs of people dressing as Santa Claus in the past:

A man in Santa Claus costume sleeping on a bench, circa 1940

A man dressed as Father Christmas shaking hands with a soldier, 1940

Trainees at a school for Santa Claus impersonators, 1940

Father Christmas in wartime London, 1940

A 45-foot Santa Claus inflated for the Macy's Parade, New York, 1940. (Weegee)

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30 Beautiful Black and White Portraits of Ava Gardner in the 1940s and 1950s

Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress whose life encompassed a true rags-to-riches story. Born to a poor farming family in North Carolina, Gardner was discovered in New York City and soon began acting in both film and, later, television. She had a long career that spanned 44 years, and appeared in more than 60 movies, including The Barefoot Contessa, Mogambo, and Showboat.

Gardner is listed as one of the American Film Institute’s greatest actresses of all time. She received an Academy Award nomination for Mogambo (1953).

Her stunning looks, her reputation for wild behavior, and her multiple marriages to prominent movie actors (Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra) combined to make her a figure of international renown.

Unfortunately, her notoriety also provided ample fodder for gossip magazines. These same characteristics also brought her to the attention of the Catholic Legion of Decency, an organization dedicated to identifying and opposing objectionable content in the film industry. Her lifestyle became a very public rebellion against her strict religious upbringing.

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Beautiful Photos of Ladies in Hula Dance Outfits in the Mid-20th Century

Hula is a Polynesian dance form accompanied by chant (Oli) or song (Mele, which is a cognate of “meke” from the Fijian language). It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesians who originally settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli or mele in a visual dance form.

There are many sub-styles of hula, with the main two categories being Hula ʻAuana and Hula Kahiko. Ancient hula, as performed before Western encounters with Hawaiʻi, is called kahiko. It is accompanied by chant and traditional instruments. Hula, as it evolved under Western influence in the 19th and 20th centuries, is called ʻauana (a word that means “to wander” or “drift”). It is accompanied by song and Western-influenced musical instruments such as the guitar, the ʻukulele, and the double bass.

Terminology for two main additional categories is beginning to enter the hula lexicon: “Monarchy” includes any hula which were composed and choreographed during the 19th century. During that time the influx of Western culture created significant changes in the formal Hawaiian arts, including hula. “Ai Kahiko”, meaning “in the ancient style” are those hula written in the 20th and 21st centuries that follow the stylistic protocols of the ancient hula kahiko.

There are also two main positions of a hula dance: either sitting (noho dance) or standing (luna dance). Some dances utilize both forms. These beautiful color photos captured portraits of ladies in hula dance outfits in the 1940s and 1950s.

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