Rare Color Slides of the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco

These rare color slides offer a vibrant and fascinating glimpse into the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, one of San Francisco’s most spectacular world’s fairs.

Held on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay, the exposition celebrated the completion of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge with dazzling Art Deco architecture, towering towers, lush gardens, and futuristic pavilions.

Captured in stunning early color photography, these images bring to life the fair’s festive atmosphere, elegant visitors in 1930s fashion, and the optimistic spirit of pre-war America. A true visual treasure, they preserve a colorful moment in history that few people today have ever seen.

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20 Stunning Kodachrome Slides of the 1957 Rose Parade, Pasadena

On New Year’s Day 1957, the streets of Pasadena, California, came alive with color, music, and celebration during the 68th annual Rose Parade. These rediscovered Kodachrome slides capture the vibrant spirit of the event in stunning, saturated color: from elaborate flower-covered floats and marching bands to cheering crowds lining the parade route under the California sun.

The images offer a nostalgic and joyful glimpse into mid-20th century American tradition, showcasing the optimism, community pride, and festive atmosphere that made the Rose Parade one of the most beloved New Year’s spectacles in the United States. Preserved in rich Kodachrome, these slides serve as a beautiful time capsule of 1950s small-town glamour and holiday cheer.

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Debbie Harry Posing for a Portrait in March 1977 on a Hill Beneath the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles, California

Debbie Harry photographed by legendary music archivist and photographer Michael Ochs at the Hollywood Sign in 1977 when Blondie first came to LA to play a series of shows at The Whisky a Go Go. Harry paired a bold, horizontal-striped shirt with dark sunglasses and patterned shorts—a casual, effortlessly cool look that epitomized the emerging New York punk/new wave aestheti.

In her memoir Face It, Harry recalls the band’s debut at the club, “[LA] was all we could have hoped for. People were still dressing like hippies – and here we were, dressed in our little mod outfits. But the audiences really responded to us.”

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Hunter S. Thompson, John Cusack and Johnny Depp Driving Along Sunset Strip, Los Angeles With a Blow-Up Doll, 1996

The famous 1996 story involving Johnny Depp, John Cusack, Hunter S. Thompson, and a blow-up doll is a real-life Gonzo escapade that took place on September 7, 1996, along Hollywood’s Sunset Strip. The trio spent the night cruising around in a rented BMW Z3 convertible, causing chaos with a life-sized inflatable doll before taking the stage for a wild event at the Viper Room.

In September 1996, Depp was preparing for his iconic role as Hunter S. Thompson in the upcoming film adaptation of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Thompson was in Los Angeles for a scheduled speaking appearance and interview at the Viper Room. Minutes before he was due to go on, a typically erratic Thompson refused to take the stage unless Depp joined him. John Cusack, who had dropped by to visit, was quickly “shanghaied” into participating in the madness as well.

According to later retellings from Depp’s perspective and various Hollywood lore, the adventure began when they took to the streets with an inflatable sex doll. The three men crammed into a small convertible, inching down Sunset Boulevard. Thompson was reportedly spilling whiskey everywhere while proudly towing a life-sized blow-up doll (whom he sometimes referred to as “Ling Ling”).

Lore suggests Thompson decided it was the doll’s birthday. The trio reportedly carried her into local dive bars, took photos with patrons, and sang “Happy Birthday” to her. As they approached the venue to park, Thompson abruptly decided the right move was to hurl the defenseless inflatable doll directly into the heavy Sunset Strip traffic.

The stunt caused a massive screeching of tires from startled drivers, paired with a “horrified, ultra-high-pitched scream” from Thompson himself. Police allegedly received reports of a man "mercilessly beating a blow-up doll" in the middle of the intersection, though Thompson managed to escape with just a warning.

After retrieving the doll from the street, the trio calmly walked inside and took the stage at the Viper Room. The bizarre evening, which included Thompson manhandling the doll on stage while being interviewed, was partially captured on film and later featured in Wayne Ewing’s 2003 cinema verité documentary, Breakfast with Hunter.

Blondie Posing for a Portrait Session With the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles, California in 1977

Early in 1977, Blondie gained massive exposure by opening for David Bowie and Iggy Pop on Pop’s North American tour for The Idiot. Bowie and Pop personally invited the band after hearing their debut record. The band traveled to Los Angeles for a legendary series of shows at the Whisky a Go Go, which prompted the famous 1977 photoshoot beneath the Hollywood Sign.

Captured by music photographer Richard Creamer, the session remains a definitive visual artifact of the late 1970s punk and new wave movement. The shoot took place on the steep, brush-covered hillsides of Mount Lee directly beneath the massive letters. What makes this session visually unique is that the letters were visibly weathered, peeling, and deteriorating, just a year before the original structure was completely demolished and rebuilt in late 1978.

While still largely an underground act in the U.S., Blondie achieved their very first commercial breakthrough in Australia late in 1977. A music television show accidentally played their track “In the Flesh” instead of another song, propelling it and the band to the top of the Australian charts.

The band had released their self-titled debut album, Blondie, in December 1976 via Private Stock Records. However, disappointed by the label’s weak promotion and poor sales, they sought a exit. In September 1977, Blondie bought back their contract and signed a major-label deal with British imprint Chrysalis Records. Chrysalis immediately re-released the debut album in October 1977 to wider distribution.

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San Francisco in 1965 Through 30 Stunning Kodachrome Slides

In 1965, San Francisco stood on the brink of a cultural revolution. Still elegant and slightly old-fashioned in many ways, the city was beginning to pulse with a new, youthful energy that would soon define the Summer of Love.

These stunning Kodachrome slides capture the city in vivid, saturated color: from the cable cars climbing steep hills and the foggy streets of North Beach to the bohemian vibes of Haight-Ashbury and the bustling waterfront.

With their rich tones and remarkable clarity, the photos offer a nostalgic yet vibrant window into a pivotal year when beatnik culture was giving way to the emerging hippie movement, forever changing the character of one of America’s most iconic cities.

Columbus Tower, San Francisco, October 1965

A prototype BART car goes on display in Union Square, San Francisco, 1965

Bank of Canton, Chinatown, San Francisco, October 1965

Belli Building, San Francisco, October 1965

Cable car, San Francisco, October 1965

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Michelle Pfeiffer at the Miss California Beauty Pageant in 1978

Did you know that Michelle Pfeiffer was in beauty pageants once upon a time? She won the Miss Orange County beauty pageant in 1978 and finished sixth in the Miss California contest the same year. After her appearances in these pageants, Pfeiffer acquired an agent and began to audition for television and film roles.

Before she was an Academy Award-nominated actress and a Hollywood icon, 19-year-old Michelle Pfeiffer used the pageant circuit as a stepping stone to break into the industry.  

In 1978, she competed in the Miss California pageant held at the Magic Mountain theme park in Valencia. While she didn’t take home the top crown, her participation was a pivotal moment in her early career.

She qualified for Miss California after winning the Miss Orange County title earlier that year. She ultimately finished in sixth place but was awarded the title of Miss Photogenic.

Pfeiffer famously entered the contest because one of the judges was a Hollywood agent. Her plan worked; the exposure helped her land her first agent, leading to her television debut later that year in an episode of Fantasy Island. At the time of the pageant, she was a student at Golden West College and worked as a check-out clerk at a Vons supermarket.

In a strange twist of Hollywood fate, the 1954 Miss California winner, Lee Meriwether, also went on to play Catwoman (in the 1966 Batman film), a role Pfeiffer would redefine decades later in Batman Returns (1992).  

Pfeiffer has often looked back on her pageant days with a mix of humor and humility, noting that she initially viewed it as a practical way to bypass the “waiting in line” phase of pursuing an acting career. “I needed to learn how to act... in the meantime, I was playing bimbos and cashing in on my looks.”

Historical Photographs Captured Moments Before, During and After RFK’s Assassination in Los Angeles, 1968

On June 5, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California, and pronounced dead the following day.

Kennedy, a United States senator and candidate in the 1968 Democratic Party presidential primaries, won the California and South Dakota primaries on June 4. He addressed his campaign supporters in the Ambassador Hotel’s Embassy Ballroom. After leaving the podium, and exiting through a kitchen hallway, he was mortally wounded by multiple shots fired by Sirhan. Kennedy died at Good Samaritan Hospital nearly 25 hours later. His body was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Sirhan, a Palestinian who held strong anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian beliefs, testified in 1969 that he killed Kennedy “with 20 years of malice aforethought;” he was convicted and sentenced to death. Due to People v. Anderson, his sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1972 with a possibility of parole. His parole request has been denied numerous times. Kennedy’s assassination prompted the Secret Service to protect presidential candidates. Additionally, it led to several conspiracy theories. It was the final of four major assassinations in the United States that occurred during the 1960s.

The photographs that Bill Eppridge made before, during and after RFK’s assassination don’t require that we forget all we’ve learned about the dank underside of American politics in order to appreciate the fear, rage and anguish sparked by Kennedy’s death. On the contrary, the pictures in this gallery suggest that despite how ambitious and even cruel he could sometimes be, Bobby Kennedy obviously inspired, in countless people, the better angels of their nature.

Would Robert Kennedy have won the Democratic nomination if Sirhan had not gunned him down in that hotel kitchen? Would he have gone on to beat Richard Nixon in the general election if he had won the nomination? The measure of the man must be taken not by what he might have done, but by what he said and did during his lifetime.

We’ll never know how much he might have grown, how much further he might have deepened, had Sirhan’s bullets not silenced him.That’s where much of the tragedy of the tale lies: in the ruined promise of the man’s potential.

Robert Kennedy, June, 1968.

Sen. Robert Kennedy campaigned, June 1968.

Robert Kennedy, June 1968.

Supporters of presidential candidate Robert Kennedy watched him on TV.

Sen. Robert Kennedy conferred with an aide during his run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968.

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50 Candid Photographs of Metallica at Their Headquarters “MetalliMansion” From 1983 Through 1986

The “MetalliMansion” is the legendary nickname for a rented house at 3132 Carlson Boulevard in El Cerrito, California, which served as Metallica’s headquarters from 1983 to 1986. This period is considered the most formative in the band’s history, as they lived, rehearsed, and wrote the bulk of their breakthrough material within its walls.

The band originally formed in Los Angeles in 1981, but they relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in early 1983. This move was the result of a deal with bassist Cliff Burton, who agreed to join the band on the sole condition that they move to his home territory of El Cerrito. The band rented the Carlson Boulevard house shortly after, making it their base for the next three years.

While the house itself was the band’s residence, the garage was the true creative engine. In this space, Metallica composed and rehearsed nearly all the songs for two of the most influential albums in heavy metal history: Ride the Lightning (1984) and Master of Puppets (1986).

The garage has since been demolished and replaced by modern apartments, but its legacy remains central to the band’s lore. In 2018, Hetfield revealed he had acquired wood from the original garage before it was torn down. He used this reclaimed wood to build a custom guitar nicknamed “Carl” (after Carlson Boulevard) to preserve the history of the site.

Life at the MetalliMansion was characterized by raw energy and heavy drinking. Hetfield, Ulrich, and friend/manager Mark Whitaker were the primary residents. It was a magnet for fans and friends who would frequently drop by with cases of beer, leading to legendary nightly drinking sessions.

“It really was a Cinderella story for Metallica,” said Bay Area friend Rob Parker. “In 1983, people said, ‘Look at these guys. They don’t take anything seriously; they drink too much. They’ll never amount to anything. They were a goofy bunch of kids, but they had talent and drive, and by 1985, things were going hella fast.”

In April 2016, the band returned to the house for a nostalgic visit where Hetfield remarked, “Thankfully, most of the things that went on in here are forgotten. But we had a lot of fun. They were honored by the Mayor of El Cerrito with a proclamation recognizing them as a cultural institution.”

“The (Carlson) house was about eight hundred square feet and furnished with all kinds of junky, mismatched shit,” Ulrich recalled. “It had two bedrooms: Mark was in one and James and I shared the other. We had a Foamtech blanket up against the outer wall because it got so fucking cold in there.”

The property is now a multi-family rental. For a period, it was reportedly available as an Airbnb, allowing fans to stay in the historic location, though recent listings have been harder to find.

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Photographs of Norma Jeane (Later Known as Marilyn Monroe) Playing at the Beach With Her Dog Ruffles, 1947

In 1947, photographer Joseph Jasgur captured a series of iconic photographs of Marilyn Monroe (then still establishing her career) playing at the beach with her dog, a Cocker Spaniel named Ruffles.

Monroe had a lifelong love for animals, often finding comfort in her pets during the pressures of her career. Ruffles was one of her earliest companions, frequently appearing in candid early-career photo sessions. Jasgur was a significant figure in Monroe’s early career, taking some of the first professional “test shots” of her when she was still Norma Jeane Dougherty in 1946 before continuing to document her rise in 1947.

These photos are celebrated for showing a more private, grounded side of Monroe before she became a global phenomenon. While often identified as Zuma Beach in Malibu, some historians and archives suggest the 1947 session may have taken place along old Malibu Road with the Malibu Colony visible in the background.

For decades, Jasgur was involved in legal battles to regain the rights to these early negatives. Following his death in 2009, a bankruptcy court finally ordered the auction of his vast collection, including the Ruffles beach series, in 2011 to settle his estate.

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Sculptor Howard Ball Towing His Life-Size Mammoth to the La Brea Tar Pits Using Only His Volkswagen, 1967

The sight of the mammoth standing at the edge of the La Brea tar pits on Wilshire Blvd is a must-drive-by for tourists. But imagine what it was like for the locals driving along Wilshire in January 1967 who came upon the sight of sculptor Howard Ball towing his life-size mammoth to the pits using only his Volkswagen.

In 1967, The Times reported:

“A life-sized model of an imperial mammoth was placed beside the largest of the tar pits in Hancock Park Wednesday, the first of 50 prehistoric animals’ replicas to be installed in the park in a plan to recreate a ‘Pleistocene atmosphere.’

Sculptor Howard Ball, commissioned to do the 13-foot-high, 25-foot-long, fiberglass creature, pulled it to the site from his Torrance studios on a trailer with his 1958 Volkswagen.

The 2,000-pound mammoth was then transferred with a minimum of difficulty by city crane to the four small iron platforms upon which it will rest.

A crowd of about 100 persons, including two county supervisors, the head of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, and members of the museum board watched the installation and heard brief speeches.

Imperial mammoths roamed the Los Angeles area in the Pleistocene epoch of 14,000 to 40,000 years ago. Some became mired in the tar pits.

Ball, the 60-year-old sculptor, said he plans to set to work on a female companion for his $4,300 mammoth immediately. He also plans a baby.

Howard Ball’s three-mammoth installation was finished in 1968.”

Candid Photographs Capture Daily Life of Teenage Demi Moore in Los Angeles, California, 1977

Demi Moore was born Demetria Gene Guynes on November 11, 1962, in Roswell, New Mexico. Her biological father, Air Force airman Charles Foster Harmon Sr., deserted her then-18-year-old mother, Virginia, after a two-month marriage before Moore’s birth. When Moore was three months old, her mother married Dan Guynes, a newspaper advertising salesman who frequently changed jobs; as a result, the family moved many times.

Moore spent her early childhood in Roswell, and later, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. At age 14, she returned to her hometown of Roswell and lived with her grandmother for six months before relocating to Washington State, where her recently separated mother was residing near Seattle. Several months later, the family moved again to West Hollywood, California, where Moore’s mother took a job working for a magazine distribution company. she attended Fairfax High School there.

In November 1978, Moore moved in with 28-year-old guitarist Tom Dunston, quitting high school in her junior year to work as a receptionist at 20th Century Fox, a job she secured through Dunston’s mother, who was an executive assistant to producer Douglas S. Cramer. She signed with the Elite Modeling Agency, then enrolled in acting classes after being inspired by her next-door neighbor, 17-year-old German starlet Nastassja Kinski. Moore’s first and second roles as a professional actress were guest spots on the TV shows W.E.B. and Kaz, though these were uncredited or small.

Though she wasn’t yet famous, she was already driven, self-reliant, and ambitious, traits that would define her Hollywood rise in the next decade.

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