Behind the Scenes Photographs From a 1950s Casting Call for a Long-Haired Model

In 1959 Dallas photographer William Langley had a problem: he needed a long-haired model for a shoot—the woman’s hair needed to blow in the breeze. But no local agency had a model who could do the job. Their hair was all too short.

But then the Dallas Morning-Herald ran a story on Langley’s situation—a story which called long hair “as out of date as a raccoon coat.” So what happened? Regular women with long locks swarmed Langley’s studio, all ready to let their hair down.

LIFE photographer Thomas McAvoy dropped in to Langley’s studio to document the festivities for a story in LIFE’s June 15, 1959 issue titled “Baldy and the Long Hairs.” The headline conveys the general tenor of the coverage.

“Amid the great cascade of handsome hair falling down the backs of 30 attractive young girls, a lone and barren bald spot shone out,” LIFE wrote. “The owner of the bald spot, Dallas Photographer William Langley, was happily surrounding himself with a feminine commodity he had recently despaired of ever finding.”

In the 1950s female beauty icons had short-to-medium length hair, as befitting a neater and more contained era. Think about Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe, and especially Doris Day, whose “helmted” look was influential, and anything but unruly.

Then everything changed in the 1960s, as hippies let their freak flags fly and societal norms were turned on their heads, so to speak. The term “long hairs” that appeared jokingly in the 1959 LIFE headline would become synonymous with the counterculture of the 1960s. In short, Langley’s problem was very much of its day. In 1969 the photographer would have had a much easier time finding a model whose hair was meant to be blowin’ in the wind.

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Calamity Jane and Teddy Blue Abbott Drinking Beer at a Bar in Gilt Edge, Montana, ca. 1887

In late 1887, Calamity Jane Canary and cowboy Teddy Blue Abbott, wearing each other’s hats, shared drinks at a saloon in Gilt Edge, Montana, where she was living for the winter.

Teddy Blue, who lived nearby on his Three Deuce Ranch, had come to town to repay her 50 cents, which he had borrowed in Miles City in 1883.

Courtney Love With Her Father Hank Harrison and Robin Barbur, 1981

Courtney Love with her best friend Robin Barbur in San Francisco, ca. April 1981. The photographs were taken by Jon Sievert when Love’s dad hired him to take photos of the girls.

“When you hang out your shingle as a music photographer, you never know who will walk in your door,” Sievert said. “An acquaintance asked me to photograph his 16-year-old daughter Courtney and her girlfriend in my small dining-room studio. He didn’t offer to pay, but I was intrigued by his description of the girls.”

“Courtney and Robin spent an hour or so flirting and posturing for my camera in a thoroughly enjoyable session,” he added. “I liked both for their sense of humor and deadly insightful young/old wisdom. Courtney and her father left town shortly thereafter, before I showed them the slides and proof sheets. It was 12 years before I discovered them in my files and put two and two together.”

(Photos by Jon Sievert)

Photos of Great Dane “Thor” Riding Around in Sports Car With Mistress, 1961

Woman driving sports car around Hollywood with Thor the Great Dane riding shotgun in California, 1961. The photographs were taken by legendary Life magazine staff photographer Ralph (Rudy) Crane, who traveled with a stepladder and usually had three cameras strung around his neck.

The German-born Crane, who drew as much attention as the fine pictures he shot over several decades, had retired to Switzerland years ago but continued to work for Time Inc. publications. He was known as a versatile photographer at home in any setting–whether chronicling the diversity and magnificence of California for a special issue when the state became the most populous in the nation in the late 1950s, or focusing on a Mississippi plantation to illustrate segregation in the Deep South. He was equally adept at shooting color and black-and-white, news, still life’s and personalities.

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20 Funny Photographs of Ringo Starr in the 1960s

“Playing without Ringo is like driving a car on three wheels.” – George Harrison , The Beatles

“We loved him. And we just thought he was the very best drummer we’d ever seen. And we wanted him in the group. We were big fans of his.” – Paul McCartney, The Beatles

Depending on how you look at it, Ringo Starr was both the oldest and the youngest of the Beatles. He was the last one to join the group, as he was replacing their original drummer Pete Best. But, he was also born before John, Paul, and George.

Richard Starkey was born July 7, 1940, in the Liverpool district of Dingle. He was the only child of Richard Starkey Sr. and Elsie Gleave, who both worked as confectioners. Starr’s love for music emerged at the age of 13, while he was staying in the hospital recovering from tuberculosis. During his extended stay, Starr joined fellow patients to form a hospital band. Starr’s first “drum” was a cotton bobbin that he used as a mallet to hit the cabinets in his hospital room.

You might be wondering just what inspired Starr’s famous stage name. He first developed that name in the late 1950s while he was a struggling musician. At the time, he wasn’t part of the Beatles, but instead, he played drums for a band called the Raging Texans. Starr chose his new surname because he felt it made people think of American country music. His first name, Ringo, was inspired by all the rings that he wore on his fingers. Those fingers (and “the RING!”) would later play a starring role in the movie Help!

Speaking of the Raging Texans, they ended up changing their name to the Hurricanes by the time Starr was recruited. They became highly successful for a Liverpool band, touring abroad in France and Germany. It was during this 1960 German tour, in the city of Hamburg, where Ringo Starr first met a scrappy young band comprised of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison.

The rest is history!

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Red, White, Blue and Awkward: 20 Hilarious 4th of July Family Photos From the 1980s and 1990s

Some people celebrate the Fourth with fireworks, others celebrate by taking the most awkward family photos of all time.

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Ozzy Ironing a Baby, 1983

Ozzy Osbourne ironing a baby in 1983 as photographed by Mark Weiss. Weiss was a photographer for Circus Magazine beginning in the late 1970s where he began photographing Rock music’s legends. He has photographed many popular album covers including several for Bon Jovi.

“That’s Ozzy with his daughter, Aimee, in 1984,” Weiss told The Rolling Stone. “That was a play off of his album, Diary of a Madman. It was for a Mother’s Day issue [of Faces magazine]. The idea was to dress him up like a mad housewife, you know, Diary of a Madman/Diary of a Mad Housewife.

“Aimee came in at the end of the shoot, and I said, “We have to throw her into the shot.” There are actually some photos of him ironing Aimee, too. And after it came out, people were like, “How could you do that?” I was like, “We didn’t do that. It was a prop. The kid is OK.” But me and Ozzy got a lot of attention for a lot of photo shoots we did.”

Vintage Photos of Babies Learning to Walk With a Wicker Frame From the Early 20th Century

Does a baby walker help a child learn to walk? Some are clearly intended for walking practice. Others seem to be more for adult convenience. Though similar un-wheeled wicker walkers can help babies get around, those in the pictures seem to be rather restrictive.

Baby walkers were known as early as the 15th century in Europe. An illumination in the Hours of Catherine of Cleves, a Dutch manuscript from that time, depicts the infant Jesus in a wooden baby walker. The 16th century medical writer Ferrarius recommended them for training an infant to walk. In the 17th century they were taken as a symbol of mastering a skill through constant exercise. And the idea of encouraging a child to be upright, both physically and morally, appealed to some.

Go-cart was a common historical name for the wheeled version. Other alternatives were also used. A baby-runner was a padded wooden ring, set at the height of the baby's waist, on a pole that was fixed into the floor and ceiling. The baby was placed inside the ring and able to move in a circle around the pole. This prevented the baby from reaching dangerous places, such as hot ovens.

Two Ould Friends

Group of six creative cabinet cards that were most likely used to advertise the photography studio of Orgill, (John), Hartford, Connecticut. This marvelous series has an Irish theme as we see two buddies leaning on each other with a sign above that reads, Two Ould Friends.

Next we see them joking around in hilarious drinking scenes, such as the one where it looks like the spigot of a keg is sticking out of the man on the right’s white vest. In the next one, we see one of the buddies lecturing the other with a “Donnybrook” sign now attached to the tree. This is followed by the one man blowing air at his friend with a fireplace blower. The final scene takes a more serious turn as the one man has resulted to a large rock while the other hides behind the tree.

This is an unusual grouping as these set themes are rarely seen together; often they are sold separately.

Pictures of 1952 Executive Flagship, the World’s Most Exciting Mobile Home

The Pan-American division of Mid-States Corporation built the Executive Flagship, the world’s most complete and exciting mobile home and office. Mid-States was a large trailer manufacturer so this one-of-a-kind mobile home was a perfect rolling advertisement for the company.

The Executive Flagship was designed by the company president William B. MacDonald. It was a 65-foot long, self-powered articulating mobile home with 10 wheels weighing in at 18 tons.

The front motorhome unit had a 26-foot wheelbase and held the more important things like the kitchen and bathroom. The back section, the actual mobile home, was similar to an articulated 5th wheel unit and had all the fun stuff: an observation lounge, a sun deck that could withstand a helicopter landing, a portable six-foot-deep inflatable swimming pool with a diving board, an extendable sundeck, air-conditioned dining nook, and bar. It was the ultimate party (and work) mobile.

The Executive Flagship had everything!

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