Glamorous Portrait Photos of Classic Beauties Taken by Frank Powolny

As head portrait and still photographer at 20th Century-Fox, and a predecessor company, from 1923 to 1966, American photographer Frank Powolny captured thousands of stars in photos that ended up in newspapers, magazines and theater lobbies around the world. His subjects included Janet Gaynor, Tom Mix, Shirley Temple, Lana Turner, Gene Tierney, Humphrey Bogart, Bing Crosby, Jennifer Jones, Joan Collins and Ann-Margret.

In 1962, Powolny took the last known still photographs of Marilyn Monroe on the set of Something’s Got to Give, a week before her death. But he was best known for the pin-up of Betty Grable that many G.I.’s carried during World War II. The photo showed the actress in swimsuit and pumps, peeking coyly over her shoulder.

These glamorous photos are part of his work that Frank Powolny took portraits of classic beauties from between the 1920s and 1950s.

Portrait of Elissa Landi by Frank Powolny, circa 1920s

Portrait of Elissa Landi by Frank Powolny, circa 1920s

Portrait of Janet Gaynor by Frank Powolny, circa 1920s

Portrait of Minna Gombell by Frank Powolny, circa 1920s

Portrait of Fifi D'Orsay by Frank Powolny, circa 1930s

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This Macabre Hat Belonged to a Traveling “Dentist” in London in the Early 19th Century

This cap belonged to a street “dentist” or tooth puller in London from between the 1820s and 1850s. It is made of brown velvet and felt, and decorated with approximately 88 decayed human teeth, once belonging to his patients. The teeth have been drilled and attached with twine.

Wearing a cap like this was supposed to imply the “magician” aspect of the dentists work. As teeth pulling was painful and risky and done without anaesthetic, people needed to have some faith in the “dentist,” even if it was only the evidence, worn on the cap, that he had successfully plied his trade.

(via Southwark Heritage)

30 Fascinating Black and White Photos Capture Street Scenes of Boston in the Late 1970s

In the late 1970s, Boston was a city in transition. The economy was shifting from manufacturing to services, with growth in finance, education, healthcare, and technology. Urban renewal projects changed the skyline but sparked controversies over gentrification and displacement. The busing crisis, aimed at desegregating public schools, led to widespread protests and violence, deeply affecting the social climate.

Politically, Mayor Kevin White led modernization efforts but faced criticism for handling urban issues. The cultural scene was vibrant, with a strong music, arts, and sports presence, while neighborhoods retained distinct ethnic identities. Challenges included crime, economic disparities, and the lingering effects of urban decay.

These fascinating black and white photos were taken by Meredith Jacobson Marciano that show street scenes of Boston in the late 1970s.

Boston street vendor, Massachusetts, 1975

Boston. Buzzcocks Financial Zone, Massachusetts, July 1979

Boston. church garden near Arlington T stop, Massachusetts, July 1978

Boston. Dead Boys, Financial Zone, Massachusetts, July 1979

Boston. Dover station, Massachusetts, circa late 1970s

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Fascinating Photos of San Francisco Snapped Through a Navy Submarine Periscope in 1951

In 1951, a diesel-powered US Navy submarine called the U.S.S. Catfish passed under the Golden Gate Bridge and did a short tour of San Francisco Bay. While there, the crew decided to snap some photographs of San Francisco through its periscope.

The photographs were rediscovered by Bill Van Niekerken, the library director at the San Francisco Chronicle, in the newspaper’s photo morgue. Writer Peter Hartlaub then gathered the photographs together and posted them to an online gallery.

The U.S.S. Catfish had been stationed in San Diego, but came up to Northern California on this occasion to pick up a couple of reservists for a training exercise. It spent roughly an hour traveling from a point five miles out from the Golden Gate Bridge to a berth at Treasure Island, snapping photos of sights along the way.

The photographs, which all have crosshairs, show the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco skyline, and various well-known landmarks:

Jan. 21, 1951: The U.S.S. Catfish submarine enters the San Francisco Bay, on a maneuver away from its post-World War II home in San Diego. This is a periscope view of Alcatraz, while it was still a federal prison, and just four years after Al Capone died.

Note the Mt. Davidson cross in the distance, at a time when Dirty Harry was just a teen screwing around near Potrero Hill.

A 1951 submarine view of the Palace of Fine Arts, more than 20 years before the birth of the Exploratorium. The U.S.S. Catfish was pre-nuclear, but it had 10 tubes with 21-inch torpedoes. Enough firepower to take out almost every bar in the Marina District

Ghirardelli Square as seen by the U.S.S. Catfish. This view hasn’t actually changed that much.

A clear submarine view of St. Ignatius Church on the USF campus.

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Marble Sculptures of the Left Forearms Made From Queen Victoria’s Babies

The royal children spent many happy times at Osborne and we can still see objects relating to their childhoods on the estate today. One of the more unusual ways that Queen Victoria kept souvenirs of her children’s childhood was by commissioning marble copies of their forearms and feet.

These examples are marble sculptures of the left forearms of Prince Alfred (1844–1900), Princess Louise (1848–1939) and Princess Beatrice (1857–1944). They were carved by Mary Thornycroft, who was commissioned by Queen Victoria to sculpt the arms based on plaster casts made from her sleeping babies.

Victoria had great trouble showing simple affection towards her children. She didn’t have the normal upbringing that would have enabled her to be a normal mother herself so she expressed her love through things.

In total, Victoria amassed a collection of 14 marble hands and feet, which were kept under glass domes to preserve their pristine whiteness. She also kept the first baby shoes of her eldest son Prince Albert Edward, who became Edward VII.

The first shoes worn by Prince Albert Edward (later King Edward VII).

The inscription which reads: “The Prince of Wales first shoes worn – July – 1842”.

What these objects show is what her words couldn’t express which is this deep, fierce passionate love for her children, and for the recognition that childhood is so important – the thing that she felt she never had. There’s so much love in these marble hands and feet.

It’s really interesting because it’s so unusual today.

A cast taken of the left foot of Victoria, Princess Royal, taken by her mother, Queen Victoria.

The sculptor, Mary Thornycroft, worked for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert for many years and excelled in her depictions of the couple’s nine children. Each carving was based on a plaster cast made from moulds taken while the child was asleep. There’s an inscription on this example that tells us Princess Louise was only 3 months old when the plaster cast for the sculpture was made.

Louise was the most artistic of Queen Victoria’s children and Mary Thornycroft taught her modeling and sculpture. She also attended the National Art Training School (later the Royal College of Art) and became an accomplished artist. Louise’s life-size sculpture of her mother in her coronation robes remains outside Kensington Palace today.

Statue of Queen Victoria at Kensington Palace, London.

35 Fabulous Photos of Venetia Stevenson in the 1950s and ’60s

Born 1938 in London, England, English actress Venetia Stevenson, once called “the most photogenic girl in the world”, played Peggy McTavish in the film Darby’s Rangers (1958), a Warner Bros. release in which she was paired with Peter Brown. She is one of the women pursued by actors cast as members of an American unit of the same name during World War II.

Stevenson appeared in the Western drama Day of the Outlaw (1959), starring Robert Ryan and Tina Louise. She also had a primary role in the film version of the Studs Lonigan trilogy by James T. Farrell, brought to the screen in December 1960.

Among the other motion pictures in which she appears are Island of Lost Women (1959), Jet Over the Atlantic (1959), The Big Night (1960), Seven Ways from Sundown (1960), The City of the Dead (or Horror Hotel, 1960), and The Sergeant Was a Lady (1961).

Stevenson appeared on television in episodes of Cheyenne (1957), Colt .45 (1958), 77 Sunset Strip (1958), The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1958), Lawman (1958), The Millionaire (1959), The Third Man (1959), and Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960) alongside Burt Reynolds and Harry Dean Stanton.

Stevenson died in 2022, at a health care facility in Atlanta from Parkinson’s disease, aged 84. Take a look at these fabulous photos to see the beauty of young Venetia Stevenson in the 1950s and 1960s.

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Early US Punk Rock Scene All-Stars at a Mock Wedding in New York, 1977

Early US punk rock scene all-stars Joan Jett of The Runaways, Debbie Harry of Blondie, David Johansen of The New York Dolls and Joey Ramone of The Ramones attend a mock wedding in New York, 1977. The photos were taken by Roberta Bayley as part of a shoot for Punk magazine.