Short Shorts in the 1950s

The 1950s decade was the first that embraced women wearing shorts for more than just beach wear or for pinup girls. Women’s 1950s shorts came in several lengths and styles to fit a variety of leisure activities women enjoyed.

The shortest of the 1950s shorts were “short shorts.” These came to about 6 inches above the knee and had classic 1950s high waists and side zippers. These shorts were mostly worn on the beaches or on pin up models. Another name for these shorts is culottes. Culottes could be short or a bit longer and have wide leg openings that flair out from a tight waist and hip.

These are the most popular style short worn by vintage retro clothing fans today. The high waisted short slims the tummy and creates a thinner waist than low rise shorts. The short length of legs makes them sexy.

These photographs taken by Robert Kelley from the 1950s for LIFE, was likely used for a feature on the craze of the short short amongst impressionable young females.

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Climbing the Eiffel Tower, ca. 1921

M. Paul Cans demonstrating his rope climbing apparatus at the Eiffel Tower, ca. 1921.

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20 Wonderful Photos Captured Fall Festival in Vanderhoof, British Columbia in 1973

A harvest festival is an annual celebration that occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times at different places.

Harvest festivals typically feature feasting, both family and public, with foods that are drawn from crops that come to maturity around the time of the festival. Ample food and freedom from the necessity to work in the fields are two central features of harvest festivals: eating, merriment, contests, music and romance are common features of harvest festivals around the world.

In North America, Canada and the US each have their own Thanksgiving celebrations in October and November. These wonderful color photos captured the Fall festival in Vanderhoof, British Columbia in 1973:

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Half and Half, 1972

Mervyn and Ethel Turner as “Half-and-Half”, Village Hall, Dolton, November 1972.

Photograph by James Ravilious © Beaford Arts.

The Earliest Pictures of Jerusalem in 1844

These earliest pictures of Jerusalem were taken ​​in 1844 by French photographer and draughtsman Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey (1804–1892), who was active in the Middle East. In 1844, Jerusalem was a small town with a population of 15 thousand people on the outskirts of the Ottoman Empire. Remarkably, his photographs were only discovered in the 1920s in a storeroom of his estate and then only became known eighty years later.

Girault de Prangey studied painting in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts and in 1841 he learned daguerreotypy, possibly from Louis Daguerre himself or from Hippolyte Bayard. Girault de Prangey was keenly interested in the architecture of the Middle East, and he toured Italy and the countries of the eastern Mediterranean between 1841 and 1844, producing over 900 daguerreotypes of architectural views, landscapes, and portraits.

The Many Faces of Salvador Dali: Here Are 12 Funny Portraits of the Artist in the 1950s

Salvador Dalí is one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. His artistic style, ideas and extravagant personality created a myth around his name that has crowned him the king of Surrealism.

Apart from his surrealistic paintings Dali was interested in may art forms and media including film, sculpture, and photography, while for many of his works he collaborated with a range of artists in a variety of media.

Salvador Dali swimming holding seaweed, and wearing seaweed beard and wig, 1955. (Photo by Hulton Archive)

Salvador Dali, his modesty protected only by a starfish, talking with Juan Figeuras on the rocks near his home in Cadaques, 1955. (Photo by Charles Hewitt)

Salvador Dali viewing the camera through a magnifying glass at his home in Cadaques on the Spanish Costa Brava, 1955. (Photo by Charles Hewitt)

Salvador Dali with his wife Gala (1894–1982) and a child at his villa at Port Lligat, 1951. (Photo by Daniel Farson)

Salvador Dali wearing an animal skull as a hat, 1950. (Photo by Hulton Archive)

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Tel Aviv in 1950

A small collection of color photographs of Tel Aviv, Israel in 1950.