‘L’ultra-meuble’ by Kurt Seligmann, 1938

Kurt Seligmann’s ‘L’ultra-meuble’, a stool made of four realistic legs wearing high-heeled shoes joined above the bent knees to form a stool – a combined piece of furniture and objet fabriqué exhibited in the Paris Surrealist Exhibition in 1938.

Raoh Schorr, a Swiss sculptor working in London, had created a number of glass-topped tables supported by realistically modeled human legs for display purposes a year or two previously and Costa’s table in the form of an over-scaled hand equally antedates ‘L’ultra-meuble’ by at least three years.

This absorption during the thirties with portions of human anatomy as decorative objects concentrated even more upon the hand, and in this the trends of surrealism and Victoriana found a motif in common. Man Ray, Max Ernst and Joyen had all at one time or another used the human hand, divorced from the body. as an element in their paintings or sculptures.

Neck-line Bertha: The Glamorous Fashion Style For Victorian Women

Neck-line Bertha is the low shoulder neck-line worn by women during the Victorian Era. The cut exposed a woman’s shoulders and it sometimes was trimmed over with a three to six-inch deep lace flounce, or the bodice has neckline draped with several horizontal bands of fabric pleats.

However, the exposure of neck-line was only restricted to the upper and middle class, working-class women during the time period were not allowed to reveal so much flesh.

The décolleté style made shawls to become an essential feature of dresses. Corsets lost their shoulder straps, and fashion was to produce two bodices, one closed décolletage for day and one décolleté for evening.

Here is a set of glamorous photos that show women in Bertha neck-lines during Victorian era.

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In the Late 19th Century, There Was a Vogue for Taking Photos of People Standing on Giant Lily Pads

Victoria amazonica lily pad is a species of flowering plant, with very large green leaves that lie flat on the water’s surface. It has a leaf that is up to 3 meters (9.8 ft) in diameter, on a stalk up to 8 meters (26 ft) in length. The genus name was given in honor of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

The leaf of Victoria is able to support quite a large weight due to the plant’s structure, although the leaf itself is quite delicate. To counter the fragile nature of the leaf, the weight needs to be distributed across the surface through mechanical means, such as a sheet of plywood. This allows the leaf to support up to 32 kilograms (71 lb).

The first published description of the genus was by John Lindley in October 1837, based on specimens of this plant returned from British Guiana by Robert Schomburgk. Lindley named the genus after the newly ascended Queen Victoria, and the species Victoria regia. The spelling in Schomburgk’s description in Athenaeum, published the month before, was given as Victoria Regina. Despite this spelling being adopted by the Botanical Society of London for their new emblem, Lindley’s was the version used throughout the nineteenth century.

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Fascinating Color Photos of Shirley Temple When She Was Young in the 1940s

Shirley Temple (April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) was an American actress, singer, and dancer who was Hollywood’s number one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938.

Temple began her film career at the age of three in 1931. Two years later, she achieved international fame in Bright Eyes, a feature film designed specifically for her talents. She received a special Juvenile Academy Award in February 1935 for her outstanding contribution as a juvenile performer in motion pictures during 1934.

Film hits such as Curly Top and Heidi followed year after year during the mid-to-late 1930s. Temple capitalized on licensed merchandise that featured her wholesome image; the merchandise included dolls, dishes, and clothing. Her box-office popularity waned as she reached adolescence.

She appeared in 29 films from the ages of 3 to 10 but in only 14 films from the ages of 14 to 21. Temple retired from film in 1950 at the age of 22.

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40 Glamorous Photos of Gloria DeHaven in the 1940s and ’50s

Born 1925 in Los Angeles, California, American actress and singer Gloria DeHaven began her career as a child actor with a bit part in Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times (1936). She was signed to a contract with MGM, and had featured roles in such films as Best Foot Forward (1943), The Thin Man Goes Home (1944), Scene of the Crime (1949) and Summer Stock (1950).

DeHaven was voted by exhibitors as the third most likely to be a “star of tomorrow” in 1944. She portrayed her own mother, Flora Parker DeHaven, in the Fred Astaire film Three Little Words (1950).

DeHaven’s musical talents supplemented her acting abilities. Besides being cast as a singer in many of her films, including I’ll Get By, So This Is Paris and The Girl Rush, and performing numbers in many of her movies, DeHaven sang with the bands of Jan Savitt and Bob Crosby and at one time had her own nightclub act.

During the early 1960s, DeHaven recorded for the small Seeco label, where she appeared on the 1962 compilation album Gloria Lynne and Her Friends. She was also heard on four of the Revisited compilations produced by Ben Bagley.

DeHaven died in 2016, in Las Vegas a week after her 91st birthday after having had a stroke a few months earlier. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6933 Hollywood Blvd.

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Eye of Tomorrow: French Film From 1947 Predicted Our Addiction to Smartphones in the 21st Century

Télévision: Oeil de Demain (“Television: Eye of Tomorrow”) predicted that some day in the future everyone would be walking around looking at personal handheld screens.

 

J.K. Raymond-Millet’s 1947 film may have been far ahead of its time, it seemingly predicted how we would use smartphones in the 21st century. It was not intended to be a feature length film, but rather one used for educational purposes.

In addition to showing people using miniature-television devices in public places, the full clip also showcases professional meetings conducted via picture-phones, cars equipped with television screens, and shops promoting their goods on television.

(via The Flighter)

Argentine Classic Beauty: 30 Fabulous Photos of Susana Giménez in the 1960s and ’70s

Born 1944 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Susana Giménez became a model at 19 years old, and made her name in a TV commercial for Cadum, a brand of French soap. Most of her subsequent film career was in adult-oriented comedies.

Giménez has acted in over 30 films, including the cult film La Mary, and 10 plays. She is the host of Susana Giménez, a highly rated television variety show in Argentina, similar in format to those of Raffaella Carrà (in Italy and Spain) and Oprah Winfrey (in United States).

In 1997, Giménez was awarded with the Golden Martín Fierro Award, and in 2002 won the INTE award for TV hostess of the Year. In 2008, Giménez launched her own magazine called Susana, published by La Nación. She is featured in the cover of every issue. She had her own fashion doll, and has endorsed two fragrances.

Take a look at these fabulous photos to see the beauty of young Susana Giménez in the 1960s and 1970s.

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