Amazing Posters Designed by Eugène Ogé in the Early 20th Century

Born 1861 in Paris, French poster artist and illustrator Eugène Ogé began as an apprentice to Charles Verneau, a printer who specialized in posters, and became a lithographer. During this period he made the acquaintance of several notable poster artists, including Adolphe Léon Willette, Jean-Louis Forain and Théophile Alexandre Steinlen. In his spare time, he studied painting at the Académie Julian and developed an admiration for Jules Chéret; an innovator in poster design.

Posters designed by Eugène Ogé in the 1900s and 1910s

In the 1890s, Ogé opened his own workshop and began designing posters, initially under contract to Verneau, then with Pierre Vercasson. He gradually developed his own style, moving away from the opulent women favored by Chéret. By 1900, he worked almost exclusively with caricatures and established himself with his famous poster for the “Billards Brunswick”, featuring three bald men. After 1902, he collaborated with La Lanterne, a daily journal with anti-clerical sentiments.

In the years leading up to World War I, Ogé caricatured many prominent people, including Queen Victoria and Paul Kruger, for “Dr. Trabant’s Supreme Pills”, and the heads of state meeting at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, to advertise the menthe-pastille made by Giffard. Among the other companies he worked for, one may mention Maggi, Gellé frères, Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville and Réglisse Zan.

During the war, Ogé made very few posters; focusing instead on rubber models and patterns for advertising balloons. He died in 1936 at the age of 74. Here below is a set of amazing posters designed by Eugène Ogé in the 1900s and 1910s.

Biscuit du Cygne, Nouveauté Recommandée, circa 1900

Absinthe de Pontarlier, Cousin Jeune, Paris, circa 1900

Advertisement for Amidon Remy, circa 1900

Advertising for Maizena corn flour, circa 1900

Advertising for Vin Bravais, circa 1900

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I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, 1952

The Christmas classic “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” was released in 1952. This family was right on trend with their holiday card that year!

(Photo courtesy of Barbara Larson)

“This is a Christmas card we made with the help of my husband’s uncle Fred, an amateur photographer. It was taken in 1952 when our daughter, Susan, was 3, and son, Dana, was 2. The expressions on their faces show how really astonished they were to see “Mommy kissing Santa Claus”—my husband, Jack. This was around the time the song was so popular.”

“I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” is a Christmas song with music and lyrics by British songwriter Tommie Connor and first recorded by Jimmy Boyd in 1952. The song has since been covered by many artists, with The Ronettes version from 1963 being one of the most famous cover versions.

The original recording by Jimmy Boyd, recorded on July 15, 1952, when he was 13 years old, reached No. 1 on the Billboard pop singles chart in December 1952, and on the Cash Box chart at the beginning of the following year. It later reached Number 3 in the UK Charts when issued there in November 1953. The song was commissioned by Saks Fifth Avenue to promote the store’s Christmas card for the year, which featured an original sketch by artist Perry Barlow, who drew for The New Yorker for many decades.

Riverside-area singer and actor Jimmy Boyd poses for a photo circa 1952. (Photo: Michael Ochs, Archives/Getty Images)

The song describes a scene where a child walks downstairs from his bedroom on Christmas Eve to see his mom kissing “Santa Claus” under the mistletoe. The lyric concludes with the child wondering how his father will react on hearing of the kiss, unaware of the implication that Santa Claus is merely his father in a costume.

Rare Photos of Freddie Mercury Riding on the Shoulders of Santa Claus at The Forum in Inglewood on Dec. 22, 1977

This is the final night of the News of the World Tour. To celebrate it there are some holiday festivities on stage. First, during the acoustic set, Freddie Mercury and Brian May perform a one-off version of “White Christmas”. Later, for the first encore of “We Will Rock You”, the band’s bodyguard, Paul Korzilius (“Big Paul”, as the band and crew called him), comes on stage dressed as Santa Claus. Instead of the expected toys in Santa’s sack, Freddie emerges from it in his silver lurex suit where he then sings the song on Santa’s shoulders. Prior to this, Brian May plays a bit of “Deck The Halls” in his solo spot, which is greatly enjoyed by the audience.

Earlier in the evening, Mercury refers to the medley as a “cornucopia of delight. Something nice and pretentious, just for all the critics.”

The performance is nothing short of ferocious from Mercury and the band, certainly one of the finest of their career. While the band were always on their game during this period, on this night they tap into their energy reserves and give a little extra in nearly every song. Mercury’s delivery of “Somebody To Love”, “It’s Late”, “Liar”, “My Melancholy Blues”, and “White Man” are amongst his best ever, and the band, now with 25 shows on the tour under their belt, are tight and focused.

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30 Vintage Photos of Vanessa Paradis in the 1980s

Vanessa Paradis (born 22 December 1972) is a French singer, model, and actress. She was a teen pop sensation in her native France in the 1980s. At the age of 14 she recorded a pop single about a Paris taxi driver, titled “Joe le Taxi,” which spent eleven weeks at at the number one spot in France and became an international smash hit as well.

Paradis, who uses her given name, was born in Saint-Maur-Des-Fossés, a suburb of Paris. Her parents ran an interior design business, and her uncle, Didier Pain, was an actor who moved on to record producing. Thanks to Pain, she won a spot on a television talent showcase at the age of seven, singing a song called “Emilie Jolie.” When she was 14, Pain introduced her to Etienne Roda-Gil, a well-known figure in French pop music who had written a string of hits in the 1960s and 1970s. He penned a song about a Parisian taxi driver for Paradis, and “Joe le Taxi” swept the French pop charts in 1987. It also reached number one in 13 other countries––even in Britain, where French-language tracks rarely do that well on the charts.

Paradis went on to record a full-length LP, M&J (for Marilyn & John), released on Polygram’s French subsidiary in 1987. Her young, vixenish looks made her a star, but the sudden fame also made her a virtual outcast at the Paris school she attended as a teen. She was roundly slammed in the press and even jeered at in public. “People started to react in a really mean way, and it was really disproportionate to what I was and what I was doing––this teenage girl singing this cute little song,” she recalled in an interview with Nui Te Koha of the Melbourne, Australia, Herald Sun. It seemed even odder when she considered her country’s history of producing sugary pop ditties sung by kittenish teenaged girls. “They’re left alone ... even if their music is worse than mine or their personality is worse than mine,” she told Koha. “I think people attacked me because the song was so successful, so you have to bring it down, drag it down. It’s a human thing.”

Paradis made her film debut at age 16, starring in Noce Blanche (“White Wedding”) as the mistress of a middle-aged man, and even won a César award, France’s Oscar equivalent, for Best Newcomer in 1990. Despite the honor, she suffered renewed public criticism. “Women hated me,” she recalled in an interview with journalist Caroline Graham of London’s Mail on Sunday. “People had this image of me as someone completely cretinous. It was a shock. I never understood why. They would write 'slut' on the walls of my house and call me names.”

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25 Kodachrome Slides of Japan in the Early 1950s

Post-occupation Japan is the period in postwar Japanese history which started when the Allied occupation of Japan ended in 1952 and lasted to the end of the Showa era in 1989. Despite the massive devastation it suffered in the Second World War, Japan established itself as a rich global economic power at peace with the world. In terms of political power it was more reluctant, especially in the nonuse of military force.

These old Kodachrome slides from Chris Spehr were taken by her grandfather in various places in Japan including Nara, Yokahama, and Nagasaki from when her grandfather was stationed after World War II.

Street scenes in a rebuilding Japan

Beach in Japan

Bike messenger

Cherries and parade

Cotton candy

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Photos of Chris Stein and Debbie Harry During Their Romantic Relationship

Chris Stein was born to Jewish parents in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in the Midwood section of Brooklyn, and attended Midwood High School in Brooklyn, but was expelled for wearing long hair.

While in Blondie, Stein and the lead vocalist of the band Debbie Harry maintained a romantic relationship but never married. In 1989, the couple went their separate ways but have continued to work together on a professional basis.

In 1983, Stein was diagnosed with pemphigus vulgaris, a rare autoimmune disease of the skin. He was cared for by his then-partner Debbie Harry and he has since regained normal function. Stein had developed a mild form of the disease, and was able to control it with a program of steroids. As of 2016, he was still touring and recording with Blondie.

In 1999, Stein married actress Barbara Sicuranza, and they have two daughters, Akira and Valentina.

These photos captured beautiful moments of Chris Stein and Debbie Harry during their romantic relationship in the 1970s and 1980s.

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A Day in the Life With a Young Jane Fonda in New York City in November 1959

It was the first time Paris Match magazine met Jane Fonda in the living room of her father, Henry Fonda, in New York City, November 1959. The young actress, who received some advices from the legend of The Hellish Pursuit and Twelve Angry Men, has just made her Broadway debut. At the Cort Theater on 48th Street, Jane performed in the play There Was a Little Girl, directed by Joshua Logan. It was latter who would make it appear on the screen. “Jane Fonda will be a star like daddy,” promised Match, in its issue 553:

“The new Hollywood darling is a 22-year-old stranger with an already prestigious name: Jane Fonda, daughter of actor Henry Fonda. She shoots her first film, Tall Story, with the world’s most requested young debut: Tony Perkins. It was the director Joshua Logan who discovered her. For that, he didn’t have to go very far: Logan is a friend of the family. But Jane, independent and athletic, did not want to hear about the cinema. When she lost her mother at the age of twelve, she decided that she would be a painter and came to live in Paris: ‘I can’t stand actors,’ she said, ‘except my father.’ Today, when told that she looks like a famous star, Brigitte Bardot, Jane shakes her blonde hair: ‘No,’ she says, ‘I look like Henry Fonda.’”

Match photographer in New York, Paul Slade, had followed Jane Fonda in her daily life as a young Broadway premiere. Between dancing and rehearsals with her boyfriend, actor and dancer Timmy Everett, Jane took classes at the Actors Studio at Lee Strasberg. The student also had a job at the Hicks & Son restaurant on 5th Avenue to earn some money and invited her friends to dinner in her shared apartment, including Match’s reporter...

Jane Fonda visits her father Henry Fonda in his New York apartment in November 1959.

Jane Fonda visits her father Henry Fonda in his New York apartment in November 1959.

Jane Fonda with her Siamese cat in her New York apartment, November 1959.

Jane Fonda in her New York apartment, November 1959.

Jane Fonda with her Siamese cat in her New York apartment, November 1959.

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