Black and White Photos of the New York Auto Show in 1965

The New York International Auto Show is an annual auto show that is held in Manhattan in late March or early April. It is held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. It usually opens on or just before Easter weekend and closes on the first Sunday after Easter.

The show has been held annually since 1900. It was the first automotive exhibition in North America. The show was held at the New York Coliseum from 1956 to 1987 when the show moved to the Javits Center.

Before the show opens every year, several auto companies debut new production and concept vehicles for the press. In addition, the Greater New York Auto Dealers Association (GNYADA) and the International Motor Press Association (IMPA) host corporate meetings and events.

In addition to individual programs during the show, there are automobile related conferences, forums, symposiums, and other gatherings. The ten day event contribution to economy of the City and State is estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

These black and white photos were taken by Michael Dolan that show the New York Auto Show in 1965. “This show was at the 59th. St. Coliseum in New York City, now demolished. This was a user friendly exhibition space. A pleasure to go to either, a boat show , a flower show or a car show. The upper mezzanine circled the exhibition floor and besides a great view, housed all the smaller vendors.”

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Safety Belt Moors Baby in the Bathtub, 1939

It’s dangerous to leave a small baby unattended in the bathtub, and yet, when the telephone rings or the doorbell must be answered, it is sometimes inconvenient not to be able to do so.

In 1939, Carl H. Fischer, a Council Bluffs, Iowa, engineer and father of three youngsters, solved this problem with the ingenious device. The baby is strapped in a harness that is attached to a metal bar. When the bar is turned, rubber pads threaded to the ends press tightly against the sides of the tub and hold the safety bar firmly in place.

On February 21, 1958, the Peace Symbol Design Was Completed by Gerald Holtom

The symbol now known internationally as the “peace symbol” or “peace sign”, or alternatively as the nuclear disarmament symbol, or the CND symbol (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) originates as a symbol representing the threat of nuclear annihilation used in British anti-nuclear activism from 1958. It was widely adopted in the American anti-war movement in the 1960s and was re-interpreted as generically representing world peace. It was still used, however, in its original anti-nuclear context by activists opposing nuclear power, in the 1980s.

The symbol was designed by Gerald Holtom (1914–1985) for the British nuclear disarmament movement. Holtom, an artist and designer, presented it to the Direct Action Committee on February 21, 1958 where it was “immediately accepted” as a symbol for a march from Trafalgar Square, London, to the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire on April 4. Holtom’s design was adapted by Eric Austen (1922–1999) to ceramic lapel badges. The original design is in the Peace Museum in Bradford, England.

The symbol is a super-imposition of the flag semaphore for the characters “N” and “D”, taken to stand for “nuclear disarmament”. This observation was made as early as April 5, 1958 in the Manchester Guardian.

Gerald Holtom’s preliminary sketches to incorporate semaphore letters into his anti-nuclear protest symbol.

The “N” and “D” semaphore signals that inspired the lines of the peace signs.

Gerald Holtom’s original sketches for his anti-nuclear protest symbol.

In addition to this primary genesis, Holtom additionally cited as inspiration Francisco Goya’s The Third of May 1808: “I was in despair. Deep despair. I drew myself: the representative of an individual in despair, with hands palm outstretched outwards and downwards in the manner of Goya’s peasant before the firing squad. I formalized the drawing into a line and put a circle round it.”

The reference is to Goya’s The Third of May 1808 (1814), although the peasant shown in this painting has his arms stretched upwards, not downwards.

Ken Kolsbun, a correspondent of Holtom’s, says that the designer came to regret the symbolism of despair, as he felt that peace was something to be celebrated and wanted the symbol to be inverted. Eric Austen is said to have “discovered that the ‘gesture of despair’ motif had long been associated with ‘the death of man’, and the circle with “the unborn child’”.

The symbol became the badge of CND, and wearing it became a sign of support for the campaign urging British unilateral nuclear disarmament. An account of CND’s early history described the image as “a visual adhesive to bind the [Aldermaston] March and later the whole Campaign together ... probably the most powerful, memorable and adaptable image ever designed for a secular cause”.

Peace campaigner Pat Arrowsmith (right), with a marcher holding one of the first signs depicting the Peace Symbol, during the seminal 1958 antinuclear march from London to the nuclear weapons facility at Aldermaston, UK.

Handsome Portrait Photos of John Ericson in the 1950s and ’60s

Born 1926 as Joachim Alexander Ottokar Meibes in Düsseldorf, Germany, German-American actor John Ericson made a number of films for MGM in quick succession in the 1950s. His first appearance was in Teresa (1951), and also appeared in Rhapsody, The Student Prince, Green Fire (all in 1954), in Bad Day at Black Rock (1955). He co-starred with Barbara Stanwyck in Forty Guns (1957). In 1958 he appeared as Sheriff Barney Wiley in the Western Day of the Badman which starred Fred MacMurray.

For the next 30 years, his career continued mostly on television. Ericson was known primarily for his co-star role with actress Anne Francis on the ABC television series Honey West in the 1965-66 season.

Ericson played the title role in Pretty Boy Floyd (1960), and his other film appearances included roles in Under Ten Flags (1960), Slave Queen of Babylon (1963), 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964), Operation Atlantis (1965), The Money Jungle (1968), The Bamboo Saucer (1968), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), Crash! (1976), and The Far Side of Jericho (2006).

Ericson died of pneumonia in 2020 at the age of 93. These vintage photos captured portraits of a young and handsome John Ericson in the 1950s and 1960s.

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Beautiful Photos Capture Lovely Moments of ’80s Weddings

The 1980s were a dramatic time marked by excess, self-expression, and rapid advancement. The Cold War quietly wore on, while innovations in technology like Apple’s computers progressed at an unprecedented rate. MTV started in 1981, transcending the definitions of music, art, and fashion, and forever changing our culture.

Everything was bright, bold, and larger than life. As the world stage became more uncertain, people began focusing on themselves. Shoulders were padded, neon tracksuits shone bright, and nothing was impossible.

All aspects of the ’80s wedding day were bigger: the dresses, the cakes, the guest lists. Dresses were meant to take up space, with dramatic elements and as many frills as possible. Gowns with high lace necklines, larger and puffier gathered sleeves, and lacey details were all the rage.

Bigger is better, after all! Along with the grander dresses of the time, equally substantial beauty routines and accessories became popular too. Brides wanted cathedral-length veils and cascading bouquets of baby’s breath and gardenias. Hair was often worn in an updo with lots of voluminous curls, while makeup was colorful and bold with red or pink lips and pastel eyeshadow. Some women even chose to add bridal gloves to their look!

These beautiful photos from Flickr members that captured lovely moments of ’80s weddings.

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A Collection of 33 Rare and Amazing Childhood Photos of Kurt Cobain

Kurt Cobain was born on February 20, 1967, in the small logging town of Aberdeen, Washington. As a child, Cobain was artistic and had an ear for music. Although he had a younger sister Kim (b. 1971), the two were separated when their parents got divorced. At age nine, Cobain went to live with his father who eventually remarried, which put more strain on their relationship.

He later said the divorce had a profound effect on his life, while his mother noted that his personality changed dramatically; Cobain became defiant and withdrawn.  In a 1993 interview, he said:

“I remember feeling ashamed, for some reason. I was ashamed of my parents. I couldn’t face some of my friends at school anymore, because I desperately wanted to have the classic, you know, typical family. Mother, father. I wanted that security, so I resented my parents for quite a few years because of that.”

Cobain behaved insolently toward adults during this period, and began bullying another boy at school. His father took him to a therapist, who concluded that he would benefit from a single family environment.  Both sides of the family attempted to bring his parents back together, to no avail. On June 28, 1979, Cobain’s mother granted full custody to his father.  Cobain’s teenage rebellion quickly became overwhelming for his father, who placed his son in the care of family and friends. While living with the born-again Christian family of his friend Jesse Reed, he became a devout Christian and regularly attended church services. He later renounced Christianity, engaging in what was described as “anti-God” rants. The song “Lithium” is about his experience while living with the Reed family. Religion remained an important part of his personal life and beliefs.

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Miss America Beauty Pageant Contestants, circa 1920s

This group of Miss America contestants posed for this portrait wearing ornate headpieces and flapper costumes in the 1920s.

(Photo by Atlantic Foto Service. Courtesy Bettmen Archive.)

The pageant, which was originally called Atlantic City’s Inter-City Beauty Contest, was organized in 1921 by a local businessmen’s group seeking to entice tourists to visit Atlantic City over Labor Day weekend.

The first winner was Margaret Gorman, Miss District of Columbia, who was declared “The Most Beautiful Bathing Girl in America” at the age of 16. She received a statue of a golden mermaid. Mary Katherine Campbell of Columbus, won in 1922 and 1923, and was the only woman to win twice. The eligibility rules will changed in 1924, to ensure that no one could win the title more than once.

The contest still exists and is referred to as a scholarship pageant.