A Bombshell for the Ages: Bettie Page

While on the subject of the pin-up, we certainly cannot forget the women whose name is synonymous with the art form - the inimitable Bettie Page.

Bettie Page was born in Nashville TN. on April 22, 1923, the second child of six in a family who wandered the United States in search of economic stability.  Bettie was often tasked with taking care of her younger siblings and performing household chores.  Once her parents divorced Bettie became the primary caretaker while her mother worked to make ends meet.  At the age of ten, the burden of family finances became too great and her mother was forced to leave Bettie and two of her sisters at an orphanage.

In spite of early hardships, Bettie was a bright, ambitious teenager who got good grades, volunteered with several school clubs including the school paper and student council.  She graduated at the top of her class, and as the class Salutatorian won a $100 scholarship from Peabody College, where she studied education and earned her Bachelor of Art degree in 1943.  That year, she also married her first husband, Billy Neal.  They soon moved to San Francisco, and over the next few years bounced around the country.   Bettie divorced Billy in 1947 and moved to New York where she dreamed of becoming an actress.

While walking the beaches of Coney Island in 1950 she met a cop/amateur photographer, Jerry Tibbs, who helped Bettie but together her first pin-up portfolio and introduced her to several other photographers, who all wanted to work with her.  Before long her pictures were appearing in all sorts of popular girlie magazines of the era.  Ms. Page won the title of "Miss Pinup Girl of the World" in 1955 and was the January centrefold of Playboy magazine that same year.

In addition to her pin-up photographs, the ever uninhibited Ms. Page modelled for fetish photographs wearing a wide array of bondage gear and posing in various scenes of dominance and submission.  She also appeared in several short fetish films that could be attained through mail order catalogues at the time.  It was her participation in such activities that led her to be named in a Senate investigation after a young man died during a bondage session.  The American Congress called Bettie to testify regarding the photographs that she appeared in.  As a result of these hearings, many of the pictures, and the negatives that produced them, featuring Bettie were destroyed.  Any negatives that remained were illegal to print for years after that.

Outside of her modelling career, Bettie made a few appearances as an actress in a couple of off Broadway productions and some television shows.  She decided to leave New York and modelling in 1957, moving to Florida where she eventually became a born-again Christian and faded into obscurity.  During the 80s and 90s she her photograph made a resurgence and she has since taken her rightful place as a pin-up legend.  Bettie Page passed away on December 8, 2008.

Here's a video of Bettie dancing:

Three Festive Hollywood Pin-ups

Surprisingly enough, it is way more difficult to find Christmas pin-up pictures than it is Halloween ones (at least ones that weren't taken within the last five years).  Fear not gentle readers, I have come through with a few non-traditional pin-ups  for your viewing pleasure.  The one to the left is a picture of the star of White Christmas herself, Vera Ellen having fun while stooped upon a chimney top with bag and horn in hand. I'm not quite sure of the identity of the lady to directly below, but I think she's very brave to go snow shoeing in shorts and high heeled shoes.  The group of ladies in the picture at the very bottom of this page seemed to have moored their toboggan and fireplace on some one's shag carpeted stage.  At any rate enjoy everyone!

Old Hollywood Glamour Photography For the Layperson

Jean Harlow 

If you haven't noticed by now, I am passionate about classic Hollywood.  That passion spills over into photography.  Since I was young I have been fascinated by the photos taken of the stars of yesteryear... something about that potent mix of silver halide, period attire, and superstar charisma.  Of course, there is also the artful hand of the studio photographer pulling the strings.

Hollywood glamour photography is as old as Hollywood itself: a tool for studios to promote their galaxy of stars.  If a studio had a new talent that they wanted to promote to movie goers, studio heads would order several sessions with their hired photographers and distribute the results to various fan magazines.  When a film was in production, actors and actresses would be subjected to several wardrobe and hair tests, the results were documented by a studio photographer. And once stars had reached a certain level of fame, countless fan letters would come flowing in, and studio ordained head shots were the reward for a fan's devotion(this was elevated to another level once World War II broke out and studio pinup photos became the rage).  In all cases, it was necessary that the photography captured that illusion of otherworldly beauty and glamour that surrounded movie stars.  

Between 1910 and 1950, the art of Hollywood glamour photography evolved from flat, uninspired photos of silent film stars to gorgeous works of art truly immortalizing their subjects as the larger than life personalities that the studios wanted them to be.  This type of photography can be divided up into two different categories: gallery portraits (which were taken within a Hollywood studio's on site photography studio) and candid portraits (which were taken on location either outdoors or possibly in a star's own home).  Within both of these categories there were several sub-categories, including the standard head-shot, the duo (or couples) portrait, the costume portrait, and the pinup.  Some of the most celebrated studio photographers of the era include Clarence Sinclair Bull, George Hurrell, and Ernest A. Bachrach.  Unfortunately for these talented men, their names were never mentioned and their contributions to creating the illusion of otherworldly stars went largely unheralded.

Theda Bara, circa. 1916

Elizabeth Taylor, circa 1958

Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in a Duo Shot

Audrey Hepburn models Givenchy in a costume shot