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Category Archives: 1950s
Regina Anderson Andrews and the Power of Libraries
As a lover of both libraries and theater, it perhaps inevitable that I discovered Regina Anderson Andrews, playwright, actress, salon holder, and librarian in New York City from the 1920s to the 1960s. Anderson (1901-1993) was born in Chicago and … Continue reading
Eunice Johnson–Black Power Fashion
It is hard to overestimate the contribution of Eunice Johnson (1916-2010) to African American fashion in the United States. She and her husband were the founders of Ebony and Jet. Although she worked as secretary and treasurer for the Johnson … Continue reading
Meet Bricktop, International Star
Born in West Virginia in 1894, Ada “Bricktop” Smith gained her nickname because of her red hair. Her family soon moved to Chicago, a center of African American culture, where she started performing full time at age sixteen. She didn’t … Continue reading
Thanksgiving Travel, 1951
The caption for this photo reads: “92-year-old great grandmother Mrs. C. C. Adams of Hooker, Oklahoma, reversed the old saying ‘over the hills to grandma’s house’ when she decided to take her first flight via TWA Skycoach to greet part … Continue reading
Alice Neel’s Older Women
Due to family responsibilities, I’m limited in my travel these days. Therefore I’m especially grateful when the art comes to me. A show of the work of the famous American painter Alice Neel (1900-1984) recently opened at the Orange County … Continue reading
Circle Skirts and the Older Woman
Although they are now coming back in style, circle skirts were originally a 1950s phenomenon. Actress turned designer Juli Lynne Charlot is credited with their invention. It was her response to the New Look style that emerged after World War … Continue reading
Easter Hat, 1959
Photos by the street photographer Angelo Abruzzo show New York in the fifties and sixties. Similar to the Chicago photographer Vivian Maier, his work was unknown during his lifetime. Later studies stress the fact that the people in his photos … Continue reading
High Jinks at the Tupperware Party, 1950s
Wouldn’t you like to know how these happy ladies constructed their hats? Did they make them at home or did the host bring supplies? Was it a contest? If so, surely the woman with the many layered confection topped by … Continue reading
Aging in Color: Ruth Adler Schnee
Famous textile designer Ruth Adler Schnee (1923-2023) died this month at the age of 99. She is credited with bringing textile design into the world of midcentury modernism. The daughter of an antiquarian bookseller and a Bauhaus graduate, her family … Continue reading
The Sheer Dress at Thanksgiving
No turkey on the table, but I’m guessing this must be Thanksgiving. When else is pumpkin pie the only dessert? As is obvious from the woman who is dolloping out whipped cream, sheer dresses were not only for the old. … Continue reading