Historic Photos
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Jane Russell Shows her Co-actress Marilyn Monroe (at the Time, 1953

Jane Russell Shows her Co-actress Marilyn Monroe (at the Time, 1953

Year: 1953Era: Mid-Century
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Jane Russell Shows Her Co-Actress Marilyn Monroe (At The Time, Jane Was The Bigger Star) One Of Her Talents: Drawing. Here She Draws An Sketch Of Monroe. Result At The End. This Was During The Filming Of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," 1953. The scene dates to 1953, a detail that changes how you read every face and object in the frame.

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The 1950s brought a wave of postwar prosperity, especially in North America. Suburbs, television sets, big chrome-trimmed cars, and rock and roll defined the decade, and a booming picture-magazine industry sent photographers to document all of it.

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Pictures of ordinary life are some of the most valuable historical documents we have. Grand events were always going to be recorded, but a normal day — how people worked, dressed, shopped, and passed the time — survives only when someone happened to point a camera at it.

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