Most Glamorous Chassis of 1957

I see Paul's Miss Brake Special of 1951, and raise him Most Glamorous Chassis of 1957, a title awarded to Hollywood star Debra Paget.

Actually, this seems to be another example of the weird thematic synchronicity that we've mentioned before. Having worked on this blog together now for over a decade, the minds of Paul and I seem to have achieved a state of spooky quantum entanglement, in which, without any coordination at all, and separated by a distance of over 3000 miles, we will independently focus on similar subjects at the same time. So, as Paul was preparing his post about Miss Brake Special, I was simultaneously researching a post about Most Glamorous Chassis. I almost posted it yesterday.

Opelousas Daily World - Apr 11, 1957

Anyway, wikipedia notes that in 1957 Paget was at the peak of her career, considered an A-list star, having appeared in The Ten Commandments and headlined Love Me Tender with Elvis Presley. But beginning in 1957 "Paget's career began to decline." Could it be mere coincidence that this was also the year she accepted the title of "Most Glamorous Chassis"?

Although what is arguably Paget's most famous performance was still before her — her snake dance scene in Fritz Lang's The Indian Tomb (1959). Wikipedia says that the scene was "risque (for the time)." I think it's still risque even for 2020.

Posted By: Alex - Sat Jan 25, 2020 - Comments (5)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, 1950s, Cars

Miss Brake Special, 1951

Posted By: Paul - Fri Jan 24, 2020 - Comments (6)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Motor Vehicles, 1950s

The Beautiful Beauty Mask

Patented in 1954 by Ann S.V. Mann of Petersburg, Virginia.

It functioned like any other beauty mask. Its primary difference, claimed Mann, was that her mask had the outer appearance of a "strikingly beautiful woman":


Due to the uncanny valley effect, she may actually have ended up creating something that looked more grotesque than a regular mask.

Posted By: Alex - Sun Jan 19, 2020 - Comments (2)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Inventions, 1950s

Follies of the Madmen #461

Most hideous and amateurish product mascot ever?



Source.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 13, 2020 - Comments (1)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Business, Advertising, Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, 1970s

Virgin Prunes, “Theme For Thought”

Their Wikipedia page.

An even earlier version of the song here.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 09, 2020 - Comments (3)
Category: Antisocial Activites, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Music, Avant Garde, 1970s, 1980s, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults

The Universal Beauty Trip

There's a great novel or film lurking in this historical incident.

In the summer of 1915, in large part in order to advertise the existence of his newly-established Universal City Studios, Universal Moving Pictures President Carl Laemelle organized a cross-country procession that would culminate in a beauty pageant at Universal City, California (which, like Universal Studios, Laemelle had only founded in March of that year). Comprising "America's Most Beautiful Girls" from each of the forty-eight states, as well as studio representatives including Laemelle himself, the Universal Beauty Trip proceeded by automobile and rail from the East Coast to California, stopping at major cities along the way and at important tourist sites like the Grand Canyon

Read entire article here.







Foto source.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 07, 2020 - Comments (1)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Movies, 1910s

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders

Whole movie in second screen, with English subtitles.

Wikipedia page here.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Dec 29, 2019 - Comments (0)
Category: Ambiguity, Uncertainty and Deliberate Obscurity, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Confusion, Misunderstanding, and Incomprehension, Death, Dreams and Nightmares, Horror, Movies, Surrealism, 1970s

The Marilyn Monroe Protractor

Posted By: Paul - Thu Dec 12, 2019 - Comments (6)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Body, Technology, 1950s

The Malibu Remuda of 1947

The "Remuda" or horse show by all accounts featured a "western bathing beauty contest." But I can't locate a pic of the actual winner. However, these lovelies were in attendance, and certainly the giant hat qualifies this as one of our Weird Beauty Contests.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Nov 01, 2019 - Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Regionalism, 1940s

The Paul Lynde Halloween Special

Posted By: Paul - Mon Oct 28, 2019 - Comments (2)
Category: Annoying Things, Antiques, Anachronisms and Throwbacks, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Celebrities, Confusion, Misunderstanding, and Incomprehension, Eccentrics, Entertainment, Geeks, Nerds and Pointdexters, Humor, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Innuendo, Double Entendres, Symbolism, Nudge-Nudge-Wink-Wink and Subliminal Messages, Superstition, Television, Avant Garde, Surrealism, 1970s, LGBT, Halloween, Nausea, Revulsion and Disgust, Nostalgia