Page 79 – LIFE

See the Best Fashions of the 1930s

August 20, 2021October 13, 2015 by

Henry Luce’s goal for LIFE Magazine was, according to its tagline, as much to cover news of lasting consequence (“to eyewitness great events”) as to marvel at cultural curiosities (“to see and be amazed; to see and be instructed”). As one of those curiosities, the world of fashion enjoyed extensive coverage across the five decades the weekly magazine witnessed.

Though LIFE only caught the tail end of the 1930s, its first issue was published in November 1936 the remaining years of that decade saw the confluence of a host of influences on fashion. The Depression years had seen a shift to more conservative hemlines than those of the looser 1920s. At the same time, the fashions favored in Hollywood were increasingly reflected in the everyday streetwear of the masses. And as the decade drew to a close, the shadow of war began to reach all the way into the wardrobe.

LIFE’s fashion covers of the 1930s, many by Alfred Eisenstaedt, capture a variety of trends, from the saddle shoes of schoolchildren to the continental influence on college students to the formal details that completed a gentleman’s look. And if the occasional strong brow or high-waisted swimsuit looks familiar well, as the saying goes, everything old is new again.

October 18, 1937 cover of LIFE magazine.

Alfred Eisenstaedt LIFE Magazine

June 7, 1937 cover of LIFE magazine.

Alfred Eisenstaedt LIFE Magazine

June 28, 1937 cover of LIFE magazine.

Herbert Matter LIFE Magazine

July 12, 1937 cover of LIFE magazine.

Alfred Eisenstaedt LIFE Magazine

April 11, 1938 cover of LIFE magazine.

Alfred Eisenstaedt LIFE Magazine

May 9, 1938 cover of LIFE magazine.

Alfred Eisenstaedt LIFE Magazine

July 18, 1938 cover of LIFE magazine.

Dmitri Kessel LIFE Magazine

September 5, 1938 cover of LIFE magazine.

Herbert Gehr LIFE Magazine

January 2, 1939 cover of LIFE magazine.

Alfred Eisenstaedt LIFE Magazine

January 16, 1939 cover of LIFE magazine.

Rex Hardy Jr. LIFE Magazine

March 27, 1939 cover of LIFE magazine.

Alfred Eisenstaedt LIFE Magazine

May 8, 1939 cover of LIFE magazine.

Alfred Eisenstaedt LIFE Magazine

June 26, 1939 cover of LIFE magazine.

Walter Sanders LIFE Magazine

July 3, 1939 cover of LIFE magazine.

George Strock LIFE Magazine

October 23, 1939 cover of LIFE magazine.

Fritz Henle LIFE Magazine

Vintage Tips on Mustache Maintenance from the London Handlebar Club

November 1, 2020October 2, 2015 by

Since the early-2000s establishment of Movember—an annual fundraising competition to raise money for men’s health issues—November has come to be associated with the sprouting of mustaches where once there were none.

But for serious growers of facial hair, October is the month that matters. At the annual World Beard and Moustache Championships, cancelled this year due to Covid, slender Dali’s compete with bushy Imperials for the title of greatest ‘stache.

In celebration of these feats of facial hair, LIFE revisits the London Handlebar Club, which in the 1940s offered a safe space for those who sported exuberant whiskers. At meetings, members shared tips for preventing an upsweep (clip-on weights!) and dealing with a mustache misshapen from sleep (sleep on your back, not your face). One particularly troublesome ailment was the “Boozer’s Droop,” a side effect of “too much immersion in alcohol during the mustache’s early development.” The cure? “Stop drinking. Short of that, shave.”

Liz Ronk edited this gallery.

Members of the London Handlebar Club, 1947.

Nat Farbman / The LIFE Picture Collection (c) Meredith Corporation

Member of the London Handlebar Club, 1947.

Nat Farbman / The LIFE Picture Collection (c) Meredith Corporation

Members of the London Handlebar Club, 1947.

Nat Farbman / The LIFE Picture Collection (c) Meredith Corporation

How Oktoberfest Was Celebrated in the 1960s

November 24, 2019October 1, 2015 by

Oktoberfest, the annual Bavarian beer festival, is known for its Pilsener- and Hefeweizen-induced revelry. But the fête has been tamed in recent years by rules enforcing quiet hours that aim to increase the festival’s appeal to families and curb a spike in brawls.

Back in 1961, when LIFE dispatched photographer Stan Wayman to Germany to document the drunken debauchery, the party atmosphere was unmistakably intact. Wayman’s photos, which never ran in the magazine, depict a carefree camaraderie: merrymakers dancing on tables, raising giant beer steins and shout-singing songs between sips. The only evidence of quiet is a photo of two men, one man’s hat covering his face, who are, perhaps,rethinking the number of steins they’ve just consumed.

Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.

Oktoberfest in Germany, 1961.

Stan Wayman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Old Man and the Wire: When an 82-Year-Old Walked The Tightrope

August 11, 2021September 30, 2015 by

On July 31, 1948, a Boulder man crossed over South Boulder Creek, a distance of 635 ft., on a tightrope. It wasn’t new for him: the man had crossed this canyon more than 80 times in 40 years. What set this walk apart from the rest was his age: July 31, 1948, was Ivy Baldwin’s 82nd birthday. (That, and the installation of a lower wire at 125 ft. rather than his usual 582 ft., at the insistence of his daughter.)

Born William Ivy in Houston, Texas, in 1866, Baldwin adopted his last name from a pair of daredevil brothers he performed with as a young man. Hooked on tightrope walking after a childhood sighting of an impressive wire-walker, Baldwin left home as a young teenager to join a traveling circus. He developed a repertoire of stunts that included parachuting out of hot air balloons and diving off of impossibly high towers. He was also a pioneering aviator, and the first to fly a plane in the state of Nevada, in 1910.

But he is best remembered, in Colorado lore, for his repeated crossings of South Boulder Creek, clad in cloth slippers and carrying a 26-ft. pole for balance. Some attempts nearly took his life, as on one occasion during which unexpectedly persistent gusts of wind forced him to hang from his knees for over an hour. When he finally retired at 82, after the walk photographed by LIFE’s John Florea, it came at the insistence of his family. Baldwin, as befits one who made his fame by walking, would have been happy to keep going.

Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.

82-year-old tightrope walker Ivy Baldwin rests on a rock at Boulder Dam, Colorado, 1948.

John Florea The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Baldwin gingerly begins to walk on a tightrope at Boulder Dam, Colorado, 1948.

John Florea The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Baldwin makes his way across Boulder Dam, 1948.

John Florea The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Baldwin appears suspended in air as spectators watch from below, 1948.

John Florea The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Baldwin makes his way to the other side of Boulder Dam, 1948.

John Florea The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Young fans greet Baldwin after his feat, 1948.

John Florea The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Baldwin talks to the press at Boulder Dam, Colorado, 1948.

John Florea The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Fans present Baldwin with a celebratory cake, 1948.

John Florea The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Baldwin looks out across Boulder Dam, 1948.

John Florea The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Relive Your Childhood With These Photos of Kids Enjoying Autumn Leaves

January 14, 2020September 29, 2015 by

Any child who grows up with a backyard overhung with deciduous trees will be familiar with a certain seasonal ritual. It goes something like this: spend five minutes raking brittle brown leaves into a pile, spend 15 minutes rolling around in said pile until it no longer resembles a pile, and repeat until the lawn is (eventually) cleared and ready for the next season’s first snow.

LIFE magazine took seriously its mission to cover all aspects of life, from major world events to the everyday joys of children. In keeping with the spirit of the latter category, Allan Grant—who could more often be found photographing the likes of Grace Kelly and Paul Newman—spent a fall day in 1953 in Rockland County, N.Y., preserving this autumnal pastime for future generations.

Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.

Running away from a soft bombardment of leaves thrown at him by playmates, Stewart Blickman scampered out of a leaf pile to momentary safety.

Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

From a low-hanging branch still carrying its leaves, Heather Heid picked three for silent scrutiny.

Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Royal Heid endured a shower of leaves that he had just tossed into the air.

Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Confident of her brother Vernon’s care, Mary Eagle submitted expectantly to afternoon burial.

Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Paul Fry piloted a magnolia leaf across a pond.

Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Dragging their feet, Raymond Burghardt and Ellen Bassett scuffed through leaves blown against a fence.

Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A disintegrating crown of leaves was about to be dumped by Vicky Blickman on unsuspecting Paul Bassett.

Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Leonard and Michael Sullivan and Edward Coates used fallen leaves as gliders.

Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Autumn leaves floated on the water, 1953.

Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Combining play and a seasonal chore, Doyce Waddell stirred a pile of burning leaves.

Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Youngest Cowgirl Ever

November 24, 2019September 25, 2015 by

Living in the YouTube era, it’s no longer entirely surprising to see a 5-year-old piano prodigy or a breakdancing toddler go viral. Half a century ago, those baby Einsteins got their 15 minutes of fame in a more old-fashioned medium: the back pages of LIFE magazine.

Fifteen-month-old Jean Anne Evans was one such child. The Texan toddler was born into a family of ranchers and horseback riders, and first straddled a saddle (with her mother in tow) at the tender age of one month. When LIFE photographer Alan Grant visited her family’s farm near Fort Davis, he found the girl holding her own atop her 25-year-old horse, Toy Boy.

Despite her prowess, LIFE wrote, she occasionally “betrays her years by dropping off to sleep suddenly in mid-roundup.” Thankfully, her mother’s saddle made for just the place to take a nap.

Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.