A Continuous Lean. » LIFE

Life Archive | Stars and Stripes

Michael Williams — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:07:36 +0000

That’s America right there — a nice big fella in head-to-toe khaki standing in front of a beat up American flag. If I knew this gentleman I would buy him a beer and ask him about his days in the big one. As I powered through the Life Archive I keep coming back to photos with Old Glory in them. As it turns out, being young and patriotic is on the up-and-up, so it seems my timing is right on. Enjoy some stars and stripes before you head out for the weekend.

Life Archive | The Pentagon c.1951

Michael Williams — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:45:02 +0000

At first glance this this group of photos is pretty eerie in a Dr. Strangelove type of way, but they have ice cream so how bad could it really be. Not to mention that pneumatic tube document delivery system. Any place with one of those is a-okay in my book. In fact, I am currently looking into installing a pneumatic tube document delivery system in my office, fuck email. If you are into the office tech of a certain sixties drama on AMC, then you will love this set of photos from the then “state-of-the-art” Pentagon from the early fifties, less than a decade after the building’s opening.

Man in the gray flannel suit (although that doesn't look like flannel)

The Pentagon is so massive it is like a city in a city, back in the fifties it had all sorts of services like a barber shop, Western Union and even a type writer repair shop. Are there any ACL readers that work for the DoD that can verify if any of this stuff still exists? Or is that classified?

Life Archive | New York Speakeasies

Michael Williams — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:21:39 +0000

In 1925 there were an estimated 30,000 to 100,000 speakeasies in New York City alone. Near the end of the ban on alcohol in 1933 Life photographer Margaret Bourke-White captured some of the city’s elite speakeasies. What an amazing time, to be forced to enjoy to your after work libations underground. It is crazy to think that for 13 years (1920-1933) religious nuts took away America’s booze. I would be scared to see what New York would be like if the liquor was gone.

Life Archive | Drunk Test c.1941

Michael Williams — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:42:09 +0000

In honor of Zack Galifianakis’ masterful performance in The Hangover (which is one of the most hilarious movies I have seen in some time), I present you with the Kansas City drunk test in its infancy. Do go see The Hangover, don’t drink and drive.

Life Archive | Eagle Clothes

Michael Williams — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:30:32 +0000

Anyone that has spent time in Brooklyn should know the beautiful old Eagle Clothes sign that sits atop a rectangular shaped building on 6th Street (Between 3rd & 4th Avenue) in Park Slope. I have rode my bicycle past it at least 100 times and never knew what the building and the sign were all about, except that the sign is wonderful to look at. Just recently my interest in the sign and the company collided with none other than the Life photo archive, bringing Eagle Clothes full circle.

In the summer of 1951 a Life photographer (with a leaky camera) peeked in on the Eagle factory running at full steam making suits for all those GIs that returned home and needed suits. It is interesting to see that the factory looks to be very similar to some factories that are still operating in New York. Rocco Ciccarelli in Queens is a good example of a similar set-up, only smaller and most likely better quality.

At one point the building (above as pictured in July 1951; below more recently) was full of hundreds of people making clothes. Now the site is just full of clothes and other junk — its current occupant is a self storage company — because god forbid people in America actually make anything. We are too busy storing all the cheap crap from overseas that we have accumulated. End domestic manufacturing rant.

Forgotten NY and Vanishing New York both have more information about Eagle if you are interested. More modern day photos of the Eagle Clothes sign can be seen here.

Life Archive | Four Eyes

Michael Williams — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:38:44 +0000

While a lot of the photographs in the Life archive are staged, there also exists an abundance of natural sartorial expression. As I sorted through the vast collection of images I started to pick up on the eyewear throughout the years on everyone from Joseph Kennedy to Le Corbusier. A group of my favorites after the jump.

More LIFE posts here.

Life Archive | U.S. Military Uniforms c.1941

Michael Williams — Thu, 14 May 2009 13:00:39 +0000

The Life archive continues to yield cool shit, like every U.S. military kit worn in 1941. This is the kind of stuff that I want to print out and put in a wooden box and save forever. Safe to say I love it. Since these photos were taken in the run-up to the U.S. involvement in the conflict, it would be interesting to see how the uniforms changed by the time they got to 1945, especially the cavalry uniforms. Wouldn’t think they saw much action in the the war, especially the Pacific theater.

More LIFE posts here.

Life Archive | Squash

Michael Williams — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:32:46 +0000

Break out your cable knits, white pants and saddle shoes and lets go play some squash. The Life archive produces some terrific images of the 1947 National Amateur squash tournament. Considering the style of the event, it is almost crazy to see how relevant the clothing is for today. Granted I’m not going to be wearing this to the office this summer, but it could work for some leisurely vacation activities. More photos after the jump.

LIFE Archive | Hunker Down

Michael Williams — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:09:10 +0000

Nothing like a chair shortage to spark a nationwide squatting trend. That is exactly what happened in 1959 when a bunch of University of Arkansas fraternity brothers decided to make their chair-lacking displeasure known by “hunkerin‘” all over campus. The funny looking practice spread throughout Southern colleges and then eventually throughout the entire country. There is a nice little write up over at Ivy Style — who tipped me off to the whole hunkerin’ thing in the first place — which you can read here. More photos after the jump.

LIFE Archive | Brooklyn Navy Yard

Michael Williams — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:41:48 +0000

When it comes to the Life photo archive I seem to be stuck in the year 1942. The mining always begins at random places and seems to inevitably end up around WWII. The Brooklyn Navy Yard has long been a fascination of mine, and these pictures of war-time industry help to scratch that itch. One day when ACL is a massive corporation (with interests in everything from ladies undergarments to heavy equipment; just like the Japanese!) the world headquarters will hopefully be at the navy yard in good ole Kings County, Brooklyn USA.

More LIFE posts here.