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October 19, 2025

1955 Ghia Streamline X ‘Gilda’: The Jet Age Masterpiece

The 1955 Ghia Streamline X ‘Gilda’ Concept is a singular, iconic representation of the 1950s Jet Age in automotive design, created by Ghia’s chief stylist and aerodynamicist, Giovanni Savonuzzi. Commissioned in part by Chrysler’s Virgil Exner, the coupé was nicknamed after the sleek and dangerous allure of Rita Hayworth’s character in the 1946 film Gilda.

Debuting at the Turin Motor Show, the car featured a radical wedge shape and distinctive, soaring tail fins that were scientifically designed in a wind tunnel to maximize aerodynamic stability—a stark departure from mere decoration. Though initially a non-functional mock-up, the Gilda was designed to house a pioneering gas-turbine engine, which has since been installed.

The concept’s dramatic silhouette and forward-thinking design proved highly influential, directly inspiring Chrysler’s famed “Forward Look” styling theme for its 1957 production models. Here below is a set of amazing photos of the 1955 Ghia Streamline X ‘Gilda’.






October 18, 2025

28 Fascinating Photos of Dawn Wells as Mary Ann Summers on “Gilligan’s Island” (1964–1967)

Dawn Wells (October 18, 1938 – December 30, 2020) was an American actress. She is best known for her role as Mary Ann Summers on the television sitcom Gilligan’s Island, which aired from 1964 to 1967.

As Mary Ann, Wells portrayed the sweet, wholesome farm girl from Winfield, Kansas — the “girl next door” among the castaways stranded on a deserted island. Her character contrasted perfectly with Tina Louise’s glamorous movie star, Ginger Grant, creating one of TV’s most beloved dynamics.

Mary Ann was known for her optimism, kindness, and practicality — she often helped with cooking, sewing, and maintaining order among the castaways. Her signature look featured gingham dresses, pigtails, and a warm smile, which made her an enduring fan favorite.

Though Gilligan’s Island lasted only three seasons, its reruns made it a pop culture staple, and Dawn Wells became a beloved figure at fan conventions and nostalgic TV events for decades. She often expressed gratitude for the role, saying Mary Ann represented “the values America still holds dear — honesty, goodness, and sincerity.”






Rico Puhlmann: The Photographer of Post-War Chic

Rico Puhlmann (1934–1996) was a highly influential German fashion photographer and illustrator who shaped the aesthetic of the industry from the post-war era to the 1990s.

Initially training as a graphic designer in Berlin, Puhlmann brought an astute understanding of composition and color to his photography, helping to define the early look of “Berliner Chic.” After moving to New York in the 1970s, he rose to international prominence, serving as the chief photographer for Harper’s Bazaar for over two decades and regularly contributing to magazines like Vogue and GQ.

His signature style was a blend of intimate glamour and lyrical realism, where he preferred to photograph high fashion and celebrity portraits—such as those of Cindy Crawford and Isabella Rossellini—in natural, relatable settings rather than dramatic studios, making elegance look effortless.

Puhlmann’s prolific and celebrated career was tragically cut short in the TWA Flight 800 crash in 1996, but his legacy endures as a master who successfully transitioned fashion photography into the modern era. These glamorous photos are part of the work where Rico Puhlmann captured fashion portraits of iconic models across the 1960s.

Denise Sarrault is wearing evening gown by Schwichtenberg, Berlin, photo by Rico Puhlmann, published in Stern, October 1960

Fashion photo by Rico Puhlmann, Berlin, 1960

Ina Balke in coat by Gehringer & Glupp in front of Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, photographed by Rico Puhlmann for Beyer Moden, Spring/Summer 1960

Lissy Scharper wearing a cocktail dress by Staebe-Seger, New York, photographed by Rico Puhlmann for Stern, July 1960

Lissy Scharper, photo by Rico Puhlmann, New York, 1960

Jewish Immigrant Nessim Menashe Standing in Front of His New and Secondhand Shoe Store in Portland, Oregon, 1916

Nessim Menashe, a Jewish immigrant, opened his secondhand and new shoe store in Portland, Oregon, around 1916, contributing to the vibrant immigrant community that helped shape the city’s early 20th-century economy.


Menashe, part of one of the first Sephardic Jewish families to settle in Portland, was among a wave of immigrants who arrived from Turkey and the Isle of Rhodes. These Sephardic Jews brought with them a rich cultural heritage, establishing small businesses that served the growing needs of their community. Portland’s early Sephardic immigrants, including the Menashes, played an essential role in the city's commercial landscape, especially in the retail and food sectors, as they found opportunities to build new lives far from their homelands.

The Menashe family’s involvement in Portland’s business scene was not limited to just this shoe store. As early pioneers of the Sephardic Jewish community, they ran various small shops throughout the area, becoming fixtures in the city’s multicultural fabric. Their contributions, along with those of other Jewish immigrants, helped lay the groundwork for Portland’s expansion and diversity. The city’s Jewish population, especially the Sephardic Jews, had a significant impact on the development of retail businesses, which served both their community and the broader Portland area. Their businesses, including Menashe’s shoe store, not only provided essential goods and services but also fostered a sense of community among Jewish immigrants who had left their homelands in search of new opportunities in America.

Menashe’s shoe store operated for several years, providing affordable footwear to the people of Portland until it closed in 1921. The legacy of Menashe’s entrepreneurial spirit lives on in the broader context of immigrant-driven businesses that contributed to Portland’s cultural and economic development. The store itself stands as a symbol of the many small businesses that defined the immigrant experience in early 20th-century America.

Hans Thoma: The Poet of the Black Forest

Hans Thoma (1839–1924) was a celebrated German painter whose art blended realism with a quiet, lyrical romanticism. Deeply inspired by the landscapes of his native Black Forest, he filled his canvases with serene scenes of nature, myth, and everyday life, rendered with delicate color and balance.

Though trained in traditional academic style, Thoma’s work carried a sense of dreamlike simplicity that made him one of Germany’s most beloved artists at the turn of the century. His paintings evoke both the harmony of nature and the timeless beauty of rural life.

With his gentle vision and poetic touch, Hans Thoma transformed the familiar world around him into something eternal — calm, radiant, and profoundly human.

Black Forest Landscape

An Allegory of Springtime

Apollo and Marsyas

Children with a Goat Herd

Clouds with Angels

50 Stunning Portraits of a Very Young and Beautiful Rita Hayworth From Her Early Film Career in the 1930s

Rita Hayworth (October 17, 1918 – May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer, and pin-up girl. She achieved fame in the 1940s as one of the top stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, and appeared in 61 films in total over 37 years. The press coined the term “The Love Goddess” to describe Hayworth, after she had become the most glamorous screen idol of the 1940s. She was the top pin-up girl for GIs during World War II.

Born Margarita Carmen Cansino in 1918 in Brooklyn, she came from a family of dancers. Her father, Eduardo Cansino, was a Spanish flamenco dancer, and her mother, Volga Hayworth, was an American showgirl. In the early 1930s, she performed professionally with her father in a dance act called The Dancing Cansinos, appearing in nightclubs and even in short films.

Cansino took a bit part in the film Cruz Diablo (1934) at age 16, which led to another bit part in the film In Caliente (1935) with the Mexican actress Dolores del Río. She danced with her father in such nightspots as the Foreign and the Caliente clubs. Winfield Sheehan, the head of the Fox Film Corporation, saw her dancing at the Caliente Club and quickly arranged for Hayworth to do a screen test a week later. Impressed by her screen persona, Sheehan signed her to a six-month contract at Fox under the name Rita Cansino, the first of two name changes during her film career.

During her time at Fox, Hayworth was billed as Rita Cansino and appeared in unremarkable roles, often cast as the exotic foreigner. In late 1934, aged 16, she performed a dance sequence in the Spencer Tracy film Dante’s Inferno (1935), and was put under contract in February 1935.  She had her first speaking role as an Argentinian girl in Under the Pampas Moon (1935).  She played an Egyptian girl in Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935), and a Russian dancer in Paddy O’Day (1935). Sheehan was grooming her for the lead in the 1936 Technicolor film Ramona, hoping to establish her as Fox Film’s new Dolores del Río.

By the end of her six-month contract, Fox had merged into 20th Century Fox, with Darryl F. Zanuck serving as the executive producer. Dismissing Sheehan’s interest in her and giving Loretta Young the lead in Ramona, Zanuck did not renew Cansino’s contract. Sensing her screen potential, salesman and promoter Edward C. Judson, with whom she would elope in 1937,  got freelance work for her in several small-studio films and a part in the Columbia Pictures feature Meet Nero Wolfe (1936). Studio head Harry Cohn signed her to a seven-year contract and tried her out in small roles.

Cohn argued that her image was too Mediterranean, which limited her to being stereotyped in “exotic” roles that were fewer in number. He was heard to say her last name sounded too Spanish. Judson acted on Cohn’s advice: Rita Cansino became Rita Hayworth when she adopted her mother’s maiden name.  Therefore, Cohn argued, people were more likely to regard her as a classic “American.” With Cohn and Judson’s encouragement, Hayworth also changed her hair color to ginger red hair and had electrolysis to raise her hairline and broaden the appearance of her forehead.

Hayworth appeared in five minor Columbia pictures and three minor independent movies in 1937. The following year, she appeared in five Columbia B movies. In 1939, Cohn pressured director Howard Hawks to use Hayworth for a small, but important, role as a man-trap in the aviation drama Only Angels Have Wings, in which she played opposite Cary Grant and Jean Arthur.

Cohn began to build up Hayworth in 1940 in features such as Music in My Heart, The Lady in Question, and Angels Over Broadway. That year, she was first featured in a Life magazine cover story. While on loan to Warner Bros., Hayworth appeared as the second female lead in The Strawberry Blonde (1941), opposite James Cagney.

Off-screen, she was shy and soft-spoken, a sharp contrast to the sultry glamour she would later become famous for. She spent much of the decade learning how to project herself on film — dancing, posing, and acting — setting the stage for her rise in the 1940s as one of Hollywood’s greatest stars.






October 17, 2025

40 Amazing Photos of Ace Frehley of Kiss in the 1970s

Ace Frehley, the lead guitarist and co-founder of the legendary rock band Kiss, has died aged 74. The musician, who inspired a generation of guitarists and performed on Kiss’ first nine albums, died on Thursday in a New Jersey hospital after suffering injuries during a recent fall, his family said in a statement.

“We are completely devastated and heartbroken,” Frehley’s family said. “In his last moments, we were fortunate enough to have been able to surround him with loving, caring, peaceful words, thoughts, prayers and intentions as he left this earth. We cherish all of his finest memories, his laughter, and celebrate his strengths and kindness that he bestowed upon others. The magnitude of his passing is of epic proportions, and beyond comprehension. Reflecting on all of his incredible life achievements, Ace’s memory will continue to live on forever!”

His longtime bandmates, Kiss’ Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, wrote in a statement: “We are devastated by the passing of Ace Frehley. He was an essential and irreplaceable rock soldier during some of the most formative foundational chapters of the band and its history. He is and will always be a part of Kiss’ legacy. Our thoughts are with Jeanette, Monique and all those who loved him, including our fans around the world.”

Born Paul Daniel Frehley in New York City in 1951, he co-founded Kiss in 1973 with singer Paul Stanley, bassist and part-time singer Gene Simmons and drummer Peter Criss.

Frehley invented and embodied the “Spaceman” or “Space Ace” persona, complete with his signature silver-star makeup and costume, which became a cornerstone of the band’s comic book-style characters. He designed the band’s now-iconic lightning bolt logo.

His playing style was noted for its “aggressive, atmospheric, and melodic” sound, adding a blues-rock edge to Kiss’ hard-charging rock. His distinctive solos, such as the one on “Detroit Rock City,” were a key element in the band's sound. He pioneered the use of “special effects” guitars that became synonymous with Kiss’ theatrical live shows, including his Gibson Les Paul that would emit smoke from its pickup and sometimes shoot pyrotechnics or rockets.

Frehley wrote or co-wrote several classic Kiss songs. His song “Cold Gin” (from the 1974 debut album) remains a fan favorite and a staple in the band’s setlist for decades. He played on all of the band’s classic and most commercially successful albums of the decade, including Kiss (1974), Hotter Than Hell (1974), Alive! (1975), Destroyer (1976), Rock and Roll Over (1976), Love Gun (1977), and Alive II (1977).

When all four members released solo albums on the same day in 1978, Frehley’s album, Ace Frehley, was the most commercially successful of the four, featuring the Top 20 hit single “New York Groove.” This success led to an increased songwriting role for him in the band’s later 1970s albums like Dynasty (1979).

Ace Frehley was integral to Kiss’ golden age in the 1970s, defining their look, providing their distinctive lead guitar sound, and delivering some of their most enduring songs. He had left Kiss in 1982 after feeling conflicted about the band’s direction and struggling with substance abuse. In 1984, Frehley formed a new band, Frehley’s Comet, which released two studio albums but failed to take off.

Here’s a collection of 40 amazing photos of Frehley in the 1970s:









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