Here's to Life

In the ongoing pursuit of cleaning old stuff out of the house, Mr. Ginley came across some old Life magazines he picked up at a library book sale.

©1958 Time Inc.

He's been entertaining me with bits and pieces from articles he's come across that wonderfully illustrate how far we've come (or haven't come, as the case may be).

For any youngsters who may be reading this, Life was a weekly periodical (10 1/2" x 12") that covered everything from government to fashion to entertainment to art to...well, you get the idea.

Life was famous for the breathtaking photography that accompanied its full-length articles as well as its snippets.

This particular issue is dated November 24, 1958. It cost 25 cents. On the cover is a sultry Kim Novak, posing with Pyewacket, her kitty co-star from the movie Bell, Book and Candle. Other articles included:

• a story about a missionary who goes to live with her daughter in Ecuador with the natives that killed her husband. (Fear not, I googled her and found out she lived to the ripe old age of 88.)

• an obituary for Boston Mayor James Michael Curley, eulogized as the last of the big city bosses.

• a blurb about the Hope Diamond being sent to the Smithsonian Institution by registered mail, insured for one million dollars. Harry Winston wrapped the package in plain brown paper. The cost of postage? $145.29. That's the equivalent of $1,312 today. (Fortunately, no porch pirates scampered off with the booty.)

• several photos illustrating white and black as the latest trend. Featured were a white cocktail dress with long black gloves; a Chanel houndstooth suit; a satin evening coat with jet buttons, matching satin turban and black velvet dress; and a slim black skirt and a shaggy Empire-waist three-quarter coat.

• a lengthy biography of Modigliani with several full-color reproductions of the artist's work. Two are nudes, one of which got the full spread. (Quite racy for a family magazine).

Plus lots and lots of full-color ads. Breathtaking photos of long, finned automobiles. A two-page spread on American Airlines' latest jet and one for Boeing that shows three passengers in a space that would today be crammed with six (at least) -- the gentleman is reclining his seat and NOT whacking into the person behind him. Miss Clairol of "Does she...or Doesn't She?" fame. Plus ads for booze and beer and cigarettes. The latest Magnavox TV, "a stereo high fidelity innovation." And food ads which conjure up memories of meals I'd just as soon forget.

All was not sunshine and moonbeams, as they say. The Letters to the Editors contained some pretty awful examples of where people's minds were. I'd like to think we're more enlightened these days, but from some of the stuff I've seen on social media, I'd have to say people are people, and it's always going to be a mixed bag.

Meanwhile, back at the Casa de Ginley, I'm going to pull out my copy of Bell, Book & Candle and watch it again. Kim Novak is just so stinkin' cool.

L'Chaim!