In a Beware Of The Blog post dated Nov. 23, Listener Kilph Nesteroff was the first one to clue me in to the fact that a super-colossal chunk of LIFE magazine's photographic archives have been posted online, hosted by Google. Ever since then I've been compulsively ogling this embarrassment of visual riches. Here are a couple of handfuls of my favorite discoveries. I had to force myself to quit hunting for more images.
For the most part, the photos are titled here the same way they are in the archive, but in some instances I added a few words to better indicate what the image is. Go here to do your own searching.
Plane Over Midtown Manhattan. Margaret Bourke-White, 1939 (Twice the size of the photo posted nearby).
Eero Saarinen-Designed TWA Terminal At Idlewild Airport. Dmitri Kessell, 1961.
Pan-American Terminal At Idlewild Airport. Dmitri Kessell, 1961.
Mid-Century Modern Architecture. Circular Motel. Location And Year Unknown. Yale Joel.
Trick Shot King Bob Geesey Shattering Egg. Bernard Hoffman, 1948.
Trick Shot King Bob Geesey With Wife & Assistant. Bernard Hoffman, 1948.
Beautiful Legs Contest (Women Wearing Lone Ranger Masks). Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1949.
James Brown Teaching Johnny Carson How To Dance. Alfred Schatz, 1967.
Another 100 or so links follow the jump.
Celebrating The New Year....With Cheesecake. Edward Clark, 1950.
More Cheesecake...Model Lights Fuse On Giant Rocket. Ed Clark, 1950.
Guest at the Flying L Ranch wearing a rodeo bathing suit. Cornell Capa, 1947
Stunt Man Jack Wylie Kite-Flighting Over The Chicago River. Al Fenn, 1958.
Movie Gun-Man Jack Elam Showing The Art Of Dying From Gunshot. Ralph Crane, 1956.
Strolling Blind Musician In Times Square. Peter Stackpole, 1944
Beatnik Night Club, Fort Worth. (You Must Be Weird Or You Wouldn't Be Here). A.Y. Owen, 1960.
Charles Laughton New York (Times Square). Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1952
Insect Models. Loomis Dean, undated.
TV Models. (Man Totes Woman Up A Ladder). Martha Holmes, 1949.
Fashion Models On A Diving Board At A Miami Pool. Lisa Larsen, 1956.
Stuffed Tiger Trophy Heads Of Big Game Hunters. Loomis Dean, 1961.
The Jack Cole Group (Dancers) Performing At The Harem, New York. Gjon Mili, 1947.
Phil Silvers Shuffling Cards On His Television Show. Yale Joel, 1955.
Russian Performing Bear And His Trainer Riding Motorcycles, Moscow. Carl Mydans, 1959.
Actors Demonstrating The Face Frying Trick At Grand Guignol Theatre, Paris, France. Hans Wild, 1947.
Track Star Mel Patton's Lightning Start. Peter Stackpole, 1947
NYC: Broadway Looking North From 45th Street, Row Of Movie Theatres. Andreas Feininger, 1954.
Kids Wearing Fidel Castro Caps & Beards (While Playing Baseball). Ralph Morse, 1959.
Pet Python. George Skadding, 1950.
Local Citizens Mobilize At A Montana Bar During Prison Riots. Michael Rougier, 1959
Bicycle Parade In Battle Creek, Michigan. Joel Scherschel, 1952.
Nineteen Foot Chair Used As Advertising Stunt. Ed Clark, 1958.
Young Girl Snake Hunting. Allan Grant, 1950
Diving Horse, Atlantic City. Peter Stackpole, 1953.
Women Walking Across The Street In Spike Heels, NYC. James Burke, 1960.
A Bank's Stunt To Gain Publicity. Ralph Crane, 1961
Chimpanzees Performing Acrobatics On Backs Of Ponies. Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1942.
St Louis Zoo. Jules Jacon Training A Lion. Wallace Kirkland, 1951.
Los Angeles Airport. Ralph Crane, 1962
Mamie Van Doren Washing The Whitewalls On Her Jaguar. Loomis Dean, 1954.
Buttons For All Occasions, A Fad Of The "Demonstration Era." Bob Gomel, 1966.
Tennessee Ernie Ford Appears To Prop Up Capitol Records Tower In Los Angeles. Allan Grant, 1955.
Shoppers Strolling Through Business District In Memphis. Walter Sanders, 1943
Ford's Huge Auto Promotion Scheme To Show Its New Cars. Francis Miller, 1960
Texas Rattlesnake Fangs And Venom. Gjon Mili, 1946.
Billy Wilder, Pamela Tiffen and Horst Bucholz in One, Two, Three. Gjon Mili, 1960.
(They've misspelled Tiffin's last name....to see a bunch of photos of her, type in "Tiffen."
Jack Webb On The Cover Of Time Magazine, 03/15/54. Boris Chaliapin.
Wingwalker Frances Kari Performing Barnstorming Stunt. Loomis Dean, 1948.
Two Angry Gamecocks Striking Furiously At Each Other. Gjon Mili, 1938.
The Zachinnis, Human Cannonballs. Cornell Capa, 1948
Students Participating In Cheerleading Practice, Norfolk, VA. Paul Schutzer, 1958.
Cheerleaders Training Under Bill Horan, Of The American Cheerleaders Association. Lynn Pelham, 1965.
People Jumping On Trampolines. Ralph Crane, 1960.
A View Of The Trampoline Craze. Ralph Crane, 1960.
Stripper Divena Performing Her Act Underwater At Casino Royale, New Orleans. Loomis Dean, 1949.
Stripper Evangeline Sylvas Angrily Breaks Water Tank Used By Fellow Stripper. John Dominis, 1949
Bathing Suit Day, Monkey Drinking A Coca-Cola. Robert W. Kelly, 1952.
Bathing Suit Day, Woman Gets Ogled By Crowd. Robert W. Kelly, 1952.
New Motel, Restaurant And Glass And Steel Garage. Dusseldorf, Germany. Ralph Crane, 1953.
Modern Motel Exterior View. Venice, Florida. Joseph Scherschel, 1958.
Peter Fonda (Left) Playing A Bongo Drum, Los Angeles. Francis Miller, 1961.
Porno Stores, Times Square. Ted Thai, 1986.
Playboy Club Exterior, New York City. Carl Mydans, 1963.
Chicago Bowler Andy Varipapa, Celebrating His Score. George Skadding, 1948.
Comedian Steve Allen Hula Hooping At Rehearsal. Peter Stackpole, 1958.
A Strip Teaser Using A Hula Hoop In Her Act. Grey Villet, 1958.
Brooklyn Beach on the 4th Of July (Coney Island). Sam Shere, 1946.
Fourth Of July, Coney Island. Andreas Feininger, 1949.
Overall View Of Coney Island. Ralph Morse, 1943.
St. Louis Zookeeper Pours Beer Into Phil The Gorilla's Mouth. Wallace Kirkland, 1954.
US Marine Jesse Goin Carrying His Dog Towards The Front. George Strock, 1944.
Performing Chimpanzee Zippy Riding A Bike. Michael Rougier, 1955.
St. Louis Zoo. Chimp & Kid In Western Clothes With Guns Drawn. Wallace Kirkland, 1950.
Pair Of Couples "Chicken-Fighting" In Pool At Los Angeles Singles Apt. Complex. Arthur Schatz, 1967.
Midget Bearded Bear Man Walking On All Fours. Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1938.
Shriners - Fort Worth, Texas '72. Co Rentmeester, 1972.
Monkey Balancing Himself On A Unicycle Down A Thin Pole. Bernard Hoffman, 1945.
Claremont College Student Pedaling On A Unicycle While Playing Guitar. Ralph Crane, 1957.
Prayer Marathon In Memphis (Risque Photo Of Woman). Howard Sochurek, 1952
18 Year Old Dancer On TV Program Hollywood A GOGO. Bill Ray, 1965.
Stunt Man Breaks Through Glass Jumping Through Second Floor Window. Allan Grant, 1952.
Smoking Baboon, With Medical Technician Robert Mitchell, New Orleans. Lynn Pelham, 1966.
Ventriloquist Paul Winchell Uses Electric Drill On His Dummy's Head. Gordon Parks, 1952.
Rodeo Parade, Kerrville, Texas. Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1943.
Marie Wilson And A Giant Plaster Leg. Allan Grant, 1949.
Showgirl Modeling Bikini For Customers At Lunch, Los Angeles. Bill Ray, 1964.
Beauty Hospital Of Dr. Robert A. Franklyn, Bel Air. Allen Grant, 1961
Alligator Walks More Upright Than A Lizard. Andreas Feininger, 1951.
"Happy Landing" Converted Airliner / Gas Station, Los Angeles. Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1936.
Jesus, thanks. I've saved enough of these photos BEFORE the jump that I'm afraid to go searching myself, for fear of losing more time than I could stand to...
Posted by: andy | December 05, 2008 at 08:06 PM
Mid-Century Modern Architecture. Circular Motel. Location And Year Unknown. Yale Joel.
That building was actually the Villa Roma Hotel in San Francisco, CA. I stayed in that hotel in 1978 during my first SF trip. That place was stuck in my head for years and got me interested in pretty much all things "Googie". I think this was torn down in the mid-80's.
Looks like I'll be digging even deeper in the LIFE archives.
Don-O
Posted by: Don-O | December 05, 2008 at 10:24 PM
This one of FDR v. Willkie campaign buttons is amazing in its way: NO MAN IS GOOD THREE TIMES.
Posted by: EasyEW | December 06, 2008 at 01:09 AM
I'm pretty sure the one of the Fort Worth Beatnik Club must be the one George Carlin refers to as the place he started out with Jack Burns.
Posted by: Listener Kliph | December 06, 2008 at 03:00 AM
Wow! Thanks for the hard work. Keep 'em coming!!
Posted by: DJ SONNY BITCH! | December 06, 2008 at 08:49 AM
The plane over Manhattan reminds me of the Twilight Zone episode where the airliner keeps making an approach to Idlewild but it's always the wrong date. I especially like the scene where they come out of the clouds only to see stop motion dinosaurs roaming around.
Posted by: Dale | December 06, 2008 at 09:13 AM
Slight correction: a catcher (the picture is "Skyscrapers: Catcher...") isn't there to catch a rivet if it falls--they're more a relay man, and integral part of the process. The rivet is heated; then thrown to the catcher who places it in the hole; then another guy hammers the rivet until it's installed, with the help of another worker who "bucks" the rivets, keeping it in place as it's hammered. Then they repeat the process...about a gazillion times.
Posted by: folksnake | December 06, 2008 at 09:46 AM
folksnake - thanks for the explanation / clarification. That text I used was lifted directly from the Google/Life page showing a compact view of the photo. It seemed like an impossible task the way it was described there....with the catcher theoretically being responsible who for who knows how much area. Nevertheless, it's still an incredibly dangerous job. Those pics of bridge and skyscraper construction projects are amazing.
Posted by: Listener Greg G. | December 06, 2008 at 10:01 AM
Thats the best stuff
Posted by: listener Carl | December 06, 2008 at 12:47 PM
See if you can find that photo (I believe it was LIFE) of the drive-in theater with a train running right next to it. Reminds me of today's NYT front-page masterpieces of common but surreal moments.
Posted by: Jim | December 07, 2008 at 08:02 PM