 Perfect for special occasions. 
This promo photo in vibrant color shows Argentine actress Linda Cristal, performer in numerous western films and television series. Our favorite movie of hers isn't a true western, but almost fits the bill. It's Mr. Majestyk, with Charles Bronson, based on a great Elmore Leonard novel about a farmer and some migrant workers. Cristal is yet another celeb who had an interesting name change. You understand how Spanish and Latin American naming conventions work, with, often, two first names, two last names, and sometimes even middle names added, right? Cristal's full name was Marta Victoria Moya Peggo Burges. We think Marta Victoria would have worked fine as a stage name. Or better yet—Marta Moya. That has a nice alliterative flow. Or maybe even Marta Peggo. Actually, scratch that one. Peggo Burges? No? Well anyway, she chose Linda Cristal, which is fine, and as you Spanish speakers know, it's a combo of the words for “cute,” or “pretty,” and “glass,” or “crystal.” We'll go with pretty glass. The name fits. Cristal just died a couple of weeks ago in Beverly Hills, where she had resided for many years. The photo is from around 1955.
 This particular Gondel is filled with unidentified passengers. 
Back in 2010 we showed you some covers of the West German movie magazine Gondel, named of course after Venice’s famed banana-shaped boats. Which is fitting because Gondel later began to dedicate itself to a completely different type of banana shape by turning into a porn magazine. You see, because a banana and an erect penis are both… er… filled with potassium… *someone turns on a blender behind the bar* Anyway, it was in the 1970s when Gondel shifted gears, and theirs wasn’t an uncommon evolution among magazines around that time, as we’ve talked about before regarding the men’s adventure publication Male. Above you see the front of an issue that hit newsstands this month in 1958, and below are the interiors. The cover model is credited as Marlon Rota, as you can see by looking at masthead page where it says “titelfoto,” but no person so named ever appeared in movies. It’s possible her name is spelled wrong, because others are, but we checked similar names such as Marilyn Rota and Marlene Rota and came up blank. It’s also possible she’s just too obscure to register on the internet. So that’s another of History’s Little Mysteries™. There are others. Inside the issue you get full-page shots of, top to bottom, Anne Heywood, Merry Anders, Rita Pizzy, Clark Gable with Jean Kay, Maggie McGrath, Elga Andersen, Nuccia Morelli, Yvonne de Carlo with Robert Morgan, unknown, Margarete Neumann, Linda Cristal, Karin Himboldt, Joan Collins, unknown, Pascale Roberts, Belinda Lee with unknown, Annie Gorassini, Anne Heyworth, Mamie Van Doren, unknown, and Arlene Dahl. Got any idea who the mystery passengers are? Let us know, and meanwhile check out the Gondel covers at this link.                        
 Record company borrows a collection of fabulous fifties models. 
We ran across these CDs and thought they’d be an interesting share. The covers are sloppily Photoshopped, but we certainly can’t fault the choice of models. Some are semi-famous actresses, such as Dani Crayne, above, and Claire Gordon, just below, while others are pin-ups. Most of the photos were borrowed from the British cinema magazine Picturegoer, which was published from 1921 to 1960. We haven’t featured that magazine yet, but we’ve a mind to buy a few because they’re widely available online. As far as the music here goes, each CD is a compilation of twenty-five or thirty 1950s pop songs, but we haven’t heard them, so we can’t comment on the quality. Sloppy cover work often hints at hastily compiled music, and perhaps substandard sonic quality, but you never know. Anyway, we have fifteen scans total, with Julie Glenville, Sheree Winton, Barbara Joyce and more.              
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The headlines that mattered yesteryear.
2011—Elizabeth Taylor Dies
American actress Elizabeth Taylor, whose career began at age 12 when she starred in National Velvet, and who would eventually be nominated for five Academy Awards as best actress and win for Butterfield 8 and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, dies of congestive heart failure in Los Angeles. During her life she had been hospitalized more than 70 times. 1963—Profumo Denies Affair
In England, the Secretary of State for War, John Profumo, denies any impropriety with showgirl Christine Keeler and threatens to sue anyone repeating the allegations. The accusations involve not just infidelity, but the possibility acquaintances of Keeler might be trying to ply Profumo for nuclear secrets. In June, Profumo finally resigns from the government after confessing his sexual involvement with Keeler and admitting he lied to parliament. 1978—Karl Wallenda Falls to His Death
World famous German daredevil and high-wire walker Karl Wallenda, founder of the acrobatic troupe The Flying Wallendas, falls to his death attempting to walk on a cable strung between the two towers of the Condado Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Wallenda is seventy-three years old at the time, but it is a 30 mph wind, rather than age, that is generally blamed for sending him from the wire. 2006—Swedish Spy Stig Wennerstrom Dies
Swedish air force colonel Stig Wennerström, who had been convicted in the 1970s of passing Swedish, U.S. and NATO secrets to the Soviet Union over the course of fifteen years, dies in an old age home at the age of ninety-nine. The Wennerström affair, as some called it, was at the time one of the biggest scandals of the Cold War. 1963—Alcatraz Closes
The federal penitentiary located on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay closes. The island had been home to a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military prison over the years. In 1972, it would become a national recreation area open to tourists, and it would receive national landmark designations in 1976 and 1986.
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