 She's an architectural marvel. 
This long tall pin-up stars famed 1950s model Madeline Castle and was printed by an outfit based in Redstone, New Hampshire that called itself Life-Size. They were just Life-Size—no Inc. or Co., as far as we can tell. It's the same operation that printed a rare life-sized Marilyn Monroe pin-up we showed you a while back. We didn't mention then that we had located more, but we had, and we'll show you those later, including a life-sized Anita Ekberg we know you'll enjoy. In the meantime you can see more from Miss Castle here, here, and here.
 Don't just turn over a new leaf. Turn over twelve of them. 
Let's start the year right. Everyone is hoping for a better 2021 than 2020. That's assuming you adhere to constrained, non-scientific ideas about time—for cynics and realists it's just another day. But in any case, above you see the cover of a 1959 nudie calendar that came inside an issue of the U.S. magazine Cocktail, a creation of Beacon Publications. The interior is below, and those with sharp eyes will spot a few notables—burlesque dancer Candy Barr in June, Madeline Castle in July (her pose is the same as from the famed promo poster for the sci-fi film The Astounding She-Monster, though Shirley Kilpatrick played the monster), Shirley Kilpatrick in August (what a coincidence), and Jean Nieto, aka Ramona Rogers, in November. The other models may be well known too, but not by us, at least not today. When the cava hangover wears off, maybe our brains will work better. Then again, maybe the damage is permanent. Only time will tell. Happy New Year.                
 Greetings, humans—take me to your leading erotic dancing establishment. 
This poster for The Astounding She-Monster is beyond a doubt one of the best mid-century sci-fi promos ever. The illustrator Albert Kallis was responsible for numerous top notch works like The Brain Eaters and Terror from the Year 5000, but we think this one is his masterpiece. He used famed nude model Madeline Castle as his inspiration for the monster, though she wasn't in the film. We'll get back to Kallis a bit later. As far as the movie goes, the plot is simple: an alien that looks a lot like nude model Shirley Kilpatrick in a zipback jumpsuit lands on Earth and crosses paths with a group of kidnappers, who with their hostage have invaded a geologist's house. Though Kilpatrick is wardrobed like a stripper or go-go dancer, the filmmakers have a serious goal, which is to show how a celestial emissary immediately sees humans at their most basic—in pointless conflict. When the She-Monster is forced to defend herself she does so, like all strippers do, with her lethal radioactive touch.
This effort from American International Pictures is ’50s sci-fi at its worst yet most earnest. The underlying anti-nuclear, anti-violence messages are laudable, but undermined by an $18,000 budget and a four-day shoot rife with terrible execution and unintentional comedy. The stock bear footage alone will have you rolling your eyes. And Marilyn Harvey screaming in panic...  ...as she bolts out of the geologist's house is such a funny sight we had to watch it over and over. We're talking fall-on-the-floor hilarious. Even so, when is the last time you saw an anti nuclear movie? All these cheesy peacenik flicks from the ’50s and ’60s cared, which makes them—in that way at least—far superior to most of the cynical films being produced today. The Astounding She-Monster premiered this month in 1957.
 I call this the dreaded claw.
 Oh yeah? I call this the dreaded fist!
 Does anyone want a lap dance?
  Oh my freaking God! Let's get the fuck out of here!
 Kilpatrick, during calmer times, catches some rays and practices making creepy space hands. 
 Something wicker this way comes. 
Back in March we shared a Technicolor lithograph of an unknown model we later found out was Playboy centerfold Madeline Castle. A few days ago we stumbled upon this photo from the same shoot (which we’ve dubbed the Wicker Sessions). We knew nothing about Castle just three months ago, and now we’re seeing her everywhere. Have to say, after nearly six years of doing this we have learned so much about mid-century celebs it’s astonishing. Anyone need a pub quiz teammate? We would absolutely kill this category. Update: as with any worthwhile castle there's always more to discover.
 Take... picture quick. Can’t hold this pose… much longer. 
Above, a familiar looking but as yet unidentified model posing for one of Corp. A. Fox’s Technicolor pin-ups. This makes the eleventh one of these we’ve shared and you can see the others by clicking its keywords below. Update: It's Madeline Castle, who was a Playboy Playmate of the month back in October 1954 and a popular pin-up model for many more years. The shot above isn't the most flattering of her, so we've uploaded another one below, from Folies de Paris et de Hollywood #288, 1964. Yes, we know the two look like different women entirely, but they aren't, we promise. She just looks better below, and as a bonus she's smiling instead of grimacing. Update on our update: Turns out she was under our noses the entire time. We shared a Man's Life featuring Castle back in January 2013. You know when you have so much stuff you can't keep track of it? Yeah, exactly.
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The headlines that mattered yesteryear.
1964—Mass Student Arrests in U.S.
In California, Police arrest over 800 students at the University of California, Berkeley, following their takeover and sit-in at the administration building in protest at the UC Regents' decision to forbid protests on university property. 1968—U.S. Unemployment Hits Low
Unemployment figures are released revealing that the U.S. unemployment rate has fallen to 3.3 percent, the lowest rate for almost fifteen years. Going forward all the way to the current day, the figure never reaches this low level again. 1954—Joseph McCarthy Disciplined by Senate
In the United States, after standing idly by during years of communist witch hunts in Hollywood and beyond, the U.S. Senate votes 65 to 22 to condemn Joseph McCarthy for conduct bringing the Senate into dishonor and disrepute. The vote ruined McCarthy's career. 1955—Rosa Parks Sparks Bus Boycott
In the U.S., in Montgomery, Alabama, seamstress Rosa Parks refuses to give her bus seat to a white man and is arrested for violating the city's racial segregation laws, an incident which leads to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The boycott resulted in a crippling financial deficit for the Montgomery public transit system, because the city's African-American population were the bulk of the system's ridership.
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