Vintage Everyday

Bonde Gaza, a Hungarian musician who survived the Gardelegen massacre where over 1,000 slave laborers were burnt alive, demonstrates to American soldiers how he managed to escape from the barn which the SS had set on fire. Germany, April 14–18, 1945.

Cheryl Ladd starred as Liane DeVilliers in the 1986 ABC television miniseries Crossings, an adaptation of Danielle Steel’s bestselling World War II romance novel. On the set and in character, her appearance featured glamorous, era-specific costuming, structured 1930s-and-1940s-style updos, and diverse outfits that highlighted her character’s dramatic journey from a wealthy ambassador’s wife to a wartime nurse.

Christine Perfect, who would later become widely known as Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac, attended the Melody Maker Pop Star Awards in 1969 during her time with Chicken Shack, a British blues band. That year, she was notably voted “Top Female Singer” in the Melody Maker readers’ poll, a significant achievement that boosted her profile in the British music scene.

At the 1969 awards, which held at the Waldorf Hotel in London on September 19, 1969, she appeared in a chic, late-1960s style outfit – often described as embodying the “mod-meets-bohemian” look of the time. She was recognized for her soulful vocals and bluesy presence in Chicken Shack, particularly after their hit cover of “I’d Rather Go Blind,” which featured her lead vocals and became a standout track.

On December 5, 1970, Elvis Presley served as the best man at the wedding of his lifelong friend and Memphis radio DJ, George Klein, who married Barbara Little. The ceremony took place inside Elvis’s private Imperial Suite at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Elvis and Klein first met in the eighth grade at Humes High School and remained extremely close confidants until Elvis’s passing. Priscilla Presley attended alongside Elvis, and country music star Glen Campbell was also a guest. True to his eccentric gift-giving style, Elvis reportedly presented Klein with a gold-plated derringer handgun as a wedding gift.

Did you know that before she became a famous Hollywood actress, Bette Davis was the state of Maine’s first female lifeguard? In 1926, she completed Red Cross training and joined the Ogunquit Ocean Rescue team.

On June 27, 1994, 26-year-old model and actress Anna Nicole Smith married 89-year-old billionaire oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II at the White Dove Wedding Chapel in Houston, Texas. The ceremony became one of the most heavily scrutinized and iconic media spectacles of the 1990s due to their 63-year age difference and Marshall’s vast fortune.

The wedding took place in an intimate setting with only eleven guests in attendance. Both the bride and groom dressed in all white. Smith wore a traditional cleaving white lace gown and veil while showcasing a 22-carat diamond ring. The elderly groom, who was in frail health, was wheeled up the aisle in a wheelchair to the song “Tonight I Celebrate My Love For You.” The couple sealed their vows with a kiss, and white doves were released inside the chapel.