1955

Articles from 1955

The First Celebrity Hairdresser
(Coronet Magazine, 1955)

This article tells the story of a certain Antoni Cierplikowski – better known as Antoine of Paris (1884 – 1976). He was the premiere hairdresser throughout much of the last century and his illustrious client list included many names that you would recognize. Yet, to simply write the man off as a celebrity hairstylist is to ignore his myriad innovations:


• Antoine was the creator of the Bob.

• He created the Perm.

• He was the first to tint gray hair to blue.

• He was the first to apply a lacquer to hair as a fixative.

• Antoine was the first to tinge isolated elements within a hairdo blond as a streaked highlight.

The Conversion of an Atheist
(Coronet Magazine, 1955)

Throughout the course of her life Lillian Roth (1910 – 1980) had lived the high life as well as the low, and during one of the darker moments she sat pining in the depths of her anguish crying out to God – even though she didn’t believe He existed – a well-wisher approached her with a unique line of reasoning that was so pure in its simplicity it immediately lead her to realize that God does indeed exist.

Racial Integration Comes to Sin City
(People Today Magazine, 1955)

When it became clear to all that the Black community was not wasting its money or withering under the weight of Syphilis like their White counterparts – it was decided that it was time to erect an interracial hotel in the Nevada casino capital of Las Vegas, and so they did; it was called Moulin Rouge.

The Amazing Volkswagen
(Pic Magazine, 1955)

Much of the credit for the success of Volkswagen immediately after the war was due to the visionary leadership of Volkswagen CEO Heinz Nordhoff (1899 – 1968), who was able to assess the faults of the existing model and make the necessary improvements:

The power was low, and the engine had a life of only 10,000 miles. Nordhoff brought in new experts who redesigned every vital component, working on the original pre-war designs of Ferdinand Porsche… The new car was quieter and more powerful, and had hydraulic brakes and shock absorbers. Soon, models with luxury touches were introduced.

Joe Rosenthal on Iwo Jima
(Collier’s Magazine, 1955)

Associated Press combat photographer Joe Rosenthal (1911 – 2006) wrote the attached article ten years after snapping the world famous image of the four U.S. Marines and one Navy corpsman raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi during the battle of Iwo Jima. In five pages, he explains the remarkable impact that the photo had on the American psyche as well as the popular culture on the American home front, both during the war and afterward. Rosenthal was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for capturing on film one of the greatest events of W.W. II and briefly explains that the three surviving men who participated in the event were thrust into fame for years afterward.


•Read our article about the treason of Ezra Pound.•

The ‘Raise Your Vitality’ Diet

If you are seeking that alive-all-over glow your body radiates when you are in excellent health, try the 15-Day Revitalizing Diet listed on the pages following. It is designed to give you the protein, vitamins and minerals your body needs for dynamic living…

The Lady in the Harbor
(Coronet Magazine, 1955)

When this article first appeared, the Statue of Liberty was praised as the tallest statue in the world – today, it doesn’t even make the list of the tallest statues; nonetheless, here is a collection of facts about the Ladyy Liberty:


• 200,000 pounds of copper were used in the statue, enough copper for more than 100 stacks of pennies, each as tall as the Empire State Building.


• Trans-Atlantic voyagers do not see Liberty until their ship enters N.Y. Harbor, but her torch can be seen 15 miles out.


• Her index finger is eight feet long.

A Profile of ”Mr. America”
(Pageant Magazine, 1955)

WHO, WHAT, AND WHY is the average American [man]? What does he eat? What does he wear? What does he worry about? These questions and more like them have taken us on a long journey through the realm of statistics. Out of the discoveries of the Department of Commerce, the Census Bureau and Dr. Gallup’s polls, we’ve succeeded in piecing together an uncommon portrait of the common man.

Audie Murphy: the Most Decorated
(Coronet Magazine, 1955)

Audie Murphy (1925 – 1971) was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of the Second World War. This article appeared on the newsstands just in time to promote To Hell and Backstyle=border:none, the Universal Studio movie based on Murphy’s 1949 wartime memoir of the same name. Some men fit quite comfortably into the public life of a celebrated hero, Audie Murphy was not one of them.

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