GREAT AMERICAN HOME IMPROVEMENT THE OLD SCHOOL BASEMENT BAR

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From the desk of Contributing Editor, Eli M. Getson–

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Our Grandparent’s generation got it right, man– the fully loaded, properly-appointed basement bar. via here

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Like a lot of us affected by the ongoing economic instability, I’ve had to tighten the purse strings a bit lately.  Simply put– I’m spending more time at home, and less dough on going out.  That said, my penchant for enjoying a stiff drink with friends has inspired me to bring back something my Grandparent’s generation held sacred and all had– the basement bar.  Let us be clear before anyone reads on– this is not about having an additional fridge stocked with Corona you bought from Costco, a jumbo bag of chips, and a few crappy bean bags that reek of stale beer from your frat house days.  That’s the JV approach, and not an atmosphere where anyone serious about drinking and socializing wants to hang. In short– it is not a bar.

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Can I pour you a tall, stiff one?  Does anyone wear a tie at home anymore, let alone in their basement? Circa 1965– via here

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The home bar craze started post WWII, as more Americans realized the dream of home ownership (late 1940’s to early 1970’s being my unofficial Golden Years).  As families migrated more and more to the suburbs, they found themselves enjoying entertaining at home.  Probably because as first-time home owners, they truly busted their asses to get into a house– saving every nickel (they’d never even consider defaulting on a mortgage), and when they finally settled on their dream house, they were truly proud of it, and wanted to show it off to friends and family alike.  Also restaurants and bars were still largely urban back then.  It would be many years before the suburbs were teaming with every silly “TGI– what is that ridiculous friggin’ costume” restaurant/bar franchise.  The other great thing back then– the “politically correct” culture of today was not around to stop grownups from socializing– sans kids. Back in the day, entertaining the children  was what the TV upstairs was made for.  With the kiddies safely locked away watching Rawhide, the adults were free to to enjoy top-shelf spirits, Chesterfield smoky treats, and boozy, adult conversation in the privacy of their own homes– truly paradise on earth.

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Circa 1949– Glamour gal, Eileen Howe, having a drink on New Year’s Eve in Samuel Spiegel’s home bar.  Photo by Peter Stackpole for LIFE magazine.

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HEART ATTACK & VINE | “THE BACK” AKA VIKKI DOUGAN MADE MARVELOUS EXITS IN THE ’50s

What happened to Vikki Dougan? The model once known as “The Back” had her Hollywood career cut short.

Hollywood gossip columns produced a profuse number of groan-inducing puns. In 1957, Hollywood Today column headlined “Vikki Dougan … Backs Into a Film Career,” Erskine Johnson suggested that Ms. Dougan’s dresses are “lower in the back than a teenager’s hot rod.”

BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID | BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE 1969 CLASSIC

According to William Goldman, when he first wrote the script and sent it out for consideration, only one studio wanted to buy it, and that was with the proviso that the two lead characters did not flee to South America. When Goldman protested that that was what had happened, the studio head responded, “I don’t give a shit. All I know is John Wayne don’t run away.” Goldman rewrote the script, “didn’t change it more than a few pages, and subsequently found that every studio wanted it.”

William Goldman said that many young people saw the super posse in ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,’ as a metaphor for the government and authority during the years of anti-war protests. He said his students said the similarity lay in the relentlessness by which both “would hunt you down.”

With nine wins, ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ currently holds the record for the British Academy Awards (BAFTAs). It won for picture, actor (Robert Redford), actress (Katharine Ross, direction (George Roy Hill), screenplay, cinematography, film editing, sound, and score. It won every award it could, as its tenth nomination was a dual nomination for Best Actor. It was the top-grossing film of 1969, and today is considered one of Hollywood’s greatest westerns.

Paul Newman said this was the most fun he’d ever had making a film~ and that he and Robert Redford drank a lot of beer in Mexico. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was filmed in 1968 in Utah, Colorado, and Mexico. It cost $6 million to film, but earned over $102 million at the box office in 1969, which would be around $725 million currently, adjusted for inflation.

DAN BLOCKER WAS NO SQUARE, MAN | THERE WAS A LOT MORE TO LIVE FOR THAN BONANZA!

Dan Blocker and Huffaker-built Nickey Chevrolet Genie Mk10, named the Vinegaroon. Posing on the The Western Street set at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles. Team owner/actor Dan Blocker, in costume, plays the character Hoss Cartwright on the TV drama Bonanza. Here he converses with Vinegaroon driver John Cannon. (Photo by Pat Brollier/The Enthusiast Network via Getty Images)

Dan Blocker (Hoss Cartwright) riding his mini bike on ‘The Western Street set’ at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles.

CANDY BARR | SMALL TOWN TEXAS GIRL, BURLESQUE STRIPPER, AND MOB DARLING!

During the 1950s the burlesque stripper, Candy Barr, received nationwide attention for her stripping career in Dallas, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. Then there were her encounters with the law, the death of her second husband, and her sentence to a prison term for drug possession. Candy Barr was a darling of the mob and had relationships with both Mickey Cohen and Jack Ruby. Whew! And below are a timeline of her sorted history, and the legendary Dallas strip clubs where it all began.

RIP OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN | GREASE THE MOVIE WAS A BIG DAMN DEAL IN 1978, AND STILL IS!

With a cigarette held between her scarlet red lips, Olivia Newton-John electrified John Travolta in the legendary movie musical of 1978. Throwback to the most scandalous rock’n’roll look of cinema.

In 2019 Julien’s Auctions organized a ‘Grease’ auction. Among the 500 items offered-up for auction were the hot black leather jacket, and skin tight leather pants worn by ‘Sandy,’ in the legendary finale scene. Much of the proceeds were donated to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, created by the actress herself as she has battled breast cancer since 1992.  The total sale of those two pieces alone fetched $405,700 dollars, or about 360,000 euros. Spanx founder Sara Blakely bought the pants.

GREASE was the highest-grossing movie of 1978. For a while, GREASE was the third highest-grossing movie of all time, behind Jaws (1975) and Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977).

RICHARD NORTON AUSSIE BODYGUARD OF THE BIGGEST BANDS | MARTIAL ARTS MOVIE STAR

STEVIE NICKS WITH RICHARD NORTON, SECURITY AND BODYGUARD FOR FLEETWOOD MAC, CIRCA 1976-77.

By age 17 Richard Norton was a karate black belt working security for nightclubs and serving as chief instructor to 500 karate schools nationwide. He landed a big job in the 1970s as security / bodyguard for The Rolling Stones during the band’s Australian tour and experienced his first brush with the demands of global celebrity. Norton trained with Mick Jagger in 4:00 a.m. workouts after concerts. His competency attracted a dazzling roster of other rock star clientèle including James Taylor, ABBA, Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie and Linda Ronstadt, who invited him to California as her bodyguard. Before Aussies invaded Hollywood in posses, Norton ventured there alone.

WHEN THE CLASH DESCENDED ON AUSTIN | ROCK THE CASBAH MUSIC VIDEO SHOOT, 1982

WHERE WERE YOU IN ’82? Good lord, can you believe that The Clash’s Rock The Casbah hit the airwaves and seeped into our living rooms 40 years ago! Remember when Mtv seemed to be on 24/7– especially on those lazy days of summer when we were glued to the TV like zombies waiting to see our favorite videos… To this day, I cannot think of many music videos that had the same impact on me as The Clash’s- ‘Rock The Casbah,’ and ‘Should I Stay Stay or Should I Go.’

Joe Strummer’s cousin, Iain Gillies coincidentally lives in Austin, TX where the music video was shot just a few months before MTV had even officially launched. The music video for “Rock the Casbah” was filmed by director Don Letts on 8th & 9th of June, 1982.

BUNNY YEAGER’S LEGACY OF EROTIC ART PHOTOGRAPHY & MIAMI’S “JEWISH ORGY”

THE STUNNING MODEL-TURNED-PHOTOGRAPHER BUNNY YEAGER, 1965.

There are many interesting, historical bits to discover in the Bunny Yeager Archive at the University of Miami Special Collections. Bunny Yeager was clearly the “world’s prettiest photographer,” and was into “finding regular girls around Miami,” in the 1960s. She had famously photographed Bettie Page in several exotic locations across Florida too.  

BUNNY YEAGER AND BETTIE PAGE

BIKINI BEACH, 1964 | HERE FOR DRAGSTERS, KEENAN WYNN, PATTI GALLAGHER & BIKINIS

ACTRESS PATTI CHANDLER WITH A TOMMY IVO DRAGSTER IN “BIKINI BEACH”

Straight-up, this 1964 movie was low-budget, razor-thin but popular “beach movie genre” of the day. Keenan Wynn whipping around on his Triumph w/sidecar makes me happy, and enough to keep me glued. And TV Tommy Ivo was Technical Advisor and had a large hand in the shaping of this film by including his own primo dragsters, and getting Dean Jeffries‘ Mantaray in the movie as well. I’m going to highlight the shots that I think are top-tier eye candy, better black & white, and many not from the film.

PATTI CHANDLER WALKS THE LINEUP OF DRAGSTERS ON THE SET OF BIKINI BEACH MOVIE, 1964 (THAT IS NONE OTHER THAN DEAN JEFFRIES “MANTARAY” IN THE BACK!)