In 1955 LIFE’s Eliot Elisofon photographed Fitzgerald for a story on the top jazz stars of the day, and she was the only woman included in the group. LIFE wrote of her, “Ella Fitzgerald, who sings love ballads daintily, can roar on like a trombone through a jazz classic. Her most famous number is “A-Tisket, A-Tasket,” but it is her many hotter songs that keep her the first lady of jazz year after year.”

In 1958 LIFE staff photographer Yale Joel took his turn shooting Fitzgerald. He caught her performing at Mister Kelly’s, a renowned jazz club in Chicago. The photo places the viewer in a front row seat. Fitzgerald, elegantly dressed, sings with her eyes closed and hand to heart on a low stage that has her nearly at level with the audience. That photo is one of the most popular images in LIFE’s print store, which is a tribute to both Joel’s skill and Fitzgerald’s enduring popularity—several of her songs have more than 100 million plays on Spotify.

Included here are several other of Joel’s shots from Mister Kelly’s, and also other instances in which LIFE’s photographers documented this great artist.

Singer Ella Fitzgerald holding a basket of flowers as she sings A-Tisket, A-Tasket in front of backdrop, 1946.

Eliot Eilsofon/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald performed at Mister Kelly’s nightclub in Chicago, 1958.

Yale Joel/Life PIcture Collection/Shutterstock

Bathed in red light, American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald performed her eyes closed, at Mister Kelly’s nightclub, Chicago, 1958.

Yale Joel/Life PIcture Collection/Shutterstock

Ella Fitzgerald performed at Mister Kelly’s nightclub in Chicago, 1958.

Yale Joel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ella Fitzgerald performing at Mister Kelly’s nightclub in Chicago, 1958.

Yale Joel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ella Fitzgerald mingled with people who had come to hear her perform at the opening night of the Bop City nightclub in New York City, April 1949.

.Martha Holmes/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Songbird Ella Fitzgerald sang at opening at the Bop City nightclub in New York City, 1949.

Martha Holmes/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ella Fitzgerald sang during opening night of Bop City nightclub in New York City, April 1949.

Martha Holmes/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ella Fitzgerald at the old Madison Square Garden in New York on the night Marilyn sang to John F. Kennedy, May 1962.

Bill Ray/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ella Fitzgerald, the Queen of Jazz, 1954.

Eliot Elisofon/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The post Ella Fitzgerald: The First Lady of Song appeared first on LIFE.

Fans of the Will Ferrell movie Step Brothers will also note that the island is the site of the movie’s climactic scene, the Catalina Wine Mixer—which is, in fact, a real event. If you don’t believe it, check its official website, which has a page titled The Catalina Wine Mixer is Real.

The island was a regular attraction for LIFE photographers. Ralph Crane, Peter Stackpole and Martha Holmes all had their turn at documenting what made the island so special.

Stackpole’s photos at Catalina became the basis for a big feature in a June 1941 issue. He followed two starlets, Patti McCarty and Betty Brooks on their adventures around the island, and took photos of them playing beach volleyball, posing with a peacock, and riding a glass-bottomed boat to look at the abundant sea life.

The photo from Holmes and Crane, taken in 1946 and 1959, respectively, capture the same holiday spirit. The final photo in this collection shows the Catalina Casino (not a gambling establishment but a picturesque nightlife spot on the water), which is still in operation today, and is one of the attractions that continues to inspire Californians to take that ferry across the channel.

Actresses Betty Brooks and Patti McCarty rode a motorboat at Catalina Island, 1941.

Peter Stackpole/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Young actresses Betty Brooks and Patti McCarty played volleyball at Catalina Island, 1941.

Peter Stackpole/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Starlet Betty Brooks played volleyball during a visit to Catalina Island, 1941.

Peter Stackpole/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Betty Brooks and Patti McCarty encountered a white peacock at Catalina Island, 1941.

Peter Stackpole/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Starlets Patti McCarty and Betty Brooks rode a glass-bottomed boat as part of a visit to Catalina Island, 1941.

Peter Stackpole/LIfe Picture Collection/Shutterstock

On Catalina Island, young actresses Patti McCarty and Betty Brooks return to their hotel for a rest before dinner, 1941.

Peter Stackpole/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Catalina Island, 1946.

Martha Holmes/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Catalina Island, 1946.

Martha Holmes/Life PIcture Collection/Shutterstock

Catalina Island, 1946.

Martha Holmes/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Horseback riding at Catalina Island, July 1946.

Martha Holmes/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A couple enjoyed the port view of Avalon Bay at Catalina Island, 1946.

Martha Holmes/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Catalina Island, 1959.

Ralph Crane/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Catalina Island, 1959.

Ralph Crane/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Catalina Island, 1959.

Ralph Crane/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Catalina Island, 1959.

Ralph Crane/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post Catalina Island: A California Classic appeared first on LIFE.

And yet all these decades later, even as Americans have only grown more health- and diet-conscious, hot dogs remain a favorite. In 2023 the cookout staples were an $8 billion market, according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council.

The numbers reflect a basic truth, which that health is not always at the forefront of consumer’s minds, and that is especially true when they are heating up the grill or enjoying an afternoon at the ballpark. Those are the situations for which the concept of the cheat day was invented. For every person who finds a hot dog revolting—that same LIFE story quoted New York consumer affairs commissioner Bess Myerson as saying “After I found what was in hot dogs, I stopped eating them”—there are others who gravitate to its simple pleasures.

During the original run of LIFE magazine, hot dogs frequently popped up in settings both surprising and expected. Frank Sinatra was seen munching on one in his tuxedo after performing in Miami. Hall of Fame baseball executive Bill Veeck was photographed enjoying one in the stands. Perhaps the most humorous photo in this collection features actress Buff Cobb, who would go on to marry TV journalist Mike Wallace. Cobb and LIFE staff photographer Martha Holmes collaborated on a 1946 photo shoot that was a parody of a Hollywood puff piece. In one photo Cobb was on the beach, being attended by a butler as she roasted a hot dog over an open fire. The caption mentioned how Cobb loved to rough it and cook from “old family recipes.”

In that instance the hot dog was the punch line to a culinary joke. But if you substitute “old family recipe” with “old family favorite,” that caption would be a perfect description of the hot dog’s place in the American diet.

Tony Bennett was out with Frank Sinatra after a performance in Miami, 1965.

John Dominis/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

TV comedienne Dagmar took her siblings to a hot dog stand while visiting family in Huntington, West Virginia, 1951.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Bill Veeck, owner of the St. Louis Browns baseball team, 1952.

Ed Clark/Life Picture Collection/Shuttertstock

In a shoot that was a parody of the life of a Hollywood movie star, actress Buff Cobb was said to be ‘roughing it” and cooking from an old family recipe as she prepared a hot dog on the beach while a butler attended to her, 1946.

Martha Holmes/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

This 1952 story about “a car that has everything” included this image of owner Louis Mattar, a California garage owner and tinkerer, making a hot dog in his tricked-out Cadillac, 1952.

Ed Clark The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

People crowded a hot dog stand on the boardwalk at Atlantic City, N.J., 1941.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A barefoot hot dog vendor waited for customers near a police headquarters in Guatemala, 1953.

Cornell Capa/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A dog nibbled on a hot dog, 1972.

Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Portrait of a hot-dog eater, 1972.

Ralph Morse The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Portrait of a hot-dog eater, 1972.

Ralph Morse The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Portrait of a hot-dog eater, 1972.

Ralph Morse The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Portrait of a hot-dog eater, 1972.

Ralph Morse The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post Hey, Wanna Hot Dog? appeared first on LIFE.

All the more mysterious, then, why hearing Eckstine’s name not to mention his music in discussions of jazz greats is such a rarity today. After all, an artist who made an impact on giants ranging from Duke Ellington (who played in Eckstine’s big band) to Quincy Jones (who looked up to him as “an idol”) deserves to be celebrated.

Here, on what would have been Billy Eckstine’s 100th birthday he was born July 8, 1914, in Pittsburgh, Penn. LIFE.com remembers the music pioneer and style icon with a marvelous Martha Holmes photo that both captures the man’s charisma and highlights the adoration he inspired in his fans.

Billy Eckstine, New York, 1949

Martha Holmes The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post Adoring Billy Eckstine: Portrait of a Jazz Legend and His Fans appeared first on LIFE.

This intriguing invitation, LIFE magazine informed its no-doubt head-scratching readers in August 1948, had been distributed on posters and flyers around Cape Cod’s Provincetown that summer in order to entice potential devotees and to signal the birth of what LIFE (tongue-in-cheekily) classified as a brand-new American “cult”: Activationism.

Activationism’s founder and driving creative force, Milton Hood Ward, “counseled his followers, which included housewives, waitresses, fishermen and would-be artists, to uncork their emotions all over the place. ‘Activate or Deteriorate’ was his motto.

“A composer and press agent,” LIFE went on, Ward “figured that inhibited Americans would feel better if they [danced] … Although Activationist practices varied widely, they generally started with group calisthenics and chanting and went on through progressive frenzies to extemporaneous dancing and ad lib yelling.

“At Provincetown,” the 1948 LIFE article continued, “where crazy summertime goings-on are [quite common], not many Activationists took their cult seriously. Ward, however, thinks he may have started something, and plans to introduce Activationism to New York this fall in an art gallery, a nightclub, and Carnegie Hall.”

Alas, other than photographs by LIFE photographer Martha Holmes, there are few records indicating that Activationism survived past that one magical New England summer. All these years later, in an age of seemingly ceaseless anxiety and sky-high levels of stress, Americans (and most everyone else on the planet) could probably benefit from the emergence of another harmless, playful, free-spirited new “cult.” Is it too much to hope that, someday, a handful of creative souls might reawaken the Activationist spirit that briefly flowered, long ago, on the beaches of Cape Cod?

Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.

Activationism, 1948

Martha Holmes Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Activationism, 1948

Martha Holmes Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Activationism, 1948

Martha Holmes Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Activationism, 1948

Martha Holmes Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Activationism, 1948

Martha Holmes Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Activationism, 1948

Martha Holmes Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Activationism, 1948

Martha Holmes Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Activationism, 1948

Martha Holmes Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Activationism, 1948

Martha Holmes Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Activationism, 1948

Martha Holmes Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Activationism, 1948

Martha Holmes Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Activationism, 1948

Martha Holmes Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Activationism, 1948

Martha Holmes Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Activationism, 1948

Martha Holmes Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The post LIFE With a Cheerful Cape Cod ‘Cult,’ 1948 appeared first on LIFE.

That was the direct, provocative question asked in an August 1949 LIFE magazine article that helped cement Jackson Pollock’s reputation. It was a question Pollock spent much of the rest of his life struggling to answer while desperately hoping to show the skeptics why LIFE was right to even ask such a monumental question in the first place.

As the single most recognizable practitioner of Abstract Expressionism—the movement that put America and, specifically, post-World War II New York at the epicenter of painting’s avant-garde—Pollock was a genuine art star. But he soon abandoned the radical “drip” technique that had earned him both fame and, among some art critics, vilification and spent the last few years of his life battling the twin demons of depression and alcoholism.

Here, LIFE presents outtakes from photographer Martha Holmes’ 1949 shoot with Pollock images that offer a unique portrait of the artist’s home life with wife and fellow painter Lee Krasner on eastern Long Island, and the singular working method that made him an art-world icon.

With a down payment loaned to them by art dealer Peggy Guggenheim, Pollock and Krasner bought land in the hamlet of Springs, New York, and moved into the house that would be Pollock’s residence for the last decade of his life. Pollock converted a small nearby barn into a studio, where he was to create many of his most famous works. As his fame grew, the little town of Springs — part of East Hampton—attracted other major artists and writers, including Willem de Kooning, Kurt Vonnegut, Nora Ephron, Philip Roth and Joseph Heller.

Despite moving out of the city to live on a farm near the ocean, it’s hard to say that nature was an inspiration for Pollock’s paintings, which were so abstract that their only apparent source was the artist’s subconscious. Still, the natural world did find its way into his paintings in the form of sand and other materials that the artist routinely applied to his canvas, along with his paints, while the titles of some work—like his gargantuan Autumn Rhythm (1950)—reflect a sensibility attuned to the seasons.

Pollock’s work was often referred to as “action painting,” and the dance-like performance in which he engaged while making a painting was integral to the aesthetic result. Instead of using an easel, he’d stretch a canvas on the floor of his barn and scamper around all four sides as he painted. Rather than using brushes, he used sticks to flick and drip paint, or he poured it straight from the can, favoring household enamels over traditional oils.

Today, a painting from Pollock’s “drip period” can fetch north of $100 million at auction.

After he became famous and successful, Pollock bought his own open-air carriage, a 1950 Oldsmobile 88 convertible. This was the vehicle he was driving on August 11, 1956, when, less than a mile from his house, he drove off the road and flipped the car, killing himself and a passenger, Edith Metzger, and injuring his mistress, Ruth Kligman.

Krasner, a talented abstract painter in her own right, had put her career on hold during decade with Pollock in the Long Island house in order to support her husband’s career. After his death, she began painting in the barn that had been his studio. By the time she died in 1984, at age 76, she was finally recognized for her own work, and not merely as “Mrs. Jackson Pollock.” Today, the farmhouse and barn studio comprise a museum devoted to the study of the married painters’ intertwined working lives.

Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.

Jackson Pollock worked in his Long Island studio, 1949.

Martha Holmes/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner, Long Island, April 1949.

Martha Holmes/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Jackson Pollock and neighbor, 1949.

Martha Holmes/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

At Daniel Miller’s general store in Springs, New York, Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock talked with Tino Nivola, a new arrival at the artist colony that began to sprout around the Pollocks’ Long Island village in the late 1940s.

Martha Holmes/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Jackson Pollock, Long Island, 1949.

Martha Holmes/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Jackson Pollock worked in his Long Island studio, 1949.

Martha Holmes/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Jackson Pollock worked in his Long Island studio, 1949.

Martha Holmes/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Jackson Pollock admired the watercolors of neighbor Mary Monteverdi, a self-taught artist inspired to take up painting after seeing Pollock’s work.

Martha Holmes/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Grocer Daniel Miller (left) visited Pollock and Krasner at their Long Island farmhouse, 1949.

Martha Holmes/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Neighbor Nathaniel Edgar Talmadge (age 84) and his horse Rowdy Kate (age 21) stopped by for a chat with Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner in April 1949.

Martha Holmes/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Jackson Pollock dried dishes with Lee Krasner in the kitchen of their farmhouse, 1949.

Martha Holmes/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The post Jackson Pollock: Early Photos of the Action Painter at Work appeared first on LIFE.