Robert W. Kelley Photo Archives - LIFE

When It Was “Swimsuit or Jail” at Myrtle Beach

Bill Syken — Tue, 02 Jul 2024 18:43:23 +0000

Myrtle Beach is one of the great tourist beach towns that dot the East Coast, and it has only become more popular since it was written about in LIFE magazine in 1952. Back then the magazine estimated the local population to be about 6,000 people, whereas today it can seem as if Myrtle Beach has nearly that many holes of golf available for play.

But in 1952, as a resort destination on the rise, Myrtle Beach was looking for attention-getting ways to open up its beach season. Before that year the town had kicked off festivities with a beauty pageant. Then in ’52 Myrtle Beach decided to stage “Bathing Suit Day,” and the rules were simple: Wear a bathing suit, or go to jail.

Although the word “jail” is being used loosely—no one was actually doing hard time, as the photos from LIFE staff photographer Robert W. Kelley attest. And while the town had officially moved on from a beauty pageant, the event still managed to include a batallion of young women in swimsuits.

Here’s how LIFE described the workings of Bathing Suit Day in its June 23, 1952 issue:

“Everyone in town and every visitor would have to wear beach attire from 6 a.m. until noon under pain of fine or imprisonment in an impromptu stockade. Three businessmen served as judges, 32 town ladies acted as attire inspectors, and convict suits were borrowed from the superintendent of county prisoners—who himself was thrown in jail and made to wear one when he came to Myrtle Beach in ordinary garb to see whether the suits have arrived.”

The day went well, and the weekend also included a parade and contests on the beach. LIFE reported that $650 in fines were levied to those not in swimwear, with the proceeds going toward the construction of a new hospital, and that the 1952 vacation season at Myrtle Beach “had opened with the biggest attendance ever.”

Bathing Suit Day in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, June 1952.

Robert W. KelleyLife Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Bathing Suit Day’ in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, June 1952.

Robert W. KelleyLife Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Patrolman Charles Edmonson on duty during ‘bathing suit day’ at Myrtle Beach, 1952.

Robert W. KelleyLife Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Bathing Suit Day in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, June 1952.

Robert W. KelleyLife Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A violator of the “must wear a swimsuit” rules and a law-abiding dog left the impromptu jail set up during Bathing Suit Day in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, 1952.

Robert W. KelleyLife Picture Collection/Shutterstock

One of the enforcement offices for Bathing Suit Day in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, June 1952.

Robert W. KelleyLife Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Men buried women in sand for a contest held on Bathing Suit Day in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, 1952.

Robert W. KelleyLife Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Bathing suit day in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, June 1952.

Robert W. KelleyLife Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Bathing Suit Day in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, June 1952.

Robert W. KelleyLife Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Bathing suit day in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, June 1952.

Robert W. KelleyLife Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Bathing Suit Day in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, June 1952.

Robert W. KelleyLife Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post When It Was “Swimsuit or Jail” at Myrtle Beach appeared first on LIFE.

The Joys of Minnesota Ice Fishing

Bill Syken — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 21:24:33 +0000

Ice fishing is, if nothing else, a way to get out of the house during a long winter. In 1962 LIFE magazine photographer Robert W. Kelley traveled to the small Minnesota town of Glenwood—located on the shores of Lake Minnewaska, about halfway between Fargo, N.D. and Minneapolis—to capture people engaged in a classic northern pastime.

Ice fishers drop their lines through holes cut or drilled through a frozen-over lake. They can either sit outside and wait for a bite, or they can hunker in the relative comfort of an ice shack that they have hauled out onto the lake. One of the more distinctive photos in Kelley’s set is an overhead shot from inside a fishing shack in which a family is playing cards around a table and appears to be enjoying a cozy night in a living room—until you notice the rectangular fishing holes cut through the carpet and into the ice beneath.

Perhaps Kelley’s most inventive shot appears to have shot up through the ice as a fish is caught on a spear, with the delighted fishers visible in the background.

Kelley’s pictures also contains what would surely be a candidate for the most “Minnesota” photo ever taken—it shows people playing hockey on a lake with an ice-fishing camp in the background. (The image would be even more Minnesotan if one of the players was revealed to be a young Bob Dylan, which is not entirely implausible: the native of Hibbing is said to have both fished and played hockey in his youth.)

An ice hockey game by a fishing camp is a distraction from a distraction. Fair enough. To get through a long winter you need all the help you can get.

Ice fishing in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

An ice shack is hauled onto a lake during ice fishing season in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ice fishing in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A child ice fishing in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ice fishing in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

People playing ice hockey at an ice fishing camp in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ice fishing, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

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Solving the Decades-Old Mystery of the Llama at the Party

Mon, 25 Apr 2016 11:00:12 +0000

A llama walks into a party, and then what?

These photographs, taken by LIFE photographer Robert W. Kelley in 1959, show a very strange party in progress. A llama, a kangaroo, a monkey, some goats, several dogs and a couple of cats are all getting a bath in what appears to be an urban backyard. Later, in the same place and on what appears to be the same day, they attend a party with the pianist Skitch Henderson. The photographs never ran in the magazine, and nor did the story for which they were taken.

So what’s going on here?

Another LIFE story about a llama, published two years before these pictures were taken, offers a clue. It was a short one-page item about Animal Talent Scouts, a company run by Bernard and Lorrain D’Essen in New York City, who provided animal actors for theater and television—including Linda the Llama. A small photograph of Mrs. D’Essen in her living room shows a similar assortment of creatures: several dogs, a kangaroo and a llama. Among the dogs, the breeds also overlap—a basset hound, a sheepdog, a few greyhounds and what appears to be a saluki. The dark-haired woman in the later photos might be the same woman from the earlier photograph.

Contemporary news reports about the business which supply the information that Lorrain D’Essen worked in advertising, where she realized there was a market for trained animals for commercials also confirm that the D’Essen’s New York City home, at 331 West 18th St., had a yard. Other, wilder animals with the Animal Talent Scouts agency lived in New Jersey.

Here’s another clue: the date on the unpublished photos was May 1, 1959, just a couple of weeks before the release of Lorrain D’Essen’s well-reviewed memoir, Kangaroos in the Kitchen. (The book became a TV movie in 1982.) Was this perhaps a book party?

Though no record exists of that particular get-together, the evidence is overwhelming. These were no ordinary animals. They were—and remain—stars.

The llama smelled a woman’s hair, 1959.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The kangaroo and llama party, 1959.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A group of animals, including a llama and kangaroo, were curious about bath time, 1959.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The kangaroo and llama party, 1959.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The kangaroo was about to be bathed.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Two cats looked down at the other animals getting a bath, 1959.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A small dog was bathed in a tub, 1959.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A llama and goat were bathed in the backyard, 1959.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A Basset Hound was bathed in the backyard, 1959.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A kangaroo was dried off with a vacuum cleaner as a llama looked on, 1959.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A llama was dried off after a bath, 1959.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A llama dried off after a bath, 1959.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A monkey in the backyard, 1959.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Pianist and conductor Skitch Henderson (center) enjoyed the llama’s company during a party, 1959.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A Siamese cat and kangaroo at the center of a party, 1959.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The backyard llama party as seen from above, 1959.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post Solving the Decades-Old Mystery of the Llama at the Party appeared first on LIFE.

Elvis Presley: A Rock & Roll Sensation Hits a Somber Note

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 14:47:07 +0000

In 1956 Elvis Presley released his self-titled debut studio album which included such hits as “Blue Suede Shoes” and became the first rock&roll record ever to top the Billboard charts. Add in a series of TV appearances watched by just about anyone with a set, and Elvis Presley became a national sensation at age 21.

That August LIFE magazine published a big story on the Elvis Presley phenomenon, and it talked about much more than the music. It was about the young women who screamed at his every gyration, the young men doing their best to look like him, and the adults who wanted to stop the hip-swiveling, blues-influenced Presley from corrupting the youth of America.

While it was undoubtedly good to be The King, the crown also inevitably became a burden. In 1977 Elvis died an early death at age 42, and that may explain why of all the photos that LIFE staff photographer Robert W. Kelley shot for that 1956 story, the one that resonates the most today is the lone picture that hit a somber note.

Kelley’s photos from 1956 show the full glory of Elvis on stage. But Kelley also captured one quiet moment of Elvis backstage, with his head bent over and his hand leaning on a wall. That shot happens to be the most popular image of Elvis Presley in the LIFE print store.

In LIFE’s report the magazine talked about how Elvis Presley seemed to be unleashing something deeper in his audience than the other pop music stars who had come before him:

Up to a point the country can withstand the impact of Elvis Presley as a familiar and acceptable phenomenon. Wherever the lean, 21-year-old Tennessean goes to howl out his combination of hillbilly and rock and roll, he is beset by teenage girls yelling for him. They dote on his sideburns and pegged pants, cherish cups of water dipped from his swimming pool, covet strands of his hair, boycott disc jockeys who dislike his records (they have sold some six million copies). All this the country has seen before with Ray, Sinatra and all the way back to Rudy Vallee.

But with Elvis Presley the daffiness has been deeply disturbing to civic leaders, clergymen, some parents. He does not just bounce to accent his heavy beat. He uses a bump and grind routine usually seen only in burlesque. His young audiences, unexposed to such goings-on, do not just shout their approval. They get set off by shock waves of hysteria, going into frenzies of screeching and wailing, ending up in tears.

People have plenty of opinions about Elvis today, but there is no doubt that his arrival in 1956 marked a before-and-after moment for popular music. Here, LIFE.com presents photos of Elvis—several of which never ran in LIFE magazine—at the thrilling beginning of the King’s remarkable journey.

Elvis Presley in Florida, 1956.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

In Jacksonville, fans yelled their heads off at Presley’s performance.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Presley was on the mind of Baptist preacher Robert Gray.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Presley fans in Florida, 1956.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A 13-year-old, Steve Shad, imitated Presley’s moves in a Jacksonville record shop.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Presley promoter in Jacksonville was the side-burned drummer and disk jockey Scotty Ferguson.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Barber Joe Governale in Jacksonville gave Ronny Turner, 16, the duck-tail cut Elvis favored, leaving a rich overhang of hair in back of head.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

An antidote to Elvis was a church social at Murray Hill Methodist church two nights after Presley left. Before this dance, the group heard Presley denounced in a sermon on ”Hot Rods, Reefers and Rock ‘n Roll.”

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Civic leaders met with a Jacksonville judge to discuss ways of “curbing” Elvis Presley’s influence on local teens.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Teenagers in Trinity Baptist church, led by Revered Gray, prayed for the salvation of the soul of Elvis Presley.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Fans lined up outside a Florida theater before an Elvis concert, 1956.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Elvis Presley in Florida, 1956.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

For each of Presley’s six shows in two days in Jacksonville, 2,200 teenagers turned up. A line of uniformed cops and shore patrol seated in the orchestra pit kept the audience from storming over the footlights when Elvis sang his closing number, ‘Hound Dog.’

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Andrea June Stephens came to Jacksonville from Atlanta, Ga., after writing a prizewinning letter on why she would like to meet Elvis. Promised a dinner date with Elvis, she got instead a cheeseburger in a Jacksonville diner.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Elvis Presley in Florida, 1956.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Life Magazine, August 27, 1956

LIFE’s feature on the Elvis Presley phenomenon, August 27, 1956

Life Magazine, August 27, 1956

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