#1952-53

[chicinsilk]

Pierre Balmain Haute Couture Fall/Winter 1952-53 “Jolie Madame” Collection. Katharine Hepburn, in a model evening dress worn in the play "The Millionaires" by George Bernard Shaw.

Pierre Balmain Haute Couture Automne/Hiver 1952-53 Collection "Jolie Madame". Katharine Hepburn, dans un modèle de robe du soir porté dans la pièce de théâtre "The Millionaires" (Les Millionaires) de George Bernard Shaw.

Photo Angus McBean

[federer7]

Marge's Little Lulu #53. November 1952

[jerrylevitch]

"Come On a My House" features Jerry and Patti Lewis visiting Dean and Jeanne Martin's home in 1952.

[project1939]

Life magazine, August 4th, 1952. Wow, now here's a rarity- an ad that says, "It's so easy even a man can do it!" (Although, I would warn this guy against a Jello mold- unless it's just plain Jello, it takes a certain amount of practice and skill!)

[ghelgheli]

To understand the full context of the American-led ‘53 coup against Mosaddegh in Iran it is imo critical to recognize anti-communism as a proximate cause. Write-up below:

It is commonly understood that the early decades of the 20th century in Iran are characterized by British colonial extortion of material resources (mostly oil) within the boundaries of “Persia” (pre-1935) / “Iran” (post). The penultimate monarchical dynasty, the Qajars, were ousted in 1925—but the exile of the last Qajar Ahmad Shah was the direct result of the 1921 military coup led by then-Reza Khan (later the first “Pahlavi”, Reza Shah) which was directed by Britain. And at this time, British anxieties heavily featured concerns about Bolshevik encroachment from the Caucuses (not just through the newly-formed Azerbaijan SSR, but also through domestic sympathizers that fueled such projects as large as the transient Persian SSR, put down by Reza Khan after Soviet withdrawal).

This is stage-setting. Of course, by the 50s, in tandem with Cold War thread-pulling, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company constituted a thirsty tentacle of British imperialism sucking Abadan dry and contributing pittances to the local economy. It was in the midst of decades of growing resentment against this presence that Mosaddegh became Prime Minister in 1951 as the leader of the broad National Front coalition, and we are familiar with how intensely he campaigned for nationalizing the country’s oil and how pissy this made the British (here’s one and another post on the subject if not).

Here’s the detour: you may know that it was the CIA, an American institution, that orchestrated the ‘53 coup to oust Mosaddegh. But we were just now discussing threats against British colonial power in Iran. How did things get from B to A, as it were? We can’t take this for granted.

The British in fact spent the intervening two years trying to get Mosaddegh out by mobilizing the Shah and various right-wing (often clerical and mercantile) interests in Iran (this point, and much of what follows, draws from bits of Darioush Bayandor’s Iran and the CIA and Mostafa Elm’s Oil, Power, and Principle). They spent the same two years desperately trying to get the Americans on board with their efforts. But—here it is—the Truman regime and American foreign policy was in general intensely hostile to this strain of British interventionism in Iran, going so far as to issue warnings against it.

Why? Well, as you would expect, the Americans were concerned about Soviet influence in the region. Then-U.S ambassador in Tehran Henry Grady claimed that “Mosaddegh’s National Front party is the closest thing to a moderate and stable element in the national parliament” (Wall Street Journal, June 9 1951). This summarizes the American position at the time: Mosaddegh’s nationalist movement constituted the bastion against communism, and the US was very interested in the survival of this bastion lest Iran align with the USSR. 

What happened between 1951 and 1953 is that British pressure, operating through the Shah and more conservative elements of the Iranian government, jeopardized moderate support for Mosaddegh. With the right and center-right against him an entire wing of National Front coalition was falling off, and Mosaddegh found himself leaning more and more on the strengthening Tudeh Party, which had grown in numbers to militaristic significance during Mosaddegh’s tenure (including a network of at least 600 officers in the state military). Tudeh, of course, was the pro-Soviet communist party in Iran. And now the threads come together.

It was in this context of Mosaddegh, backed into a corner with almost only the communists behind him, that the CIA released a memo on November 20th, 1952 singing a very different tune:

It is of critical importance to the United States that Iran remain an independent and sovereign nation, not dominated by the USSR...

Present trends in Iran are unfavorable to the maintenance of control by a non-communist regime for an extended period of time. In wresting the political initiative from the Shah, the landlords, and other traditional holders of power, the National Front politicians now in power have at least temporarily eliminated every alternative to their own rule except the Communist Tudeh Party...

It is clear that the United Kingdom no longer possesses the capability unilaterally to assure stability in the area. If present trends continue unchecked, Iran could be effectively lost to the free world in advance of an actual Communist takeover of the Iranian Government. Failure to arrest present trends in Iran involves a serious risk to the national security of the United States.

And (!!!)

In light of the present situation the United States should adopt and pursue the following policies:...

Be prepared to take the necessary measures to help Iran to start up her oil industry and to secure markets for her oil so that Iran may benefit from substantial oil reserves...

Recognize the strength of Iranian nationalist feeling; try to direct it into constructive channels and be ready to exploit any opportunity to do so

It took two tries for the CIA to bring about a coup that removed Mosaddegh from power, but the objective of this coup was not the preservation of British control over Iranian resources; it was the maintenance of the Western sphere of influence against communist revolution (this was further prioritized by the arrival of the Eisenhower administration). In fact, after the coup the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now renamed British Petroleum) had to make room for six other companies from the US, France, and the Netherlands as part of a consortium, and this consortium would split profits with Iran 50/50. This is, to be clear, still colonialist extraction! But it constitutes a huge blow to British economic interests, because they were never the CIA’s goal. This is part of why the post-coup government is characterized far more as a US puppet than a British one.

It does remain that this was a sequence of events very much set in motion because of actions taken by the British government; by the time they managed to get shit to hit the fan, though, it was very much no longer in their control where the shit was flying.

[germanpostwarmodern]

Stichweh House (1952-53) in Hannover, Germany, by Walter Gropius with The Architects Collaborative

[wheelsgoroundincircles]

1953 Thomas Special Coupe

The '53 Thomas Special Coupe was the third of Chrysler's "Idea Cars" designed by Virgil Exner and built by Ghia in the 1950s. The first was the 1951 K-310 coupe, which was followed by the C-200 convertible in 1952 and the Thomas Special Coupe in 1953. All three cars were built on the New Yorker chassis and used New Yorker drivetrain components including the 331-cubic-inch "FirePower" Hemi V-8 and three-speed Powerflight automatic transmission.

Chrysler's Idea Cars were commissioned by Chrysler president K.T. Keller to compete against styling coming from GM's Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell and even out of Ford's postwar designers. The Thomas Special certainly turned heads with its dramatic squared-off fenders and sculpted hood. It received such praise that Chrysler considered putting the car into production. Ultimately, the car never reached production, but Chrysler had six examples produced and Ghia liked the design so much it produced another 12 for itself….( Motor Trend)

[midnightrings]

Hawk & Tim's scenes in chronological order

Okay, so I made a list with the timestamps of each scene between Hawk and Tim to be able to watch them in chronological order (you know, to make everything even more painful). I already watched through it yesterday and it worked well, so I thought I might share it.

Note that this only includes direct interactions between Hawk and Tim. The only scenes I included where they didn’t interact directly is Mary telling Tim that Hawk betrayed him, the letter Lucy burned, and the final scene at the AIDS quilt.

If you want to watch their entire story, including all the scenes of them talking about each other, I honestly think it’s easier to just watch the episodes in order and skip to the right parts (maybe I’ll also do another one for the entire series).

I hope I didn’t forget anything. Also, I can't gurantee that everything will be 100% accurate - it probably depends on where you watch the show (e.g. if the upload comes without the recap of the previous episode, this will probably be off)

(Below the cut due to length)

1952-54

Episode 1:

4:00 – 6:15 11:11 – 14:10 17:04 – 18:34 20:32 – 30:31 37:20 – 42:13 43:07 – 43:32 45:16 – 49:07 55:00 – 57:56 1:00:08 – 1:00:59

Episode 2:

6:18 – 10:45 36:40 – 37:31 39:37 – 43:49

Episode 3:

9:32 – 11:47 2:02 – 2:23* 13:39 – 15:39 23:08 – 25:33 28:22 – 31:53 34:26 – 38:08 41:50 – 44:07 52:08 – 53:56

Episode 4:

25:42 – 33:20

Episode 5:

6:41 – 8:22 20:07 – 21:49 42:12 – 44:00 51:16 – 55:20

(unspecified year in the 1950s)

Episode 6:

46:58 – 47:44

1957

Episode 8:

10:10 – 13:41 25:08 – 31:42 39:46 – 41:13 47:31 – 49:25 50:34 – 51:58

1968

Episode 6:

6:15 – 7:02 8:33 – 10:18 13:12 – 16:34 28:50 – 31:48 41:15 – 43:38 49:04 – 50:09

1979

Episode 7:

6:06 – 10:33 15:12 – 18:04 20:11 – 24:53 27:37 – 30:06 34:55 – 40:02 45:23 – 47:29 49:32 – 51:40

1986

Episode 1:

57:57 – 59:31

Episode 2:

46:04 – 48:29 56:42 – 57:02

Episode 3:

2:24 – 5:26 25:33 – 27:37 53:57 – 55:43

Episode 4:

3:52 – 7:05 22:30 – 24:50

Episode 5:

2:05 – 3:00 55:20 – 56:10

Episode 6:

2:00 – 2:50

Episode 7:

54:50 – 56:12

Episode 8:

4:43 – 7:43 38:46 – 39:46 41:14 – 43:50 44:38 – 44:52 46:08 – 46:18 51:59 – 58:42 1:04:04 – 1:06:02

[srbachchan]

DAY 5496

Jalsa, Mumbai                Mar 4/5,  2023               Sat/Sun 8:53 AM

🪔 .. March 05 .. birthday wishes to Ef Satish Kumar Paig from Kochi .. 

And the greetings of togetherness to Ef Suresh Jumani and his better half Tanya from Chennai for their 24th wedding anniversary .. 💍💕

..

the wishes do come and go from the family now known often as the Ef ..

And it needs to be told .. not be held .. 

In Hyderabad at the shoot for Project K, during an action shot, I have got injured .. rib cartilage popped broke and muscle tear to the right rib cage .. canceled shoot .. did Doctor consult and scan by CT at the AIG Hospital in Hyderabad and flown back home .. strapping has been done and rest been advocated .. yes painful .. on movement and breathing .. will take some weeks they say before some normalisation will occur .. some medication is on also for pain .. 

So all work that was to be done has been suspended and canceled dropped postponed for the moment until healing occurs ..

I rest at Jalsa and am mobile a bit for all the essential activities .. but yes in rest and generally lying around ..

It shall be difficult or let me say .. I shall be unable to meet, the well wishers at Jalsa Gate this evening .. so do not come .. and do inform as much as you can to those that intend coming ..

All else is well .. 

Getting time to spend time with Babuji and his genius, his mind his words and his immense creativity .. the essence of life resides in his writings .. and such a learning and amazed joy to be in his company ..

There is desire to share .. to share what ever little that I may interpret from his words and his memories of the times spent with him .. to lament the limited .. to be in awe of the vision and the intellect of such a being .. and wonder how ever did one think of all that was written spoken thought by him ..

HOW ..

... and a book of a collection of some of the letters he corresponded with certain individuals finds me leafing through them to meet the mind of Babuji and one such :

Apne vatavaran se koi nirapeksh nahin reh sakta  . Har pankaj mein pank ka kuch na kuch ansh rehta hai  - pankaj ko keechad lapetne ki zaroorat nahin . Kuch lapet te hain ye aur baat hai . Aap kehte hain videsh mantralay ka vatavaran ya dilli ka vatavaran aapki kavita mein nahin aaya . Itna asamprikt rehna kisi ke liye sambhav nahin . Vo kisis na kisi roop mein aaya hi hoga . aisi sadhana mujhmein aa gai hai ki kamalvatt keechad ke oopar rahoon to meri aplabhdhi  bahut choti nahin hai  .

You cannot be dispassionate or indifferent to your environment. In every lotus ( Pankaj – the one that blooms in sludge and slime viz. the lotus ) a bit of the sludge always remains – it is not essential for the lotus to wrap itself in sludge . Some do it, but that is a different matter . You say that ‘the atmosphere or the environment of the Foreign Affairs Ministry or that of Delhi has not been reflected in your poetry’ . To be so untouched for anyone is not possible . It does appear in some form or the other . I have now achieved such meditative accomplishment that remaining above the sludge and mud of the lotus is no small cognitive accomplishment for me .

.. you may wonder about the Foreign Ministry .. and Delhi in reference .. 

Babuji was the lecturer in the English Department of the prestigious Allahabad University .. he did his PhD in English literature from Cambridge in 1954 .. went in 1952 and within 2 years finished his PhD which normally takes 4 years .. his dissertation was ‘W B Yeats and Occultism’  ..

WB Yeats ..  the accomplished and famed Irish poet, who had a passion for the occult, particularly that which emanated from India ..

When Babuji returned after this achievement, a rare PhD, perhaps the very first Indian to have got a PhD from Cambridge in English Literature, he was not given the recognition he so deserved from the University. In fact they actually reduced his salary. This was very upsetting for Babuji and he resigned from Allahabad University, joined the AIR, the All India Radio as a Producer, until eventually he was called by Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of Independent India to the Foreign Ministry, now known as the External Affairs Ministry, then headed by Panditji , to be the OSD, Officer on Special Duty in the Hindi Department, in New Delhi . 

Such learnings are indeed most rare .. and to have time now, as always, to be in the midst of all the incredible writings, is a god send .. I am blessed  .. and to be able to share some of this with all is a duty .. 

I feel your presence at the Jalsa gate .. but shall be unable to show the face ..

Apologies ..

love .. ❤️

Amitabh Bachchan

[lawrenceleemagnuson]

André Lhote (France 1885-1962) Nu égyptien (1952-53) gouache sur papier 31.8 x 23.5 cm

[chicinsilk]

Ferdinandi Haute Couture Collection Fall/Winter 1952-53 Model Anna Maria Ghislanzoni.

Ferdinandi Collection Haute Couture Automne/Hiver 1952-53 Mannequin Anna Maria Ghislanzoni.

[frenchcurious]

Nicolas de Staël (1913-1955) - Les Musiciens, Souvenir de Sidney Bechet, 1952-53. - source Arte Moderna.

[project1939]

Life magazine, August 4th, 1952. The Summer Olympics in Helsinki continue to get ample coverage in the press. What seemingly gets the most attention is the "Cold War Games." Who is better, the U.S. or the U.S.S.R.? This kind of thing went on for decades at sporting events between the two.

[les-belles-mecaniques]

Jaguar E-type Roadster

1962 Benz 300 SL Roadster

1952 DB2/4 Roadster

1966 Ferrari MM/53 Spider

[germanpostwarmodern]

Extension (1952-53) of Bayrische Staatsbank in Erlangen, Germany, by Sep Ruf. Photo by Photo-Thema, Nürnberg.

[chernobog13]

The Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore) astride his mighty steed, Silver, from The Lone Ranger television series (1949-1957).

Moore played the Ranger for 169 of the series' 221 episodes. For the 1952-53 season he was replaced by John Hart, reportedly due to a contract dispute. However, Hart was not accepted in the role, and his episodes were never rebroadcast (reruns) until sometime in the 1980s, when the show was in syndication.

Moore also portrayed the Masked Man in two color features, The Lone Ranger (1956) and The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958).