Yabba Dabbo Doo!: Inside Hanna-Barbera and “TV’s First Cartoon for Grownups”

The Nov 21, 1960 issue of LIFE heralded new beginnings, great and small. The cover of the issue showed John F. Kennedy—with wife Jackie, mother Rose and sister Eunice— fresh off his win in the 1960 presidential election, and the headline declared a “New Era in Government.”

Another story in that issue featured a family that would change the medium of television—the Flintstones. LIFE hailed their new show as “TV’s first Cartoon for Grownups.” The prime-time hit on ABC debuted on Sept. 30, 1960 and centered around the prehistoric lives of Fred and Wilma Flintstone and their friends Barney and Betty Rubble. LIFE described the show, set in the town of Bedrock, as a “a parody of modern togetherness” and added, “By poking fun at dozens of humorless comedies now on the air, The Flintstones gives a much needed boost to a generally dismal TV season.” Viewers agreed. The show ran for 166 episodes, through April 1966, and Fred’s cry of “Yabba Dabba Doo” became part of the American vernacular.

The creative minds behind the show were William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The two had worked together as animators at MGM studios, where they had won seven Academy Awards for their Tom and Jerry shorts. In 1957 Hanna and Barbera left MGM to form their own company, and had their first hit with The Huckleberry Hound Show (which would produce an even more popular spinoff, The Yogi Bear Show. Hanna-Barbera also go on to produce such shows as The Jetsons and Scooby-Doo. Their mark on the world of animation was as gargantuan as any of the dinosaurs stomping around Bedrock.

In 1960, when The Flintstones was the hot new thing, LIFE photographer Allan Grant took a deep dive into the world of Hanna-Barbera. His pictures show Fred Flintstone and other company creations popping up in unlikely settings—at the boardroom, in the recording studio, floating in the pool at Hanna’s house. Some particularly interesting photos show the Hanna-Barbera artists at work in the days when animators relied on pen and ink rather than computers. In one photo a cartoonist makes an exaggerated face in the mirror to use as reference for drawing the same expression on Fred Flintstone.

The Flintstones may have been the first adult-friendly cartoon to air in prime time, but it certainly wasn’t the last. The mantle was picked up most notably by The Simpsons, which debuted in 1989 and continues its remarkable run today. (In a nod to the bond between the shows, in one episode Homer hilariously recreates the Flintstones’ opening sequence.. If The Flintstones succeeded because it featured the most interesting family on television, the same sentiment applies to The Simpsons—or Family Guy, South Park, BoJack Horseman and the other shows that carry on the legacy of adult animation that can be traced back to the town of Bedrock and the studios of Hanna-Barbera.

William Hanna, Joseph Barbera and their creations, 1960

Allan Grant/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

William Hanna (left) and Joseph Barbera (right), 1960.

Allan Grant/LIFE Pictures/Shutterstock

Joseph Barbera (right) and Fred Flinstone get down to business, 1960.

Allan Grant/LIFE Pictures/Shutterstock

William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, 1960.

Allan Grant/LIFE Pictures/Shutterstock

Joseph Barbera (on the ground) at the offices of Hanna-Barbera, 1960.

Allan Grant/LIFE Pictures/Shutterstock

Animator Carlo Vinci at work on The Flintstones at Hanna-Barbera, 1960.

Allan Grant/LIFE Pictures/Shutterstock

Animator Carlo Vinci used a mirror to draw facial expressions of Fred Flinstone, Los Angeles, California, 1960.

Allan Grant/LIFE Pictures/Shutterstock

An animator works on Fred Flintstone at the offices of Hanna-Barbera, 1960.

Allan Grant/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The offices of Hanna-Barbera Productions, 1960.

Allan Grant/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Huckleberry Hound merchandise being made at Hanna-Barbera Productions, 1960.

Allan Grant/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear merchandise being made at Hanna-Barbera Productions, 1960.

Allan Grant/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear merchandise being made at Hanna-Barbera Productions, 1960. Yogi Bear debuted as a supporting character on The Huckleberry Hound Show before getting his own program in 1961.

Allan Grant/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Animator William Hanna at home, 1960.

Allan Grant/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Animator William Hanna at home, 1960.

Allan Grant/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Joseph Barbera sitting by the pool with family, 1960.

Allan Grant/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A Flintstones recording session at Hanna-Barbera studios, 1960.

Allan Grant/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A Flintstones recording session at Hanna-Barbera studios, 1960.

Allan Grant/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A Flintstones recording session at Hanna-Barbera studios, 1960.

Allan Grant/LIFE Pictures/Shutterstock

A Flintstones recording session at Hanna-Barbera studios, 1960.

Allan Grant/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A bowling team at Hanna-Barbera, 1960.

Allan Grant/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Training with “The World’s First Paleo CrossFitting Locavore”

In its July 7, 1958 issue, LIFE magazine ran a story on track star Herb Elliott and his 63-year-old trainer Percy Cerutty, headlined “Odd Partners’ Odd Way to a Record Mile.” While the 20-year-old Elliott was a world-record holder who never lost a mile race, Cerutty was the star of the story.

Cerutty wasn’t your average coach. The Australian came to running late, quitting his job as a telephone technician in his early 40s following a bout with pneumonia. The former four-pack-a-day smoker remade his life around healthy habits and, inspired by a racetrack revelation about how humans could learn from the running style of horses, he eventually took up marathon running, completing his first race at the age of 51. “I started too late,” he lamented to LIFE. But he established a small compound on the Eastern coast of Australia to impart his wisdom to younger athletes, with Elliott becoming his star student.

His workout program was as distinctive as it was rigorous. He placed more emphasis on weight lifting—even if only for minimal reps—than in common in track, and pushed his students toward a natural and uninhibited running style. This story on The Science of Running website gets into the details of this training methods.

In general he advocated living as naturally as possible. Cerutty called his approach “Stotan”—half Stoic, half Spartan. (The method is called simply “Spartan” in the LIFE story, and one imagines a copy editor understandably fixing a perceived misspelling). In that LIFE story Cerutty advised, “Put zest and life into your work.” According to the story Elliott and Cerutty had “run barefoot marathons together, lifted weights, gone for ice-cold swims and dieted on oats, nuts and fruits.” The duo’s adventures were captured by LIFE photographer Leonard McCombe.

The unconventionality that attracted LIFE to Cerutty may have also stood in the way of his broader acceptance in the coaching world. But time has judged him kindly. In 2014 Christopher McDougall, author of the popular book Burn to Run, wrote appreciatively about Cerutty for OutsideOnline.com in a story titled “Lessons from the Paleo Guru History Forgot.” McDougall deemed Cerutty “the world’s first Paleo CrossFitting locavore.”

In recent years interest in Cerutty surged enough that his six fitness guides, such as Be Fit! or Be Damned! , were brought back into print. Even if his name is not broadly known, the ideas Cerutty advocated have gone further than he might ever have imagined.

Runner Herb Elliott (left) ran with his trainer Percy Cerutty, 1958.

Leonard McCombe/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Track star Herb Elliott and his trainer Percy Cerutty, 1958.

Leonard McCombe/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Percy Cerutty (left) and Herb Elliott lifted weights, an unconventional approach for a track coach, 1958.

Leonard McCombe/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Trainer Percy Cerutty, 63, with track star Herb Elliott, 1958.

Leonard McCombe/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Herb Elliott (foreground) and trainer Percy Cerutty (background), 1958.

Leonard McCombe/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Runner Herb Elliott climbed a rope as part of his training with Percy Cerutty, 1958.

Leonard McCombe/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Runner Herb Elliott watched his trainer Percy Cerutty (foreground) lift weights.

Leonard McCombe/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Trainer Percy Cerutty (foreground) and track star Herb Elliott, 1958.

Leonard McCombe/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Runner Herb Elliott eating with his trainer Percy Cerutty (left), 1958.

Leonard McCombe/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Runner Herb Elliott (L) with his trainer Percy Cerutty, 1958.

Leonard McCombe/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Runner Herb Elliott (left) ate ice cream with his trainer Percy Cerutty, 1958.

Leonard McCombe/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

During a round of golf runner Herb Elliott watched his trainer Percy Cerutty, a non-golfer, execute a headstand, 1958.

Leonard McCombe/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Trainer Percy Cerutty, 1958.

Leonard McCombe/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

When Scooters Became the Cool Way to Go

The most popular kind of scooter these days may be the standing electric scooter, which is seeing a boost in popularity because it provides the solution to a host of modern problems. Those standing scooters are an efficient way to make short trips around town without having to worry about either the environmental effects or the costs of gas usage, or the COVID concerns of riding public transportation. Scooters also aren’t a parking problem, especially if you live in one of the many cities with a scooter-sharing program.

The days after World War II saw the rise of a different kind of scooter—the kind that is more closely related to the motorcycle. (If you wish people would stop calling so many different two-wheeled modes of transportation “scooters” you are not alone). The scooters that took off in the post-war years have this in common with e-scooters: their burst in popularity was tied to the societal shifts of its day.

In Italy after World War II, the Vespa turned out to be the perfect vehicle for a war-torn country with bumpy roads and a bumpier economy. The Vespas were also fun and fashionable: in the great 1953 romantic comedy Roman Holiday, Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn had their day to remember as they scooted around town on a Vespa.

In the United States people also showed an affinity for this young form of two-wheeled travel, owing to a surplus of motorbikes being decommissioned by the army after the war, and also the former troops who rode in groups to reclaim some of the camaraderie of their service days.

LIFE photographers captured the rise of scooter culture on both sides on the Atlantic. In 1945 as the war was nearing its end, Wallace Kirkland documented the Cushman Motor Works in Nebraska, showing both the plant where scooters were made and also the locals enjoying their products. In Italy in 1948 Dmitri Kessel photographed people on Vespas for an essay on Europe coming back to life after the war.

Those motor scooters have been on the decline in popularity in recent years as electric sales surge. But when they had their moment, it sure looked fun.

Vespa riders in Italy, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Mother and baby rode a Vespa scooter in Italy, 1948.

Dmitiri Kessel/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A police officer directed scooter traffic in Italy, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A scooter rider and a cyclist chatted on the street in Italy, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A parking lot for Vespa scooters in Italy, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Nebraska was a center of scooter production in America, 1945.

Wallace Kirkland/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Outside the Cushman Motor Works scooter plant in Nebraska, 1945.

Wallace Kirkland/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Outside the Cushman Motor Works scooter plant in Nebraska, 1945.

Wallace Kirkland/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Inside the Cushman Motor Works scooter plant, 1945.

Wallace Kirkland/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A scooter enthusiast in Nebraska, 1945.

Wallace Kirkland/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Scooter enthusiasts in Nebraska, 1945.

Wallace Kirkland/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Scooter riders in Nebraska, 1945.

Wallace Kirkland/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Scooter enthusiasts in Nebraska, 1945.

Wallace Kirkland/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A scooter rider in Nebraska, 1945.

Wallace Kirkland/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

LIFE Launches Collection of NFTs From Iconic Photographs

This month LIFE joins other major collections like the Associated Press and the British Museum to launch its own set of NFTs.

NFTS (non-fungible tokens) are one-of-a-kind digital items with blockchain-managed ownership. LIFE will collaborate with the NFT marketplace KnownOrigin, and distribute exclusive drops of their iconic photographs via their profile, beginning with the first on April 14.  

Founded in 1936, LIFE, the first photography publication in the United States, coined the term “photo essay” and established a unique visual storytelling style in popular culture. With work from trailblazing photographer Margaret Bourke-White, the first drop offers the opportunity for serious collectors to own selected authentic, important pieces of photography from the cover essay of LIFE’s first issue.

“LIFE always seeks to share its incredible photography with new communities,” said Tom Rowland, President of the Picture Collection. “There is a growing number of photography enthusiasts on Web3, and we see this as a way to engage with new audiences around photojournalism and art.”

David Moore, one of the KnownOrigin co-founders commented, “We are delighted that LIFE has partnered with KnownOrigin to launch their journey into NFTs. LIFE is an iconic and historically important brand with compelling and instantly recognizable imagery, including famous LIFE magazine covers…We have recently seen photography grow in importance and collectability within the NFT community. The LIFE Picture Collection is unrivaled in its breadth and variety of awe-inspiring content. It’s an honor to have LIFE on our platform.”

The drop will include an auction with a reserve, rare editions, and other pieces with a larger limited run and items will be priced according to their rarity. It will also be accompanied by Twitter Spaces and a new LIFE Discord channel to connect audiences with the brand.

LIFE and KnownOrigin will feature a virtual gallery in Decentraland on KnownOrigin’s plot of land. As a continuation of LIFE’s cutting-edge philosophy, the gallery will form an immersive world celebrating LIFE’s inception and its digital form. The LIFE gallery platform will display NFTS and additional LIFE photography, allowing collectors to display their unique pieces.

LIFE will offset any emissions generated from the NFT minting process from sales. A portion of the proceeds from the NFT sales will also be donated to charities chosen by the LIFE team, with the first drop benefitting the Malala Fund. 

Here’s an exclusive first look at the first pieces we’ll be releasing as NFTs on KnownOrigin.

LIFE’s first cover on November 23, 1963 of Fort Peck Dam.

(Margaret Bourke-White/ LIFE Picture Collection /Shutterstock)

Original print of first LIFE Cover from 1936, that will be on view at our largest retrospective to date, at the Boston MFA, in October 2022.

(Margaret Bourke-White/ LIFE Picture Collection /Shutterstock)

A contact sheet from 1936 of aerial views of Fort Peck Dam’s landscape.

(Margaret Bourke-White/ LIFE Picture Collection /Shutterstock)

Portrait of LIFE’s first hired and first female staff photographer, Margaret Bourke-White. She was on assignment in Algeria, standing in front of Flying Fortress bomber in which she made combat mission photographs of the U.S. attack on Tunis, 1943.

(Margaret Bourke-White/ LIFE Picture Collection /Shutterstock)

A workman crawls inside a giant pipe segment, Fort Peck, Montana. The pipe, divided by latticelike support struts, was used to divert the flow of the Missouri River during construction of the Fort Peck dam, 1936.

(Margaret Bourke-White/ LIFE Picture Collection /Shutterstock)

View of New Deal, Montana, which was one of the six shack towns around the US work relief construction project of the Fort Peck Dam in Fort Peck, Montana, 1936.

(Margaret Bourke-White/ LIFE Picture Collection /Shutterstock)

Two children leaning against a sign reading “Entering New Deal, Speed Limit 25 Miles Per Hour” marking the boundary of New Deal, one of the shanty towns which have grown up around the work-relief project at Fort Peck Dam in Montana, 1936.

(Margaret Bourke-White/ LIFE Picture Collection /Shutterstock)

Home on the Range: The Sweet Spot of Prairie Living

In its issue of Dec. 15, 1952, LIFE magazine ran a 12-page essay about life on the American prairie. “It’s loneliness and awesome immensity shape a distinctive way of American life,” declared the headline.

But these prairie communities that LIFE reported on were notably changed from the world that had been celebrated in the beloved books of Laura Ingalls Wilder. True, the prairie was still rural and isolated, especially compared to the cities and the burgeoning suburbs of the 1950s. But change was starting to come, in ways that were largely welcome to those prairie residents. Life wasn’t quite so lonely or difficult as it had been:

The winds of modernity have tempered the hard life the homesteaders led when they came to plow up the buffalo grass. The long fingers of the rail lines and the black-tops have brought people together, and the prosperity from wheat, cattle, and the riches under the soil have given them daily comfort and time for travel. But with all the surface changes, the essential character of life on the prairie has not changed. It is still living shaped by the prairie’s vastness, and in no other part of the world is there a way of life comparable to it.”

In other words, this LIFE essay captured the prairie in its sweet spot. Some of the hardest edges of frontier life had been softened, without trampling over its special character. The photo essay captures so many wonderful details of life in rural Kansas in that era—like the newspapers that were delivered by airplane to the homes that were spaced out too far apart for a conventional paper route.

For all the talk of lonely open spaces, many of the beautiful photographs taken by Howard Sochurek in the small towns of Kansas centered on moments of community. As LIFE wrote, “The rhythm of the square dance, the recitation of the youngster, a box supper for the parents of the school children—these are some of the things that dispel the loneliness of the prairie. Many years ago a man’s neighbor was a remote and distant figure. Now the prairie people come from miles around to go calling or to go into town for the simplest forms of social life.”

Maybe the most fun picture in this whole set is of the dance attendees going to bed in cots. They were sleeping at the community center rather than make the long ride home at night. A big sliumber party for adults and kids alike—it sounds like a good time, right?

The announcement of a party at the community center in Pawnee Acre, Kansas, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

For this prairie social event, many of the attendees came by plane, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

This baby slept while Pawnee Acre members spruced up the building for a party, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

A luncheon at the Pawnee Acre community center.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A luncheon at the Pawnee Acre community center.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

A square dance in Dighton, Kansas, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A dance in Dighton, Kansas, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

The Pawnee Acre community building during a Wednesday night social, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

Community members transformed the dance hall into a dormitory after a dance, Kansas, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

A man and his dog walk the Kansas prairie, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

A farmer drove twin tractors lashed together, a common prairie practice that allowed for a doubled workload, Kansas, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

The Richfield baseball club, Kansas, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

A mother drove her child for a violin lesson, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Kansas prairie, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

Inside an insurance office in Cimmaron, Kansas, company president F.C. Walker met with a policy holder, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

Newspapers were delivered by plane because of the vast distances between farms in Kansas, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

School entertainment in Richfield, Kansas, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

A Halloween party at the Pawnee Acre community center in Kansas, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

A schoolboy went through a recitation while his teacher stood ready to prompt him, Kansas, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

An eight-year-old boy took the wheel of a farm truck, Kansas, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

Ruben Crist, a cattle and wheat farmer, looked out over his 12,500 acres, Kansas, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

A Prohibitionist road sign near Richfield, Kansas, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

A sign tallied church contributions in Lydia, Kansas, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

Mrs. John Grusing, a mother of thirteen who first came to the prairie in 1908, taught Sunday school in Lydia, Kansas, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

Prairie life in Kansas, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

A tumbleweed blew into the door of a deserted prairie home, Irvington, Kansas, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

The eyes of a farmer, Gus Dumler, show the reflection of a tractor, the prairie, and the ruined courthouse of the ghost town of Ravana, Kansas, 1952.

Howard Sochurek/LIFE Picture Colllection/Shutterstock

The Changing Roles of Women: A Photographer Picks Her Favorite Images

LIFE asked Caroline Gutman, a freelance photographer who has shot for the New York Times and the Washington Post, to choose her favorite photos from the LIFE archives that speak to the changing role of women. Gutman’s work, which you see on her website, often focusses on issues of gender and economic equality. “As a woman and a photographer, my work is inherently linked to women’s changing roles over the last century, and it is only possible because of generations of women who paved the way,” Gutman says.

Her selections are a diverse group that show women in many different settings—at home, on the farm, at the race track and even in the pro wrestling arena. Here Ms. Gutman explains what attracted her to each photo:

Field Workers 1941

In the months after Axis forces attacked the Soviet Union during World War II, women in Russia took to the fields to help feed their comrades while men fought on the frontlines. This well-framed photo goes beyond time and place as it shows captures women of all ages with rakes held high and harvested hay at their feet.

In 1941, Russian women’s brigade wielded crude rakes to gather up hay harvest on a collective farm outside Moscow, helping contribute to the war effort against the Axis.

Margaret Bourke-White/LIFE Pictures/Shutterstock

Surviving the Dust Bowl 1942

This painterly depiction of a Dust Bowl-era home shows a mother and son finding comfort in each other’s company. She is likely darning a piece of clothing at a time when money was scarce, exemplifying how it often fell to women to hold the home together and make do with whatever they had.

Mrs. John Barnett and son Lincoln in a room of their farmhouse in the Dust Bowl, 1942

Alfred Eisenstaedt/LIFE Pictures/Shutterstock

Mildred Burke, Wresting Champion 1947

While today women have a prominent role in professional wrestling, for most of its history female competitors were rare. But Mildred Burke was an early pioneer. She held the National Wrestling Alliance’s World Women’s Champion title for nearly 20 years. Not only does this photo show Burke proudly wearing her welterweight championship belt, it also shows how comfortable she is in showing her feminine strength.

Wrestler Mildred Burke showing her championship belt, 1943.

Myron Davis/LIFE Pictures/Shutterstock

Motorcycle Meet 1947

Although less than 15% of motorcyclists in the U.S. today are women, female bikers have a long history. The founding of Motor Maids chapters in the 1930s gave women the chance to share their enthusiasm for motorcycles and bond with other female riders. This mother-daughter duo look happy and at home during a motorcycle meet in Laconia, N.H.

Motorcycle meet, Laconia, N.H., 1947

Sam Shere/LIFE Pictures/Shutterstock

Casting Ballots 1952

At the time this photo was taken in 1952 in Martha’s Vineyard, women had only had the right to vote for thirty years, after the passage of the 19th Amendment. This image captures not just a new right but a changing tide. Since 1964 more women than men have voted in every presidential election.

Women voting in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, November 1952.

Fritz Goro/LIFE Pictures/Shutterstock

Taking to the Air 1958

In the years after World War II women enjoyed new career options. This photo captures the pride of flight attendants-in-training, and also the beauty standards expected of women in the commercial flight industry.

Stewardesses in training learned proper grooming techniques during a class at the American Airlines “college” for new flight attendants, 1958.

Peter Stackpole/LIFE Pictures/Shutterstock

Betting-Window Fashion 1958

This visually striking depiction of betting at a racetrack highlights not just the fashion of the day but a changing attitudes about women’s pastimes. This fashion shoot portrays the women with exuberance, while the drably dressed man fades into the background.

Models posed at a betting window at Roosevelt Raceway in Long Island, N.Y. 1958.

Nina Leen/LIFE Pictures/Shutterstock

March for Women’s Rights by John Olson, 1970

The push to pass the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was a watershed moment for the women’s rights in the U.S, even though it was never ratified. The solidarity and resolve of the protestors in this photo walking arm-in-arm captures growing momentum of the feminist movement.

Women marched down Fifth Avenue in New York City as a part of the Women’s Equality March on August 26, 1970. The march, organized by the National Organization for Women, commemorated the 50th anniversary of the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted American women full suffrage.

John Olson/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

An example of Caroline Gutman’s work: Luo Peiqiong, an indigo artisan, stood for a portrait in her home in Rongjiang, Guizhou province, China, while wearing hand-woven, hand-dyed and hand-embroidered fabrics, on October 14, 2018. Indigo harvesting and dyeing are traditional practices in Miao villages in the region.

Caroline Gutman

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