Before Zoolander, There Was Harkrider: An Early Look at Male Models

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In 1961, LIFE’s Eleanor Graves profiled a man named John Harkrider, the founder, owner, talent scout and booking agent of the Harkrider male model agency. That such a profession even existed might have surprised many of the magazine’s readers, for whom Graves’ explained the phenomenon that was sweeping the world of fashion and advertising:

There was a time, not too long ago, when the best salesman for anything in the world was a pretty girl…If a man crept into any of these pictures, he supplied only a shoulder to lean on or a hand to light the match. Today all this has changed. Men, often especially rugged types distinguished by eye patches, beards or tattoos, have moved to center stage, and it is now often the young lady who holds the match.

For modern readers, the main point of reference for male models is the 2001 comedy classic Zoolander (“so hot right now.” ) But the real life of a man like Harkrider or one of his models wasn’t exactly the glamorous fictional fashion world of the movies. The majority of the scout’s roster of nearly 2,000 had been recruited by Harkrider himself, whose daily routine involved walking up to strangers on the streets of New York City and declaring, “You’ve got a million-dollar face!” before leaving them with his business card.

The agent trained his men in the art of yes. “Never say no,” he told them. “If they ask you if you can be there tomorrow afternoon in a suit of armor, say yes. I’ll get it.” And with a diverse roster of men and boys of varying ages and looks, his ability to meet clients” needs was second to none: “On a recent morning in his New York office he received requests for: a man covered with freckles from head to toe, a teen-ager willing to swim with a shark, a man who would remove his dentures on TV, a Chinese man with a pigtail. Within half an hour the requests were filled.”

He may be but a footnote in fashion history but, for the thousands whose face drew his attention, Harkrider was nothing if not the patron saint of the male model.

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

Agent John Harkrider recruits male models in 1961

Agent John Harkrider gave orders to a large group of his young male models before he took them en masse to the office of prospective client.

Yale Joel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Agent John Harkrider recruits male models in 1961

Harkrider talked to a construction worker about possible modeling work.

Yale Joel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Agent John Harkrider recruits male models in 1961

John Harkrider talked to a group of construction workers.

Yale Joel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Harkrider in a sea of male models material, 1961.

John Harkrider, 1961.

Yale Joel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Agent John Harkrider recruits male models in 1961

Agent John Harkrider talked to a potential male model.

Yale Joel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Agent John Harkrider recruits male models in 1961

Harkrider often roamed the streets of New York followed by a posse of models.

Yale Joel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Agent John Harkrider recruits male models in 1961

Male models recruited by John Harkrider.

Yale Joel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Agent John Harkrider recruits male models in 1961

Harkrider showed off fashion photos of male models.

Yale Joel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Agent John Harkrider recruits male models in 1961

Harkrider and his recruits.

Yale Joel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Agent John Harkrider recruits male models in 1961

Harkrider worked his magic on potential models.

Yale Joel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Agent John Harkrider recruits male models in 1961

A male model received instruction during a photo shoot.

Yale Joel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The New Hampshire Primary, 1968: Nixon vs. Romney

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On Tuesday, Feb. 9, this year’s crop of presidential candidates will duke it It may look relatively mellow compared to the politics of today. But the 1968 New Hampshire primary, as it turns out, had its own fair share of crazy.

The major candidates in that year’s primary on the Republican side were George Romney and Richard Nixon—who would, of course, go on to become the 37th president of the United States. Despite Romney’s showing as the “most energetic by far of all the candidates,” the Michigan governor would collect less than 2% of votes. On the Democratic side, President Johnson had not yet decided whether to run (he ultimately would not) and Robert F. Kennedy had yet to announce his candidacy (he would be assassinated only months later), but Eugene McCarthy had already come out as a challenger.

But the most colorful stories from New Hampshire that year could be found with the lesser known candidates, in whom LIFE’s Assistant Editor Margery Byers took a special interest.

For example, there was Austin Burton, “a Republican who makes psychedelic posters in Greenwich Village.” Burton attempted (and was ultimately not allowed) to declare his candidacy under the name Chief Burning Wood, explaining that he was “one eighth Indian and was made a chief by three Oneida princesses on a TV show.”

There was also Don DuMont, a Republican Good Humor salesman from Chicago whose campaign cards described him as “a 64-year-old, up-to-date Good Humored square with rounded corners.” The only “false thing” about him, he said, were his brand new teeth. Meanwhile, Herbert F. Hoover, fourth cousin of the former president, was running an anti-war campaign but his slogan “Peace is Possible” was drowned out by detractors joking, “I thought you were dead.”

Then there was an Ozark farmer named Laurence Smith. If elected as vice president, Smith planned to “repatriate” black Americans to Africa.

Needless to say—considering that the governor of Michigan couldn’t even crack 2%—Smith, DuMont and their compatriots in the margins—barely registered on in the voting booths on that cold New England day.

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

1968 New Hampshire Primary

In Rochester, N.H. a Nixon volunteer pushes cookies.

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

1968 New Hampshire Primary

Supporters of Richard Nixon during the 1968 New Hampshire primary.

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

1968 New Hampshire Primary

Supporters of Richard Nixon during the 1968 New Hampshire primary.

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

1968 New Hampshire Primary

1968 New Hampshire Primary

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

1968 New Hampshire Primary

At the state university in Durham, George Romney pats a fraternity snowman.

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

1968 New Hampshire Primary

George Romney meets and greets during the 1968 New Hampshire primary.

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

1968 New Hampshire Primary

Original caption: “Romney’s campaign style on a street in Portsmouth, N.H., is to collar and sales-talk individual voters— even reluctant ones.”

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

1968 New Hampshire Primary

Original caption: “[Romney’s] most valuable ally is his wife Lenore, a onetime actress and a better public speaker than her husband.”

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

1968 New Hampshire Primary

Republican candidate Austin Burton, who went by the name Chief Burning Wood.

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

1968 New Hampshire Primary

Richard Nixon campaigning in Nashua.

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

1968 New Hampshire Primary

Original caption: “Manning a receiving line were Pat Nixon, daughters Tricia, 22, and Julie 19, and David Eisenhower, 19—Ike’s grandson who is engaged to Julie.”

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

1968 New Hampshire Primary

Original caption: “David, Julie and Tricia hike the streets of Exeter.”

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

1968 New Hampshire Primary

Original caption: “David gives the girls an exuberant hug. All three attend college, but they hope to continue working part time for Nixon.”

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

1968 New Hampshire Primary

Supporters of Richard Nixon during the 1968 New Hampshire primary.

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Skiing’s Early Days as a Popular American Pastime

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Skiing is somewhere in the vicinity of 22,000 years old not as sport or recreation, but as a critical mode of transportation for early hunters. But skiing as Americans know it today, complete with high-speed chairlifts and cozy lodges selling overpriced French fries, only began to boom in the mid-1950s. With the advent of artificial snow and metal skis during that decade and plastic boots the next, more Americans took up the sport. Ski resorts, in turn, introduced new amenities to attract bigger crowds with each passing year.

LIFE photographer George Silk hit the slopes in 1957 to capture the building frenzy. A record 3.5 million skiers ad made their ways down America’s mountains the previous year, and several of the resorts he visited in Vermont—Stowe, Mount Snow, Mad River Glen—were host to ever more luxurious lodges, high-end apparel and, most of all, epic crowds. “As the peak late-February season approached,” LIFE declared, “the question was where all the skiers would find room to ski.”

The more skiers there were, the more the businesses rose to meet their demands. Mount Snow served up almost 20,000 hot dogs in a single weekend. Equipment rentals, previously unavailable, now came with free lessons. At Mad River Glen, skiers at the end of a long run could shed their gear and slip into a Catholic Mass. The only folks who weren’t pleased were the “old-line ski addicts,” who viewed new adopters of their sport as “a nuisance that crowds the slopes and inns they once had to themselves.”

But the newcomers were there to stay. Before long they would have snowboarders up on the mountains too. 

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

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On Spruce Peak, VT., Harry Larsen climbs from her new lodge.

George Silk The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Skiing Boom in the Stowe area of Vermont, 1957.

Skiers unload from a train at Stowe, Vermont, 1957.

George Silk The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Skiers at Mount Snow in Vermont, 1957.

Skiers board a chairlift at Mount Snow in Vermont, 1957.

George Silk The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Fashion on the slopes at Mt. Snow, Vermont, 1957.

Fashion on the slopes at Mt. Snow, Vermont, 1957.

George Silk The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Skiing Boom in the Stowe area of Vermont, 1957.

Workers maintain the slopes at Stowe, Vermont, 1957.

George Silk The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ski family, the Edward McMahons of Stowe, group before a run. Mr. McMahon, wife Marilyn, her mother, Mrs. Gale Shaw, Suzanne 10, Sally 7, Debbie 5, Patty 3 practice together weekends.

A family before a run at Stowe.

George Silk The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Skiers at Mount Snow in Vermont, 1957.

Patty McMahon gets a push from her mother at Stowe.

George Silk The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Skiers at Mount Snow in Vermont, 1957.

The McMahon kids get comfortable on their skis, Mount Snow, Vermont, 1957.

George Silk The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Skiers at Mount Snow in Vermont, 1957.

Learning how to fall is an important part of the sport, 1957.

George Silk The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Skiers at Mount Snow in Vermont, 1957.

A packed chairlift at Mount Snow in Vermont, 1957.

George Silk The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Hooded skiers shuffle slowly toward a chair life at Mt. Snow. Cloaks are provided by lift operators to keep skiers warm on windy ride up the mountain.

Hooded skiers shuffle slowly toward a chair life at Mt. Snow. Cloaks were provided by lift operators to keep skiers warm on windy ride up the mountain.

George Silk The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The double-chair lift at Mt. Snow gave novices a luxury usually enjoyed only by crack skiers.

The double-chair lift at Mt. Snow gave novices a luxury usually enjoyed only by crack skiers.

George Silk The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Manufactured snow, blowing from nozzles, veils skiers in mists at Bousquet's, near Pittsfield Mass. During a January thaw, Bousquet's was jammed with skiers unable to ski elsewhere. The artificial powdery surface, made from compressed air and water, can be laid at temperature below 32 degrees.

Manufactured snow, blowing from nozzles, veils skiers in mists at Bousquet’s, near Pittsfield Mass. During a January thaw, Bousquet’s was jammed with skiers unable to ski elsewhere.

George Silk The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

12 Powerful Photos of Martin Luther King Jr.

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When Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in April 1968, LIFE magazine remembered him for his “exalted dream of freedom,” one he “died in Memphis for daring to have.” The editors’ words, wondering aloud how the movement would fare in the absence of its most outspoken leader, still resonate today as a new chapter in American civil rights continues to unfold:

King was a thoroughly good man who achieved greatness by showing forth the Negro cause at its best. His was the old American cause of equal rights for all men, and King put it in the form in which this generation of Americans must face it. His death may hinder or help that cause; perhaps both. But all of us owe him the honor of not letting ourselves distort, becloud or belittle the cause he brought to such noble purity of expression.

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and the anniversary of King’s birth on Jan. 15, 1929, here are some of the most powerful images of King made by LIFE’s photographers.

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

American Civil Rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. stands in front of a bus at the end of the Montgomery bus boycott, Montgomery, Alabama, December 26, 1956.

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. stands in front of a bus at the end of the Montgomery bus boycott, Montgomery, Alabama, Dec. 26, 1956.

Don Cravens / The LIFE Images Collection

Civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King speaking from pulpit at mass meeting about principles of non-violence before leading assembly to ride newly integrated busses after successful boycott.

Rev. Martin Luther King speaking from pulpit at mass meeting about principles of non-violence before leading an assembly to ride newly integrated busses after successful boycott.

Don Cravens / The LIFE Images Collection

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speaking at 'Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom' at Lincoln Memorial, 1957.

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speaking at ‘Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom’ at Lincoln Memorial, 1957.

Paul Schutzer / The LIFE Picture Collection

Martin Luther King Jr. Trial, Montgomery Alabama Integration, 1958.

Martin Luther King, Jr. in Montgomery Alabama, 1958.

Grey Villet / The LIFE Picture Collection

Martin Luther King Jr. holding his son Martin III as his daughter Bernice and wife Coretta greet him at the airport upon his release from Georgia State prison after incarceration for leading boycotts, 1960.

Martin Luther King Jr. holds his son Martin III as his daughter Bernice and wife Coretta greet him at the airport upon his release from Georgia State prison after his incarceration for leading boycotts, 1960.

Donald Uhrbrock / The LIFE Images Collection

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (C) speaking with Rev. Ralph Abernathy (2nd R) and others, 1961.

Martin Luther King Jr. (center) speaks with Rev. Ralph Abernathy (2nd from right) and others, 1961.

Paul Schutzer / The LIFE Picture Collection

Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. addressing rally in Detroit, 1963.

Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. addressing rally in Detroit, 1963.

Francis Miller / The LIFE Picture Collection

Leaders of March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom marching w. signs (R-L): Matthew Ahmann, Floyd McKissick, Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Eugene Carson Blake and unidentified.

Leaders of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom march with signs (from R-L): Matthew Ahmann, Floyd McKissick, Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Eugene Carson Blake and an unidentified man.

Robert W. Kelley / The LIFE Picture Collection

Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.speaking with President Lyndon Johnson during a visit to the White House, 1963.

Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks with President Lyndon B. Johnson during a visit to the White House, 1963.

Stan Wayman / The LIFE Picture Collection

Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr leads a prayer in a church before the second Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights march, also known as 'Turnaround Tuesday', Selma, Alabama, 9th March 1965.

Martin Luther King, Jr leads a prayer in a church before the second Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights march, also known as ‘Turnaround Tuesday’, Selma, Ala., March 1965.

Frank Dandridge / The LIFE Images Collection

Civil rights leaders Floyd B. McKissick (fore, 3L), Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (4R) and Stokely Carmichael (2R) participating in voter registration march after originator James H. Meredith was shot, 1966.

Floyd B. McKissick, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Stokely Carmichael participate in a voter registration march after its organizer, James H. Meredith, was shot and wounded, 1966.

Lynn Pelham / The LIFE Picture Collection

Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. sitting with demonstrators who walked through Mississippi to encourage voter registration., 1966.

Martin Luther King, Jr. sits with demonstrators who walked through Mississippi to encourage voter registration, 1966.

Vernon Merritt III / The LIFE Images Collection

How Auto Shows Revved Up Excitement at the Apex of the Auto Age

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The cars of the 1950s were different. They were designed for looks as much as for aerodynamics. They were so about so much more than their utility, a way to get from point A to point B, They were vehicles of adventure and style, the things that popular musicians wrote songs about. And the arrival of the new model year created the kind of excitement that today we reserve today for announcements of the latest phones.  ‘

LIFE’s Walter Sanders went to a New York car show previewing the new models for 1957—historically recognized a great year for cars—and captured the glitz and glamour of that particular moment in history, which tells plenty about the place that the car held in the imagination of America in that age.

The National Automobile Show, held at the now-demolished New York Coliseum, featured an older kind of pageantry. Automakers drew attention with models posing as hood ornaments and “a thirty-minute musical revue” called “”America on the Move,” repeated six times daily. A new vehicle model was rarely seen unaccompanied by a live human model, clad in a regal dress as she pointed out its features.

LIFE’s story in its Dec. 17, 1956 issue (which featured a baptism on its cover) was headlined “Car Makers Sound a Mighty Toot for 1957.” 

“The color motif of turquoise, gold and red-orange mirrored the jaunty mood of the automobile industry,” LIFE magazine declared in its report, which said that the show presented 66 trucks and buses and 124 passenger cars. The show was a big enough of a cultural moment that Richard Nixon, then vice president of the United States, showed up and gave a speech.

Were those old cars better? It’s a matter of debate, especially when you consider that throughout the fifties those gas guzzlers averaged about nine miles per gallon and lacked all the high-tech safety features that have been the focus of the auto industry’s recent creations.

Still, it’s hard to look at these pictures and not get charmed by the excitement of that moment.

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

National Automobile Show at the New York Coliseum featuring 1957 lines.

1956 New York Auto Show

Walter Sanders The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

National Automobile Show at the New York Coliseum featuring 1957 lines.

1956 New York Auto Show

Walter Sanders The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

National Automobile Show at the New York Coliseum featuring 1957 lines.

1956 New York Auto Show

Walter Sanders The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

National Automobile Show at the New York Coliseum featuring 1957 lines.

1956 New York Auto Show

Walter Sanders The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

National Automobile Show at the New York Coliseum featuring 1957 lines.

1956 New York Auto Show

Walter Sanders The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

National Automobile Show at the New York Coliseum featuring 1957 lines.

1956 New York Auto Show

Walter Sanders The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

National Automobile Show at the New York Coliseum featuring 1957 lines.

1956 New York Auto Show

Walter Sanders The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

National Automobile Show at the New York Coliseum featuring 1957 lines.

1956 New York Auto Show

Walter Sanders The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

National Automobile Show at the New York Coliseum featuring 1957 lines.

1956 New York Auto Show

Walter Sanders The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

National Automobile Show at the New York Coliseum featuring 1957 lines.

1956 New York Auto Show

Walter Sanders The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

National Automobile Show at the New York Coliseum featuring 1957 lines.

1956 New York Auto Show

Walter Sanders The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

National Automobile Show at the New York Coliseum featuring 1957 lines.

1956 New York Auto Show

Walter Sanders The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

National Automobile Show at the New York Coliseum featuring 1957 lines.

1956 New York Auto Show

Walter Sanders The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

National Automobile Show at the New York Coliseum featuring 1957 lines.

1956 New York Auto Show

Walter Sanders The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

National Automobile Show at the New York Coliseum featuring 1957 lines.

1956 New York Auto Show

Walter Sanders The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

National Automobile Show at the New York Coliseum featuring 1957 lines.

1956 New York Auto Show

Walter Sanders The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

National Automobile Show at the New York Coliseum featuring 1957 lines.

1956 New York Auto Show

Walter Sanders The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

National Automobile Show at the New York Coliseum featuring 1957 lines.

1956 New York Auto Show

Walter Sanders The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

20 of the Most Joyful Christmas Photos of All Time

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The holiday season is all about tidings of joy: a crackle in the fireplace, the twinkle of lights, perhaps one too many glasses of eggnog. And no matter the gravity of the stories in the news, LIFE captured that joy year in and year out. Most frequently, that process involved photographing some combination of children and Santa Claus, whether they tugged on his cotton-white beard or gaped in disbelief at some long-coveted doll. Here, as this year’s Christmas rolls around, are LIFE’s most joyful images of Christmases past.

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

Children talking to Santa Claus, 1946.

Christmas 1946

Children talking to Santa Claus, 1946. (Frank Scherschel / The LIFE Picture Collection)

A young girl talking to Santa Claus on the telephone, 1947.

Christmas 1947

A young girl talking to Santa Claus on the telephone, 1947. (Martha Holmes / The LIFE Picture Collection)

"Santa and Mrs. Claus" answering telephone calls in their workshop at F. A. O. Schwartz, 1947.

Christmas 1947

“Santa and Mrs. Claus” answering telephone calls in their workshop at F. A. O. Schwartz, 1947. (Martha Holmes / The LIFE Picture Collection)

Santa Claus with a young girl, 1948.

Christmas 1948

Santa Claus with a young girl, 1948. (Martha Holmes / The LIFE Picture Collection)

Santa Claus Convention and training course at Waldorf Astoria, 1948.

Christmas 1948

Santa Claus Convention and training course at Waldorf Astoria, 1948. (Martha Holmes / The LIFE Picture Collection)

Man showing Christmas decorations to children, 1948.

Christmas 1948

Man showing Christmas decorations to children, 1948. (Hank Walker / The LIFE Images Collection)

Tana Centero sitting in front of a Christmas tree, Vermont, 1951.

Christmas 1951

Tana Centero sitting in front of a Christmas tree, Vermont, 1951. (Esther Bubley / The LIFE Images Collection)

A family celebrating Christmas, 1953.

Christmas 1953

A family celebrates Christmas, 1953. (Robert W. Kelley / The LIFE Picture Collection)

Baby tasting a piece of metallic tinsel dangling from a Christmas tree, 1954.

Christmas 1954

Baby tasting a piece of metallic tinsel dangling from a Christmas tree, 1954. (Verner Reed / The LIFE Images Collection)

A little girl looking at doll through a window at Christmas time, 1955.

Christmas 1955

A little girl looking at doll through a window at Christmas time, 1955. (Ralph Morse / The LIFE Picture Collection)

Mrs. George Sutton and her family decorating their Christmas tree at home, 1956.

Christmas 1956

Mrs. George Sutton and her family decorating their Christmas tree at home, 1956. (Ralph Crane / The LIFE Picture Collection)

Preparations for Christmas pageant at Bryn Mawr Community Church, 1956.

Christmas 1956

Preparations for Christmas pageant at Bryn Mawr Community Church, 1956. (Francis Miller / The LIFE Picture Collection)

Scene from the "Trail to Christmas" adaptation of Charles Dicken's "Christmas Carol," 1957.

Christmas 1957

Scene from the “Trail to Christmas” adaptation of Charles Dicken’s “Christmas Carol,” 1957. (Allan Grant / The LIFE Picture Collection)

Children's Christmas play, 1958.

Christmas 1958

Children’s Christmas play, 1958. (Nina Leen / The LIFE Picture Collection)

Young Santa Claus in a Christmas program at Elizabeth Morrow School, 1958.

Christmas 1958

Young Santa Claus in a Christmas program at Elizabeth Morrow School, 1958. (Nina Leen / The LIFE Picture Collection)

Ken Berends and Bill Burslem practice a soft-shoe with faculty member Joy Merkel in Santa Claus training class at Santa Claus School, 1961.

Christmas 1961

Ken Berends and Bill Burslem practice a soft-shoe with faculty member Joy Merkel in Santa Claus training class at Santa Claus School, 1961. (Alfred Eisenstaedt / The LIFE Picture Collection)

Tina Smith decorating a Christmas tree at Guantanamo Naval Base, where her dad, Lt. Commander Joe Smith is stationed, 1962.

Christmas 1962

Tina Smith decorating a Christmas tree at Guantanamo Naval Base, where her dad, Lt. Commander Joe Smith is stationed, 1962. (John Dominis / The LIFE Picture Collection)

Little girl giving Santa Claus a kiss, 1962.

Christmas 1962

Little girl giving Santa Claus a kiss, 1962. (Donald Uhrbrock / The LIFE Images Collection)

Young child visiting Santa Claus at a department store, 1970.

Christmas 1970

Young child visiting Santa Claus at a department store, 1970. (Ralph Morse / The LIFE Picture Collection)

Raymond and Susie McFarland looking raptly at their new Airedale puppy, who's leaning towards them out of Christmas gift box, 1972.

Christmas 1972

Raymond and Susie McFarland looking raptly at their new Airedale puppy, who’s leaning towards them out of Christmas gift box, 1972. (Ralph Crane / The LIFE Picture Collection)

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