Happy National Pin Up Day From Not Another New England Sports Blog!

While some people mark April 22nd down as Earth Day on their calendars, I always thought the attention paid to a holiday whose founding father was a murderous hippie and encourages stifling economic growth in favor of some touchey-feeley platitudes about Mother Earth would be better spent on some sort of observance of National Pin-Up Day.

National Pin-Up Day would be a bit like President's Day in that the holiday doesn't honor just one person. Much like President's Day is meant to coincide with Abraham Lincoln and George Washington's respective birthdays, April 22nd would be an ideal date for National Pin-Up Day since it falls on the late Bettie Page's birthday and is also within a few days of blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield's date of birth [Just think of all the crazy blowout prices auto dealers could have in honor of Pin-Up Day weekend- NANESB!].

Astute readers of this blog will notice that this statuesque camera-wielding blonde is not quite as busty as Jayne Mansfield, yet too fair-headed to be the infamous Bettie Page. The tall, leggy blonde is actually none other than model-turned-photographer Bunny Yeager. Born Linnea Elanor Yeager in the Pittsburgh area in 1930, Yeager moved to Miami and became a sought-after model in the early 1950s.

Thinking ahead to a career after modeling, Yeager began taking photography courses. On her first attempt, some pictures Yeager shot of model friend Maria Stinger were accepted by a men's magazine.

As it turned out, Stinger was just the beginning. In 1954, Yeager first met Bettie Page- who was already known as one of the less inhibited models for Irving Klaw's New York-based Movie Star News- and the two would collaborate on what would become some iconic photo shoots despite Yeager being financially strapped and barely able to afford Page's services as a model at the time.

The sensual Tennessee brunette was photographed by Yeager posing with live [but most likely sedated- NANESB!] cheetahs in a leopard-print bikini at a Boca Raton, FL safari park. Another shoot took place at Miami's Funland amusement park with a bikini-clad Page posing in bumper cars, on the merry go round or in front of concession stands. The Funland and Safari park photos shot by Yeager show a rapport between photographer and model that is hard to duplicate. Yeager must've knew she had something special going in her work with Bettie Page since she also had the foresight to take a number of behind-the-scenes pictures of her and Page at the safari park.

Page wasn't the only famous client that Yeager worked with Swiss model and actress Ursula Andress- the original Bond Girl- for promotional photography and artwork for 1962's Dr. No, the first big screen adaptation of Ian Fleming's James Bond. Andress later remarked that she owed her career to the white bikini she wore in the movie and modeled for Yeager.

At age 84, Yeager is still alive and well and living in Miami. As recently as a year ago, Yeager expressed a passing interest in photographing child-actress-turned-train-wreck Lindsay Lohan [if anyone could pull that off, I bet it would be Yeager- NANESB!]. In 2011, the Schuster galleries of Miami and Berlin became the official representative for Yeager's photographic works and has hosted a number of exhibits featureing her work with Bettie Page and others.

Turn the Paige- New Documentary Reportedly Looks at Iconic Pin-Up's Years Out of the Spotlight

A documentary set to be released in November will reportedly chronicle the later years of famous pin-up model Bettie Page, with parts of the movie to be narrated by Page herself.

Director Mark Mori, who interviewed Page in the late 1990s, enjoyed nearly unprecedented access to the late Bettie Page, who seemed genuinely perplexed over the popularity of some of her photographs some 50 years later. Her time out of the spotlight included being institutionalized for acute schizophrenia and Page passed away in December 2008 at her southern California home at the age of 85.

Set to be released in select theaters on November 22 in New York and on November 29 in Los Angeles, the documentary finally gives voice to the sultry siren of the Southland as she unveils her previously unknown personal life after 40 years of enigmatic seclusion.

Mr Mori's rapport with the publicity shy star (they often shared Christmas cards and the director visited her in hospital one week before she died) gives way to dozens of rare and intimate audio comments as she recounts her troubled childhood (she spent a brief amount of time in an orphanage) and movie star dreams.

But Page's rise to fame, which coincided with the conservative McCarthy era, was short lived. 'The whole Bettie Page phenomenon developed while she was simply off the scene, Mr Hefner explains in the trailer.

Too racy for the times, her images were confiscated suring a police drug raid, and despite cooperating with an FBI investigation, the trailer alludes to a court case in which Page was embroiled over her sexy pinup images.

Fearing legal reprisals at the time, photographer Irving Klaw destroyed most of the photographs and negatives of his shoots with Page after being summoned to appear before the US Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency in 1957- apparently unaware that his sister Paula had hidden away some of the images. Some surviving images of Page from the Klaw archive were auctioned off earlier this year- along with candid pictures of Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, Fay Wray and James Dean- at New York's Gurnsey's auctioneers.

It's National Pin Up Day!

You must be this hot for entry onto the rides

Never mind this fake "Earth Day" holiday started up by homicidal hippie Ira Einhorn- April 22nd shall always be the birthday of the incomprable Bettie Page in my mind's eye.

Born in Nashville, TN in 1923, the scorching, raven-tressed southern belle achieved notoriety in the 1950s and was Playboy's Playmate of the Month in January 1955. Beginning in the late 1980s and early 1990s, vintage and iconic images of Paige enjoyed a resurgence in the goth and rockabilly subcultures. Often imitated but never duplicated, Page was living in obscurity and unaware of her newfound popularity until relatively late in life. Page's heyday was dramatized in the 2006 biopic The Notorious Bettie Page where Gretchen Mol played the titular pin-up [Page reportedly said the film took way too many liberties about her early life- NANESB!]. Paige passed away at age 85 in December 2008.

Perhaps the most iconic of Bettie's images are of her posing with leopards (in a leopard-print swimsuit) at a south Florida safari-themed park. The photographer of those images was a pin-up herself, but was on the other side of a camera lens a number of times with Paige.

The Miami-based Yeager did work for numerous men's magazines at the time and sometimes included herself among the models. Yeager still resides in Florida and released a biography in 2012 called Bunny Yeager's Darkroom that includes recounting some of the shoots with Paige. As you can see above, Yeager herself is no slouch in the looks department.

There's another birthday of note in the vintage pin-up world that's worth some attention- April 19th marks the birthday of blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield.

Interestingly, she was named Playboy's Playmate of the month from 1955- one month after Page. The buxom platinum blonde was about 10 years younger than Page and tended to be more exhibitionist than Paige.

Mansfield also was not above contrived publicity stunts, including those that highlighted her considerable bust [reportedly 40D, although that was subject to fluctution- NANESB!] including this above image where she upstaged Sophie Loren at a Hollywood dinner in the Italian actresses honor. She also was said to have pioneered the 'wardrobe malfunction' (however contrived) by allegedly intentionally wearing dresses too small to accomodate her ample bust to various Hollywood events and making sure the beseiged garment would slip or tear with photographers present.

Unfortunately, Mansfield was killed in 1967 after a collision with a tractor-trailer in Louisiana. Three of her children survived with relatively minor injuries.

One of the survivors of that car wreck was daughter Mariska Hargitay, who would go on to become an actress herself- most noably in NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

See? Isn't this much nicer than some fake holiday started by a hippie who murdered his girlfriend, stuffed the body in a trunk and fled to France?

Happy Earth Day National Pin-Up Day from Not Another New England Sports Blog!

Instead of observing a holiday that was co-founded by a degenerate murdering hippie charlatan like an increasing number of Americans are doing, I'm still lobbying [in vain, apparently- NANESB!] that April 22nd instead feature some sort of official observance for the late Bettie Page.

What is it with chicks and shoes? Am I right, guys?

Actually, since Jayne Mansfield and Bettie Page's birthdays fall within a few days of each other, I wouldn't mind doing a 'National Pin-Up Day'...kinda like President's Day in that it could be used to honor more than one individual. Sunday, April 22nd 2012 marks what would've been Bettie's 89th Birthday. The secretary-turned-model found fame as one of the earliest models for Playboy magazine and went on to model for Irving Klaw and Bunny Yeager. Bettie also reportedly tried pursuing a career as a Broadway and film actress, but her southern accent was said to have hindered her from getting any choice roles.
Although summoned to appear before Congress as part of the 1957 Kefauver Hearings which linked pornography with juvenile delinquency, Paige was never called upon to testify. Paige's personal life afterwards were the subject of a number of conflicting rumors, although by the time she was 'rediscovered' in the late 1980s or early 1990s, she was living alone in the Los Angeles area and reportedly suffering from acute schizophrenia. Paige was reportedly unaware of her resurgent popularity until the 1990s.



While she agreed to licence her name and likeness to sell various items (books, lighters, t-shirts) she declined public appearances, hoping that people would remember her as she looked in the 1950s. With her health abruptly deteriorating, Bettie Paige passed away in December 2008. April 22nd, 2012 marks what would've been Ms Paige's 89th birthday. According to a 2011 Forbes article, Paige's estate remains worth an estimated $6 million, putting her on the magazine's top 20 list of deceased celebrities.

Merry Christmas From Not Another New England Sports Blog!

Like so many other Americans, Christmastime is usually a time for me to hit the road and visit various relatives scatteres throughout the northeast.

Odds are that I'll be away from the internet for awhile, but I wanted to take this opportunity to wish my regular visitors a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year's.

You'll probably recognize the above image as Bettie Paige. Despite the classic imagery, almost timeless imagery, this is a fairly recent work from contemporary pin-up artist Olivia DeBerardinis. Besides a vast portfolio of images centering around Bettie Page, DeBerardinis works also appears regularly in Playboy and has gained something of a cult following both here in the USA and overseas in Europe and Japan.

Interestingly, Olivia's rendering of Paige is actually tamer then the real-life photo shoot with Paige (with Bunny Yeager on the other side of the lens) featuring the raven-tressed pin-up decorating a Christmas tree wearing not much more than a Santa Hat.

Pin-Up Bettie Page Lands on List of Top-Earning Deceased Celebrities

Late pin-up model and centerfold Bettie Page has landed on a recent Forbes' list of top-earning (dead) celebrities for the first time since her December 2008 death [and you know what that means, right? If you said 'A completely gratuitous opportunity to adorn your blog w/more vintage Bettie Page imagery' give yourself a gold star!- NANESB!]

With an estate worth an estimated US$6 million, Page was tied for 13th place overall with artist Andy Warhol and former Beatle George Harrison. The iconic model had lived in relative obscurity in Southern California for most of her latter days.


However, beginning in the 1980s the pin-up enjoyed a resurgence in popularity- something she was unaware of for the better part of a decade. Writer Dave Stevens based the romantic interest of the title charachter in his Rocketeer comics on Page (although this did not show up in the 1990s film adaptation) and in the 1990s, Dark Horse comics had introduced a line of Bettie Page comics and merchandise.

After some litigation with her Chicago-based agent in 1997, Page began collecting royalties from her modelling and continued living off of those for the next decade. Aside from an official website, Page lent her name to lines of retro-style shoes, blouses, lingerie and swimwear.

Page's 2008 death did not diminish the popularity of the iconic pin-up in the least. Her estate is still collecting royalties and Bettie Page Clothing continues to sell 1950's style clothing online and from stores located in Las Vegas, Hollywood, San Francisco, the Twin Cities and San Diego.

Other recent additions to the list include actress Elizabeth Taylor and Swedish author Stieg Larsson, who penned The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo before his 2004 death.

Happy Bettie Page Day from Not Another New England Sports Blog!

*BUMPED 4/30- If the hippies continue to insist on monopolizing April 22nd as 'Earth Day', then perhaps April should simply be 'Bettie Page Month'*
Think of it as Good Friday and the original 'Bad Girl'.
So does the iconic raven-tressed pin-up have her own holiday yet? If not, then why the hell not? I for one think it would be a much more worthwhile holiday than Earth Day. Lord knows I can only stand so much sanctimonious focus group-tested drivel about how I should be 'living green' from a tax dodging, outsourcing corporation.

Uh-oh! Looks like Bettie needs bumper AAA

While probably relatively tame by today's standards, some of the photos of Bettie at the time were quite controversial and risque. Some of my all-time favorites are of Bettie at a tropical beach or safari park in a leopard print bikini snapped by Bunny Yeager- herself a model turned photographer.

As a bonus I thought I'd include a still of actress and model Gretchen Mol portraying Page in the 2006 film The Notorious Betty Page, Pretty good likeness, huh?

Work in Progress: New Look For NANESB!...Same Glorious Content.

Image: Bunny Yeager/Official Bettie Paige Site

Long-time visitors to Not Another New England Sports Blog! might've noticed some changes over the last couple of days. I came across some new templates the blogspot was offering and thought I'd change it up from the default settings. After some trial and error- like making sure some of the widgets and add-ons on the lefthand columns didn't obscure the text- this is what I've come up with.

So after some adjustments, I think it worked out OK.

This calls for some gratuitous Bettie Paige imagery....this time courtesy of Bunny Yaeger.

It's Bettie Page Day!

Right on the heels of what would've been Jayne Mansfield's birthday is what would've been Bettie Page's 87th birthday. Why should all the self-righteous environmentalists and hippies have April 22nd to themselves? I'm starting to think the raven-haired pin-up from Tennessee should get her own holiday. Sure she had issues later on in life marked by acute schizophrenia, assault charges and being placed in a California state mental hospital, but c'mon....how is that any worse than murdering hippie and one of Earth Day's founding fathers Ira Einhorn? Hell- we could even observe Mansfield and Paige's birthdays on the same day like what's been done with Washington and Lincoln's birthday.

Curiously, Bettie Page was named Playboy's Playmate of the Month in January 1955. According to wikipedia, Playmate of the Month for February 1955 was none other than Jayne Mansfield [I'm not exactly an in-house expert on Playmates of the Month, but I imagine those respective issues would be worth a small fortune to collectors circa 2010- NANESB!].

Bettie Mae Page was born in Nashville, TN on April 22, 1923. Her early life has been the subject of speculation and innuendo both online and in the biopic The Notorious Bettie Page. But that almost seems irrelevant once the uninhibited Page found herself in front of the camera lens. Perhaps the most iconic images were from a 1954 photo shoot with model/photographer Bunny Yeager that took place in a Florida wilderness park. Page posed both nude and in lingerie with two live cheetahs (and lived to tell the tale) for the shoot.

Leopard-print lingerie- now with 100% more leopard!

Bettie Mae Page: April 22 1923- December 11, 2008

(image: Bunny Yeager)

Today marks the one year anniversary of Bettie Page's death. A popular centerfold, fetish and pin-up model from the late 1940s and into the 1950s, Bettie dropped out of the public spotlight after being called to testify before the Senate Subcomittee on Juvenile Deliquency (she was later excused from testifying).

Paige's post-pinup years were even more tumultuous, if possible. The more racier and iconic images of Bettie enjoyed something of a revival in the 1980s, and the model was largely unaware of her resurgent popularity until after a 1993 interview when she took action to start collecting royalties.