These are the legs that launched many scores of Beauties of the Week
Newspapers used to rely more heavily on photography to help build circulation. Cuteness and corniness were not issues. "Impact!" never was well defined, but editors knew it when they saw it and they were always thirsty for it.
"Impact!" could be created in many ways, but among the most certain was selection as subject matter one of three categories known to appeal to readers above all others: pretty girls, cute babies, and lovable pets.
I chose to specialize in the first of these because it seemed, at my age, to be the righteous thing to do - and at the ages of my bosses (30's to 80's) it was indeed the thing to do.
I keyed in on this even as I settled into the saddle of chief photographer in 1962. Sent to photograph a fashion show, I narrowly missed getting a useable photo of one of the models putting on her shoe and demonstrating a beautiful leg in the process. I missed it because of the low light level. It was good enough to see on the print, but not good enough to show via newsprint to readers.
My bosses were frustrated by this and I shot another pretty-girl photo for them as consolation. Then another. Then I announced that - heck, I can do this once every week. I proved I could for a few weeks; then it became official. It took a name - Beauty of the Week - and a life of its own.
In this gallery I will tell whatver stories I can remember about each of these photos. Which brings up the question on the minds of dirty old men everywhere, and the answer is: No, I never did.
In fact, I was careful not even to touch the girls in the course of directing their poses. Shyness, mostly, but also because I was very aware that they and their parents, families, and peers trusted me to behave; also my wife, bless her.
I found the models by looking at cheerleaders, actresses, dancers - gals who were seeking to be in the spotlight, mostly. Sometimes I just bumped into pretty girls in the course of routine people photography. Sometimes they, or their families, called me. Sometimes I just saw the special girl out in public and recognized her as my next prize. And one time I spoke with a telephone operator with a sexy voice and convinced her to sit for some test shots. How stupid is that? Never mind.
The series required more than just pretty girls as fodder. The challenge, mostly, was the photographic concept, the environment, the gimmick, the thing that kept the photos different and made each one more than just a portrait or a pinup. So, yeah, lots of the photos were corny and likely if I were doing them today, I'd choose themes that are more "today-ish."
Cheesy-ness notwithstanding, this series of photos helped us sell papers by targeting a special reader interest - local women put in the spotlight because they were beautiful. After all these years I still believe there is no better subject matter, no better "Impact!" than that.
This is Sherry Bantell
in a dark place backstage at Midland Theater during a fashion show.
The print has been enhanced by modern (computer) technique, but it wasn't good enough for reproduction via zinc engravings, lead plates and newsprint.
See Sherry as a Valentine Beauty of the Week at this link.
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