Which One Are You?

A 4 o'clock fag...

...or a 12 o'clock girl in a 9 o'clock town?

Leg Up

What Might Have Been

Instead of a dreary day without sunshine with Anita Bryant...


...how about some in-your-face salesmanship from La Davis?


"But-cha ARE, Blanche, ya ARE a fruit! Just like this ORRRRR-ange juice! So DRINK it!"

Once Upon a Time

She may not be very pretty now...

...but she was somebody's baby once.

Tickets to Ride

Meet the Artist

He's sketched Gloria Swanson, romped on the beach with Shirley Booth, and was nearly kicked out of Celeste Holm's dressing room. He photographed Dovima and Sunny Harnett, was teenaged friends with Anne St. Marie (the mink-swathed, martini-sipping lady who presides over SSUWAT), and created the iconic "black cat" campaign for Lanvin's My Sin perfume.


His name is Merle Bassett, and we're thrilled to count him among SSUWAT's friends and readers. Merle's life and career have been extraordinary; after studying at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, his career as a fashion illustrator began in 1948, at the famed Neiman-Marcus in Dallas. It was there that he came face-to-face (and sketch-to-sketch) with Gloria Swanson, who was making an appearance at Neiman's to promote both Sunset Blvd., and "the Travelure," a hat she had designed. The ad for the Travelure featured a drawing of Miss Swanson by Merle; she was taken to meet the artist, and proceeded to not only autograph his drawing, but also sketch a caricature of herself.



Merle's work for Neiman-Marcus defined his, as well as the company's, image for the decade: elegant, sophisticated, yet subtly youthful and modern. He was all of twenty four when he decided to make it on his own as a freelance artist -- and Merle already had such prestigious, high-profile work on his resume as his tenure with Neiman's, the My Sin ad, and layouts in national magazines.

It was an exciting, heady time in fashion and commercial drawing; by the end of the following decade, photography would almost completely overtake both the fashion and advertising spheres, but for a golden moment, artists like Merle and his friend and contemporary, Jack Potter, were taking time-honored techniques and traditions, while infusing their work with a new vitality. Potter, for instance, was only 30 years old in 1957, when he was commissioned to create a then-shocking, quite avant-garde campaign for Coca-Cola, which until then had employed a very folksy, Norman Rockwell-esque approach to their branding.

Jack Potter for Coca-Cola, 1957

Jack Potter illustration

Merle Bassett ad for Korrigan-Lesur, circa 1959

After a marvelous career, Merle is retired in California, but still creating and expressing himself, now through watercolors and digital photography. As he told us, "My 43 year career consisted of artwork done to please others...these were done to please only me!"

Besides being talented, we can also report that Merle is entertaining, engaging, and -- as evidenced by one of the postcards he's made up for fun -- has a wicked sense of humor that fits right in around these parts.


We can't adequately express how thrilled we were to be contacted by Mr. Bassett, and how delighted we are that we can share just a sampling of his life and work here on SSUWAT. He has done us a great honor, and it's our sincere wish that he will be pleased by our small tribute. Like your famous Lanvin cat, Merle, we hope you grace us with nine lives!

Merle Bassett, today.

* IMPORTANT NOTE: All photographs and images of Mr. Bassett and his work were kindly provided to us by the artist. Please do not copy or reproduce.

The Lizard of Roz

She Feels Bitchy and Twitchy and Manic

Betty Bacall is just about the craziest class act we can think of, and we are simply mad for her.



We never get tired of this. It's deCAFfeinated! With MAHvelous, deep-brewed FLAVAH!

Baby, if I'm the Bottom...

And for only $1.25? We're so there.

THANKS

Its One Calorie Keeps You Light on Your Feet

And in your loafers.

Hats

Wouldn't it be nice if women still wore them?

Lustre-Creme

For that radiant, immobile look.

Happy Memorial Day

As you soak up the sun (and booze) today, remember to say "Thank you" to the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. On a lighter note, speaking of military men, if it's at all possible to fall in love with a commercial illustration, we think we just did.






(Thanks, JASON!)

Who's That Girl?

That's right, kids, it's Perry Mason's stalwart Della Street doing her best Barbara Nichols impression! (Photos from the Barbara Hale Annex.) Before she became Raymond Burr's girl Friday, Barbara Hale had been a fine arts student, a model, and finally, a B-movie leading lady. If films like West of the Pecos (1945) and Emergency Wedding (1950) were about as routine as their titles would suggest, they at least led to Hale becoming a popular, dependable presence, if not quite a "star."



But it was her role as the efficient, loyal Della Street which made Barbara Hale familiar to millions of television viewers from 1957 through 1966. For her work, Hale won the 1959 Supporting Actress Emmy, and was nominated again in 1961. After the Perry Mason series went off the air, Hale continued to act sporadically, devoting much of her time to her family: her husband of 46 years, Bill Williams, and their three children. Her son, William Katt, became an actor, beloved to children of the 1970's as The Greatest American Hero. And, of course, Barbara guest starred as his mom. From 1986 until his death in 1994, Hale also regularly appeared with Raymond Burr in a series of made-for-TV movies reprising their roles as Perry Mason and Della Street.


Retired since 2000, Barbara Hale lives quietly and happily in California. On behalf of hard-working, trustworthy, dependable, yet glamorous, working gals everywhere, we salute you, Miss Hale! We hope that you're enjoying your 88th!

MISS BARBARA "Della Street" HALE
April 18, 1922

Sometimes...

...we dream in chiffon.