45 Stunning Iconic Photos From The Past Sure To Cause Nostalgia

Pictured here is a young Joan Collins back in the 1950s before her career took off. It wasn't until the 1960s after she guest-starred in an episode of Star Trek that things started to pick up for her. By the 1970s she was starring in a series of horror films and the 1980s brought her to her most memorable role, Alexis Colby in “Dynasty” for which she earned a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. She has authored many novels over the years and recently co-starred in “Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie”, and “The Time of Their Lives”.

Here’s a man guiding a woman as she makes a flying leap over a massive puddle back in the 1960s. This is one of those vintage photographs that offers a reminder of just how long gone the days of chivalry really are. Nowadays, not only are you puddle hopping solo, you're also silently praying no one is recording your possible flop on their cell phone. Because just about everyone is ready to upload your humiliation to social media at a moment’s notice.

In addition to her high profile marriage to film producer Richard D. Zanuck (Jaws, Cocoon, Driving Miss Daisy, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) Linda Harrison has had much success of her own in the industry. The actress, director, and producer is internationally renowned for her role in the classic science fiction film Planet of the Apes (1968). She was also in the first sequel, Beneath the Planet of the Apes; she also had a cameo in Tim Burton's 2001 remake. The film was a critical and commercial hit, and had a total of four sequels followed between 1970 and 1973 and it also spawned two television series in 1974 and 1975. 

Here is a photo Beatle Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones sitting opposite each other on a train. It was back in 1967 when The Beatles, along with Cynthia Lennon, Pattie Harrison, her sister Jenny, and Alexis Mardas, all boarded a train with infamous rock couple Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull. The pack was headed to Bangor, north Wales, to embark upon a 10-day conference on Transcendental Meditation.

While at the conference, the group of stars stayed in dormitories at Bangor college which were a far cry from the luxuries they all had no doubt become accustomed to by then. The dorms housed around 300 other followers of Maharishi and the rooms contained only the basics; bunk beds and chests of drawers. 

Here are Sharon Tate, Danica D'Hondt, David McCallum, and Kathy Kersh in a still from “The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1965). This is from 'The Girls of Nazarone Affair' episode to be exact.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is a spy-fiction series that follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum. They work for secret intelligence agency U.N.C.L.E. (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement). U.N.C.L.E.'s primary adversary was T.H.R.U.S.H., who in typical villain fashion, aimed to conquer the world. 

This famous image of Beatle John Lennon in front of the Statue of Liberty was taken by photographer, Bob Gruen. Gruen is the man responsible for some of the most iconic photos captured in the music scene for over forty years.

He toured extensively with bands like The Clash, Blondie, and The Ramones. He has also worked with major acts such as Led Zeppelin, The Who, David Bowie and Tina Turner. In 1971 he became John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s personal photographer and is responsible for this, as well as some of the most iconic and popular images of Lennon around.

The Frankenstein Monster was the first of the Aurora models. The kit was crafted in January of 1962 by sculpture Jack Lemon and was based on a Marx’s wind-up toy. After debuting at a convention, it quickly became clear that the Frankenstein kit was going to be a huge success. SO the rest of the line was quickly put into production. The second monster to join the party was Dracula, followed by the Wolf Man, both of which were in stores in time for Christmas of 1962.

The following year they came out with The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Mummy and the Phantom of the Opera. Then, in 1964, came the Hunchback of Notre Dame, King Kong, and Godzilla. Dr. Jekyll as Mr. Hyde was not released until 1965 Later that year they sent the Bride of Frankenstein and the Witch into production. The last of the Aurora monster models was The Forgotten Prisoner of Castel Mare. Then they released a ‘Frightening Lightning’ and ‘Glows in the Dark’ series in 1969, to attract the new generation of 1970s kids.

Often called 'The Italian Marilyn Monroe', Sophia Loren was the great Italian screen goddess of the sixties. She got her start in the 1950s but she only had small bit parts. It wasn’t until her performance as Cesira in “Vittorio De Sica's Two Women” that Loren' talents were fully recognized. The role ended up earning her the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1962. This made her the first artist to win an Oscar for a foreign-language performance. She's worked hard to maintain her unique beauty over six decades in the entertainment industry, appearing in almost 100 film and TV roles.

This gem of a photo of Paul and Linda McCartney and Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour has often been attributed to a Led Zeppelin show. The truth, however, is that this photo was taken at UK’s Knebworth Fair back in 1976 which was headlined by The Rolling Stones and drew in a crowd of over 250,000 people. There is also a photo of Paul and David together backstage at the festival that was later described as the British Woodstock. Also performing at that show was Lynyrd Skynyrd, Todd Rundgren, and Hot Tuna. Queen was actually the original headliners but they got bumped when the Rolling Stones offered to play. 

Goldie Hawn began her acting career in the short-lived CBS situation comedy Good Morning, World. It was her next role, as a regular cast member on the sketch comedy show, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, which broadened her reach and garnered her some international attention. 

Laugh-In ran from 1968–1973 but Hawn had already established herself as something of an “It Girl” in the 1960s so at the show’s conclusion she had no problems landing roles. Her first major film role was in Cactus Flower (1969), for which she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. From there the bombshell kept churning out roles and earning awards and Goldie’s still rockin it today.   

So much style, beauty, and grace… it’s no wonder Ava Gardner attracted so many suitors, sadly none of her marriages worked out. She was married to Frank Sinatra from 1951–1957), Artie Shaw from 1945 to 1946), and her first husband was Mickey Rooney from 1942–1943.

The actress and singer first drew attention with her performance in The Killers (1946). From there, she was in numerous high-profile films from the 1940s to 1970s and continued to act regularly until 1986, before her death in 1990 at the age of 67. She remains among the American Film Institute's 25 Greatest Female Stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema. 

Pictured here is the one and only Marilyn Monroe in the film, River of No Return. The Western was released in 1954, and stars Monroe a dance hall singer named Kay, along with Robert Mitchum, who plays Matt Calder, a widower recently released from prison.

Its synopsis reads as follows, “The titular river unites a farmer recently released from prison, his young son, and an ambitious saloon singer. In order to survive, each must be purged of anger, and each must learn to understand and care for the others.”

Here’s Elvis Presley, sporting his famous leather suit during his 'Comeback Special' on December 3, 1968. Sadly, Elvis a bit of an afterthought by the time 1968 rolled around, it had been three years since he’d made a top 10 hit, and he had packed on a considerable amount of weight. This TV special was the work of Elvis and executive producer Bob Finkel and former Hullabaloo and T.A.M.I. Show director Steve Binder. What was originally going to be Christmas Songs, turned into a sort of musical autobiography (with one Christmas tune) instead.

Elvis dieted and when it came time to perform this televised holiday comeback, he was a slimmed-down version of himself donning black leather, and singing raw versions of his favorite songs. They had done it. They had successfully reintroduced the world to what made Elvis ‘The King’ in the first place. The "Comeback Special" ended up being NBC's top-rated show of the year. 

Disco clubs were all the rage throughout the 1970s. the club scene offered a safe haven of sleepless decadence and a mirrored, strobe-lit dancefloor. People of various professions and social classes could all let loose together and forget the expectations of the world outside.

The Woodstock generation was thrust into this whole new sparkling little world of 70s’ disco that embraced their idealism, sexual freedom, and drug use and gave it a place to call home.

Remember when cars had these bench seats up front? Front bench seats dominated early car history but the trend died out decades ago. Drivers began to prefer split benches and then bucket seats ruled the automotive design industry. Chevy didn’t give up hope, they held out the longest, giving their drivers the option of all three seating arrangements. The last American car in production to offer a bench seat in the front, was the Chevy Impala, which stopped sometime in 2014. Long gone are the days of front bench snuggling at the drive-in. But with higher speed limits, seatbelt safety, and comfort in mind, that’s probably a good thing.      

Pictured here are Star Wars stars, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill chatting at the 'The Empire Strikes Back' premiere in 1980. The infamous trio skyrocketed to fame after the release of the original film in the franchise in 1977- especially Ford, who went on to land the title role in the Indiana Jones films. That’s two of the biggest film franchises in existence.

During the limited release, opening weekend alone, the film grossed $10,840,307. It went on to earn $209,398,025 during its first 1980 run in the United States and about $450 million worldwide. Within three months of its release, Lucas had already recovered his initial $33 million investment and was able to distribute bonuses of $5 million to employees!

Many people remember Bettie Page as the leggy beauty she is pictured here who eventually faded into obscurity. But what many people don’t realize is, she didn’t just ‘fade’, she left the pinup business in 1959, Page converted to evangelical Christianity, studying at Bible colleges in Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon and went to work for Billy Graham. In her later years, Page suffered from depression, violent mood swings, and spent several years in a state psychiatric hospital after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Pictured here is Georgia Holt, the singer-songwriter, actress, and model who also just so happens to be the mother of Pop Goddess Cher. When Holt was just six-years-old she sang on an Oklahoma City radio station and by the age of ten she sang with bandleader Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. She went on to win various talent and beauty competitions throughout her youthful days and landed several minor television and film roles in the 1950s.

In 2013 Holt was the subject of the Lifetime documentary Dear Mom, Love Cher. She also released her album Honky Tonk Woman, that same year. The album includes a duet with Cher titled "I'm Just Your Yesterday". The talented mother-daughter duo appeared together on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Ellen DeGeneres Show to promote both projects. 

Pictured here are four young girls watching the demolition of a Joseph’s Department Store back in July of 1971. This particular location was on the northwest corner of 3rd St and Central Ave in St. Petersburg, Florida. The building itself was originally built back in the 1920s and then it was razed in order to build a parking garage for the bank next to it.

Believe it or not, this 1950’s whiskey dispenser is a real thing. There are however, two common misconceptions commonly posted along with this image. The first being that these poured a “full measure” of straight whisky, when in reality it was designed to mix the liquor with soda or water. Second, this photograph was not taken in a business workplace. According to the caption supplied by Corbis, the picture’s rightsholder, this photo was actually taken at a 1960 trade show for vending machine manufacturers.

It had to be done, really, it did. King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) is the third film in the Godzilla franchise (and Showa series) and the first of two Japanese-produced films featuring King Kong. This was also the first time both of these massive characters appeared in color on film and widescreen. We’re talking creature feature of epic proportions here!

The following year, an American production team produced a heavily altered English version that used new scenes, sound and dubbing. In it, “A pharmaceutical company captures King Kong and brings him to Japan, where he escapes from captivity and battles a recently released Godzilla.”

Pictured here is Alfred Hitchcock, pioneer, and master of the suspense and thriller genres. Oddly enough, Hitchcock never won a "Best Director Oscar" Award in his lifetime... even though he is now widely considered one of the greatest directors of all time. His companion here is none other than Leo the Lion, mascot for Hollywood film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as well as its predecessors, Goldwyn Pictures. Leo was featured in the studio's production logo. Since 1916 there have been seven different lions used for the MGM logo, all of them used in their trademark. Only the current lion (pictured here), who has been in use since 1957 (a total of 60 years), actually bore the name Leo. 

Nobody gave gifts like ‘The King’, Elvis Presley's gift-giving was legendary, to say the least.

Elvis referred to his gifts as his "happies” and he was infamous for handing out jewelry and Cadillacs like they were something as arbitrary as Halloween candy. Elvis loved lavishing gifts over people, he loved to make people happy so naturally, Christmas was his favorite time of year.

Christmas of 1957 was the first he spent in his new home, Graceland. He ended up giving six of his employees each a $1,000 bill as their Christmas bonuses. Then he handed out $100 bills to his little cousins. Even the newspaper boy was handed a $100 and told to keep the change!

Pictured here is the Italian goddess of the 50’s and 60’s, Luigina "Gina" Lollobrigida on a Vespa. It’s easy to see why the beauty became an international sex symbol, but she was also a very talented photojournalist and sculptor–making her one of the highest profile European actresses of the era. In the 1970s, she achieved a scoop by gaining access to Fidel Castro for an exclusive interview. She also remained an active supporter of Italian and Italian American causes, particularly the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) all of her life. In 2008, she received the NIAF Lifetime Achievement Award at the Foundation's Anniversary Gala. Then in 2013, she sold her impressive jewelry collection and donated nearly $5 million to stem cell therapy research.

This warm, beautiful day was captured in Manhattan Beach California, back in 1957. Located in southwestern Los Angeles County, Manhattan Beach is one of the three Beach Cities that make up the South Bay. Nowadays, it’s considered one of America’s most expensive zip codes, making #74 on Forbes’ list in 2016. The median home price is $2,815,327 and according to a study done in May of 2017, the City of Manhattan Beach ranked as the 32nd most expensive zip code in the entire United States. 

Drive-in theaters were at their peak in popularity during the late 1950s and early 1960s. They were a favorite date spot for teenagers and were dubbed "passion pits" by the U.S. media at one point. But they were popular across the world, this particular Drive-in pictured here was in South Bend, Indiana. Look how crowded it was!

Pictured here is Rock-legend Jimi Hendrix all decked out as Father Christmas while holding up his LP: Axis Bold As Love. This picture was taken during the Christmas season of 1967, when Hendrix was promoting the release of his new album. Two years later, Hendrix would go on to make rock n’ roll history at Woodstock in 1969.

Tragically, on September 18, 1970, Hendrix swallowed a handful of sleeping pills and never woke up. The overdose was accidental, Jimi had been drinking and habitually popped pills with little regard to instructions. He didn’t realize half a Vesparax was enough to get eight hours sleep and he took about 18 times the recommended dosage. He then choked to death on his own vomit. It was a reckless mistake that killed him at 27 years and 295 days old, he almost escaped the curse. 

Nothing says “Hollywood Christmas Glam” like this old shot of Ann Margret curled up by a roaring fire with a feline, surrounded by gifts on Christmas morning back in the 1960s. It was in 1961, that she filmed a screen test and was signed to a seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox. She made her film debut in Pocketful of Miracles, with Bette Davis. Then in 1962 came a remake of the musical State Fair, in which she took on the "bad girl" role of Emily, opposite Bobby Darin and Pat Boone.

This would set the stage for how the public viewed her for years to come. Although she was often quiet and shy offscreen, the seductive screen goddess was renowned for her sexy, throaty singing voice, 'bad girl' roles, and her daredevil ways.

Ah yes, the relationship between Marilyn Monroe started before they even met. Marilyn was a fan of Ella’s and she was told by her singing coach to study her music. So one could see how Marilyn would come to admire and be inspired by the legendary Jazz singer.

It was during the late 50’s when one of the most popular venues in Hollywood California refused to let Ella Fitzgerald perform because of her race. It was her biggest fan, the lovely Marilyn Monroe who used her superstar status to step in. She made a phone call to the owner and scored Ella a gig that quite possibly forever changed her career.

“I owe Marilyn Monroe a real debt … she personally called the owner of the Mocambo and told him she wanted me booked immediately, and if he would do it, she would take a front table every night. She told him that the press would go wild. The owner said yes, and Marilyn was there, front table, every night. The press went overboard. After that, I never had to play a small jazz club again. She was an unusual woman – a little ahead of her times. And she didn’t know it."

The classic holiday musical and romantic comedy White Christmas, stars Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. It features songs from Irving Berlin, including a new version of the title song, "White Christmas", which was introduced by Crosby in the film Holiday Inn. In White Christmas, “A successful song-and-dance team become romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general.”

Michael Landon will always be best known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza (1959–73), and Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie (1974–83). He was also Jonathan Smith in Highway to Heaven from 1984 to 1989. Landon was pretty popular, he appeared on the cover of TV Guide 22 times, which makes him second only to Lucille Ball in that department.

Landon had quite the busy personal life as well. He was married three times, and was the father of nine children! His first wife, Dodie Levy-Fraser, he married in 1956. Before their divorce in 1962, he adopted Dodie's biological son Mark Fraser Landon. The couple then adopted Josh Fraser Landon together (pictured here), when he was still an infant. 

Tis the season for Santa selfies! Here's one of America’s doe-eyed sweetheart, Audrey Hepburn striking a pose with Santa Claus back in the 1950's.

Hepburn quickly shot to stardom after playing the lead role in Roman Holiday back in 1953. A role for which, she was the first actress to win an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for a single performance. From there she continued to win hearts and awards. 

She remains one of 12 people who has won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards. Over the years, Hepburn began devoting more time to the United Nations Children's Fund. She became a Goodwill Ambassador for the UNICEF and worked in some of the poorest communities of Africa, South America, and Asia. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her efforts.

Pictured here is Elvis Presley standing at the gates of Graceland, greeting fans waiting outside for a glimpse at the ‘King’. An Elvis Presley archivists actually stumbled upon three rare photos dating to 1957 that show the young star greeting his adoring fans at the gates of Graceland. The negatives of the photos were found tucked away in an unmarked envelope among various documents in Elvis' father Vernon Presley’s office.

Pictured here is the cast of 'The Fall Guy': Markie Post, Lee Majors, Doug Barr and Heather Thomas in 1981. The plot of the series centers around “The adventures of a film stunt performer who moonlights as a bounty hunter when movie work is slow.”

In it, Lee Majors plays Colt Seavers, a Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a bounty hunter.

With the assistance of Jody, his beautiful stunt colleague, and his cousin (bounty hunter in training), Howie (Barr), they track down fugitives. The series is known for having frequent celebrity cameos and the occasional in-jokes referencing the series The Six Million Dollar Man, Majors' previous starring role.

It was in March of 1976, when the most famous skier in the United States, Spider Sabich, was shot and killed. The shooter was his own girlfriend, singer/actress Claudine Longet. After a day of skiing in Aspen Colorado, Spider came home, stripped down to his thermal underwear, and headed for the shower. Claudine Longet followed him into the bathroom, armed with an imitation WWII model Luger pistol and shot him in the stomach. He died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

Longet claimed it was all an accident and that the gun went off while she was showing it to him. Despite the fact that the couple used drugs heavily and cocaine was found in her system after the shooting, and the fact that the couple had been having issues transition into their new living arrangements, the jury bought her claims that their relationship was under no duress whatsoever.

Four days of testimony led to the jury taking only 4 hours to return a verdict convicting Longet of misdemeanor criminally negligent homicide. She was given a $250 fine and only sentenced to 30 days in county jail to be served “at a time of her choosing”. She served most of her sentence on the weekends and took several years to finally complete it!

On the Andy Williams’ Show Christmas special in 1966, Andy spends the holidays with his wife Claudine Longet, his three brothers: Bob, Don, and Richard Williams, and special guests: The Osmond Brothers.

The Osmond Brothers began as a barbershop quartet consisting of brothers Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay Osmond. They were eventually joined by younger siblings Donny and Jimmy, (both of whom achieved success as solo artists as well). After the addition of Donny Osmond, the group became known simply as ‘The Osmonds’. It was during this time that the band achieved its greatest success as both a boy band and a hard rock ensemble.

The Addams Family only aired for two seasons on ABC from 1964, to 1966, for a total of 64 episodes. It was in direct competition with The Munsters on CBS, which ran for the same two seasons but secured higher Nielsen ratings. Both show feature close families with decidedly macabre interests.

The Addams Family consisted of the very wealthy Gomez Addams (John Astin), his wife and obsession Morticia, née Frump (Carolyn Jones); their daughter Wednesday (Lisa Loring), and their son Pugsley (Ken Weatherwax). Extended family included the odd Uncle Fester (Jackie Coogan), and Grandma (Blossom Rock). Their gloomy but ornate mansion on Cemetery Lane was attended by servants: Lurch (Ted Cassidy), the intimidating and towering butler, and Thing which was really just Cassidy’s hand.

Pictured here is the original line-up of the Southern rock band, Blackfoot: guitarist and vocalist Rickey Medlocke, guitarist Charlie Hargrett, bassist Greg T. Walker, and drummer Jakson Spires.

Blackfoot originated in Jacksonville, Florida back in 1970 and though their sound is primarily a Southern rock style, they have also become known as a hard rock act. With their original lineup, they had a number of successful albums during the 1970s and early 1980s, including Strikes (1979), Tomcattin' (1980) and Marauder (1981).

Pictured here is former professional baseball player Steven Patrick Garvey. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman, most notably for the Los Angeles Dodgers and got his start in the big leagues when he was just 20-years old. Garvey holds the National League record for consecutive games played (1,207) and has the distinction of being honored with the 1974 National League Most Valuable Player Award. He is also a two-time National League Championship Series MVP (1978 and 1984), a 10-time All-Star, and a two-time MVP of the All-Star Game (1974 and 1978). 

Pictured here is Italian actress Virna Pieralisi, better known as Virna Lisi. She made her Hollywood comedy debut as a blue-eyed blonde temptress playing opposite Jack Lemmon in How to Murder Your Wife (1965). Then she appeared with Tony Curtis in Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966).

Some other other high profile roles included starring with Frank Sinatra, in Assault on a Queen (1966), Beyond Good and Evil (1977), and Follow Your Heart (1996). For the 1994 film La Reine Margot, she won Best Actress at Cannes and the César Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also garnered attention for a photo of her 'shaving' her face that appeared on the March 1965 cover of Esquire magazine.

The entertainer Morganna Roberts became best known as “Morganna, the Kissing Bandit” in the sports industry from 1970 through the 1990s because she kept kissing all the players she could get her lips on. She famously rushed the field and grabbed a hold of Major League Baseball players and just start kissing them. Some of her famous liplocking buddies have included Nolan Ryan, Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, George Brett (twice), Steve Garvey, and Cal Ripken, Jr.

She also crashed National Basketball Association games and made Kareem Abdul-Jabbar one of her most notable victims. But for the most part she stuck to baseball player. She was even described as "baseball's unofficial mascot" and "the grand dame of baseball".

Here we have a still from Saturday Night Live Season One, Episode Eighteen with actress and national sex-symbol, Raquel Welch in a skit alongside Gilda Radner. Raquel Welch actually hosted this episode, she sang in it too- twice.

Since then, Welch has been chosen by Empire magazine as one of the "100 Sexiest Stars in Film History". She was also ranked by Playboy as No. 3 on their "100 Sexiest Stars of the Twentieth Century" list. Men's Health ranked her No. 2 in its "Hottest Women of All Time" list.