Vintage Photos That Were Never Edited - Look Closer

By | February 4, 2019

Who remembers “Jungle Pam”, the drag racing sweetheart of the ’70s?

Some photos don’t need to be edited, especially when they show what life was like before Photoshop. Kids hanging out at Woodstock, a young Mick Jagger, English comedy troupes, or bad ass cars? These aren’t the kind of things that need to touched up, they’re cool enough as is. To be completely honest, it would be criminal to edit, airbrush, or touch up any of these gnarly pictures from the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s.

Aside from cool photos, we’ve also got some fascinating behind the scenes information about each one of them. So now you’re not just mindlessly scrolling through the internet, now you’re learning something. Keep on keepin’ on!

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As the sidekick to drag racing madman Jungle Jim Lieberman, Jungle Pam was on the black top during the most seminal time in drag racing, the 1970s. Born Pamela Hardy, Jungle Pam met Jim in 1972, a few weeks before she graduated from high school, while walking to nearby West Chester, Pennsylvania. She told Hot Rod that he pulled up next to her in a Corvette and said, “Hi, I’m Jim.” From there, the duo hit the road and took the drag racing scene by storm. 

At the time there were no women on the circuit that checked for leaks, or generally working with cars at all, so seeing Pam on the track doing the job of a man was a major draw. She learned on the job, and before long she was just as adept at packing parachutes and checking the nitro as any gear head on the track. 

Freddie Mercury and his former girlfriend/lifelong friend Mary Austin in the 1980s.

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Source: Pinterest

There’s never been a closer relationship in rock and roll than that of Freddie Mercury and Mary Austin. The two first met in 1969 just after Mercury graduated university with big dreams of stardom and Austin was a shop girl. The two were quickly an item and moved in together. The two were married in 1974 and she was there for every moment of Queen’s ride to the top of the charts, and many of their biggest singles were written for her.

In 1976 Mercury and Austin’s relationship evolved from lovers to that of best friends when they divorced and she moved into a home next to Mercury’s so the two could be close even when they were apart. Austin continued to tour with Queen, and she stayed by the singer’s side until his death in 1991.