1940s
When 45 RPM vinyl singles & their record players debuted, it was a big deal
This is the new, wonderful 45 rpm changer unit that lets you enjoy distortion-free music. It’s yours for the unbelievably low price of only $12.95.
This is the new, wonderful 45 rpm changer unit that lets you enjoy distortion-free music. It’s yours for the unbelievably low price of only $12.95.
What were jitterbugs jiving to in the late ’30s & early ’40s? For one, the Lindy Hop dance, with hundreds of individual steps, breaks and mutations inspired by American music.
1940′ “Gone With the Wind” – when adjusted for inflation – remains the highest-grossing movie of all time. Here’s a look back at this beloved classic film!
See Fred Astaire in a clip from 1946’s ‘Blue Skies,’ performing ‘Puttin’ On The Ritz’ – a song associated with him like no other – and find out more about the film itself.
With two lively females on his hands, Ronnie calls his home “The Ronald Reagan Home For Delinquent Girls” By Ida Zeitlin The Ronald Reagans were
‘Casablanca’ actor Humphrey Bogart – known to millions as ‘Bogie’ – gave a behind-the-scenes look into his mind and his life in this story from 1942.
Millions know ‘Say, Say, Oh Playmate’ – also known as ‘Playmate’ – but few today know much about the rhyming song & hand clapping game. Find out more here!
Vintage View-Master reels offered a trip into another dimension – ‘with stereo color pictures so real, you’ll feel you are actually part of the scene!’
Bambi is pure Disney – a world of fun, beauty and imagination which Disney has made his own. Find out why it took so long to get just right!
While orchestra leader Glenn Miller himself disappeared, his music has done rather the opposite – reaching and speaking to generations well beyond his untimely death.
See portraits of vintage Halloween pin-up girls from the 1930s and 1940s – themed photos featuring famous actresses and beautiful models.
Cowboy actor and hero of scores of western thrillers of the silent film era, Tom Mix, was killed on a highway detour in Arizona.
Vintage pinball machines gallery Click on any image to see a larger version, or to start the photo gallery slideshow.
If you own a radio, you’re acquainted with Charlie McCarthy. He’s the impudent little dummy who sits upon the lap of ventriloquist, Edgar Bergen, his creator, and entertains millions weekly with his comedy
It is useless to deny that motion picture stars have been getting the best of it (as to immunity from draft). Some have been given special deferments and choice assignments and have been allowed extra months to finish pictures before having to report for active duty.
In the tricycle, knee-pants and pigtail league of television fans, the hero of the hour is a loveable, freckle-faced puppet named Howdy Doody. A phenomenon in the business, Howdy has popped up from comparative obscurity to head man of the most popular TV show for children.
Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, with their progeny David and Rick, are synonymous with the American family image both on and off television. The Nelson boys are perhaps the only people who have literally grown up before the eyes of millions of weekly viewers.
The life of young Elvis Presley Excerpted from an article by Tina McElroy, The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) August 27, 1977 In 1933, a 13-dollar-a-week
The superb acting and detail directing took us to the refugee city of Casablanca, and there we stayed, right by the warm sides of Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, Paul Henreid and Claude Rains. And we’re still there.
A Christmas Story “There are starving people in China.” Gazing through the department store window “I TRIPLE-dog-dare ya!” “And what’s your
Believing there is a great need for wise counsel in this troubled world, Photoplay-Movie Mirror has persuaded Bette Davis, Hollywood’s famous advice star, to act as consultant to its readers.
The best figures in Hollywood? Judge for yourself — we quit! Several issues ago, Photoplay-Movie Mirror made the innocent mistake of asking noted experts to
Modernism reigns in house situated at ‘The Crossroads’ Promptly at 7 tomorrow night, the doors of the new Orinda Theater will swing open for the
Pocketful ‘o songs Listen! You can hear it — a melody sometimes strong and soaring; sometimes sad and faraway. The words make a story, too
Say, kids, what time is it? Kids: It’s Howdy Doody Time! First gracing the airwaves on December 27, 1947, marionette Howdy Doody was a true pioneer of American television programming.
The private life of Judy Garland Rose This is about two young people who love chocolate ice cream, and music, and each other — in
Cary Grant cannot stand being shut in. So he recently bought a two-storied, twelve-roomed stucco house on the exclusive beach at Santa Monica.
Dorothy Lamour, American Madison Square Garden was packed to the guards. It was the final night of the thirty-day stretch of bond-selling for Stars Over America.
How to make yourself important … and strangely enough, love has a lot to do with it, in a way you’d least suspect By Ronald
Mickey Rooney as Young Tom Edison METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER has just completed the first of two most important pictures. Together they encompass the life story of a
Clowns: Their makeup is an artistic expression of their own special traits When a tent full of circus lovers erupts with laughter at the sight
The Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters — Maxene, Patty and LaVerne — comprise one of the top singing trios in the country. The girls started out in
Speaking of pictures… Walt Disney designs Army & Navy insignia One day last summer, when the new Navy torpedo boats were being launched, Lieutenant E
Dorothy Lamour on FM Radio Listen — it’s Dorothy Lamour herself in natural color on FM radio Dorothy Lamour… A beloved voice, floating on velvety
Screen legends Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire sing and dance their way into your heart in one of the most timeless holiday classics of all time, Holiday Inn.
Influential singer/songwriter/musician/producer Curtis Mayfield died December 26, 1999 at age 57. He passed away at the North Fulton Regional Hospital in Roswell, Georgia, from complications arising from diabetes.
“Thelonious,” a tune from his very first Blue Note session, had verses fashioned from a single ingeniously hammered note, with three horns playing shifting dissonances behind it. He developed the one-note motif in his solo and then abruptly broke into some pure, old-fashioned Harlem oompah stride.
How much does it differ from the truth, such as in the case of the von Trapp family, and the hugely-successful musical based on their lives, The Sound of Music?
The original: Just You, Just Me (1929) The song’s first performance, by Lawrence Gray and Marion Davies Duke Ellington “Just You, Just Me”
Our first TV star In case you forgot, it was Felix the Cat The image is blurry and flawed but identifiable: Felix the Cat, hero
Collectors’ items? Joel Tator, a director with KNBC in beautiful downtown Burbank, has spent 17 years collecting tickets to Hollywood radio and TV shows, and
Insist on Slinky Toys At your nearest toy counter Original Slinky $1 / Slinky Soldiers $2 / Slinky Seal $1 / Slinky Handcar $2 /
Groucho Marx & Marilyn Monroe Co-starring in the movie “Love Happy“ Marilyn Monroe with Groucho Marx The Marx Bros are Love Happy Their
The groaner: Road to Zanzibar Out of the Paramount Studio in Hollywood last week came some of the most uninhibited, daffy nonsense to hit the US
Ten years of Temple Shirley has faced problem of growing up The little girl who led the movie-star popularity list during the first three of
Tarzans, from the first in 1918 to the present Elmo Lincoln Gene Polar P Dempsey Tabler James N Pierce Frank Merrill Buster Crabbe Herman Brix
Few thought The Waltons could succeed by Jerry Franken It’s all so different now, as compared to then. “Then” was a year ago. A new,
American Flyer See ’em puff smoke! Hear ’em “choo-choo” First scale model trains with real smoke and realistic-sounding “choo-choo” — both synchronized with train speed.
by Andy Warycka Ernest Borgnine dead at 95 American actor Ernest Borgnine, born in Connecticut on January 24, 1917, to Italian immigrant parents, had a
Good listening… Bing Crosby and a Philco Every Wednesday night, Philco brings you Bing Crosby on “Philco Radio Time,” his one and only radio show.
PERSONNAlly speaking by Groucho Marx Starring in “A Night in Casablanca,” a David L Loew Production, released thru United Artists 1: Next to a good
Want to remember to remember? Our weekly newsletter shows you the latest vintage, old-fashioned & historic stuff that we have published or refreshed during the past seven days. Sign up here.
Note: ClickAmericana.com features authentic historical information, and is not intended to represent current best practices on any topic. Material on this site is provided for education, criticism, commentary, cultural reporting, entertainment, historical reference, and news reporting/analysis.
Don’t miss out on the latest and greatest vintage stuff!
Sign up for our free weekly newsletter here.
