de bene esse: Things Found on the Internet

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

"Featured" "life is messy"

Princess Leia off-duty

Carrie Fisher, 1983, found on Reddit

Pre-Code Hollywood

Before the introduction of the film censorship guidelines in the 1930s (known as the Hays code), there was an era in Hollywood called “Pre-Code”, during which there were virtually no rules. In this earlier screen still from The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916), about a detective that solves crimes while being addicted to cocaine, both the drug and the use of syringes is clearly visible. When the Hays Code was adopted in 1930, Hollywood spent another four years ignoring it and making up their own laws. Films continued to be produced depicting sexual innuendo, profanity, illegal drug use, prostitution, infidelity, abortion or intense violence. Strong female characters dominated films and nefarious characters were seen by many as heroic rather than evil. Acting legend Clark Gable got his start during the four year era, which spawned many great, sexual and idiosyncratic films like Frankensteinand Freaks that were years ahead of their time.

Greta Garbo’s bisexual character in the precode era film ‘Queen Christina’ (1933).

Found on Let’s Misbehave: A Tribute to Pre-Code Hollywood

The Bossmobile

1972 National Lampoon by Bruce McCall, found on Flickr.

Galerie Lafayette Tag, 1920s, Paris

Galeries Lafayette is still a grande dame of a department store but in the 1920s it was even grander than that. As the Arts Decoratifs took over 1925 Paris, the store was pretty much the centre of fashionability. This envelope is from around that period, I think. Its lovely graphics are crammed with little references to the decorative architectural notions the store was covered in at that time … The envelope text references the laces and buttons department. And it was for putting laces and buttons inside, I should think, when madam had made her choice… Ahh. To be shopping in Paris in 1925. Grabbing a copy of Gazette du Bon Tonand a couple of new buttons for refurbishing the somewhat worn Poiret coat – on the way to meet a friend for a Café au lait. I found this envelope on a cold Saturday in Paris a few years ago. There is a long winding flea market there called Port De Vanves that is always worth the trek.

Found on Shelf Appeal

Bogus Bond Pulp Fiction

During the 1960s there seemed to be a series of, let’s call them for want of a better expression, pulp fiction novels based around imitating successful spy series of the time including The Avengers, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and inevitably James Bond. Found onVoices of East Anglia

A Manned Torpedo

The manned torpedo, also known as the “Chariot,” was unique. Primarily used to attack enemy ships still in harbor, the Chariots needed “pilots” to “drive” them to their targets. Sitting astride the torpedo on a vehicle that would transport them both, the pilot would guide the missile as close to the target as possible, then ride the vehicle back, usually to a submarine. The Chariot was an enormous advantage; before its development, the closest weapon to the Chariot was the Japanese Kaiten–a human torpedo, or suicide bomb, which had obvious drawbacks. The manned torpedo proved to be the most effective weapon in the Italian naval arsenal, used successfully against the British again in December 1941 at Alexandria, Egypt. Italian torpedoes sank the British battleships Queen Elizabeth and Valiant, as well as one tanker. They were also used against merchant ships at Gibraltar and elsewhere.

Found on the Declaration Clothing blog