July 11, 2006

Images

Another amazing image in the series The Art of War - he's got a lot of those old propaganda posters. They're incredible.

Also, y'know - I have looked at this image probably, oh, 30 times now ... and I still can't figure it out. But I can't stop looking at it either.

Posted by sheila
Comments

I think J. Edgar Hoover and Shirley Temple might have been joking around, as in--he was "locking" her up. It is bizarre, though.

Posted by: DBW at July 11, 2006 9:36 AM

Bizarre is a pretty mild description for that one! DBW is probably right about Hoover ostensibly locking her up, but it's still a VERY strange image. I love the phrase "moppet-bondage" in the comments on that site...

Posted by: miker at July 11, 2006 11:49 AM

I didn't even know it was Shirley Temple at first - she's wearing this kind of dowdy housedress - and she's budding on the edge of womanhood - and the whole thing is totally bizarre.

And also hysterical!

Posted by: red at July 11, 2006 11:55 AM

It is hilarious, when you think about it. J. Edgar Hoover has Shirley Temple in bondage on what looks like a farmhouse lawn somewhere on the plains of Kansas.

With the deep shadows, I never would have guessed who the girl was...

Posted by: miker at July 11, 2006 12:19 PM

It's a weird'un, no doubt. There's a lot of relatively prosaic publicity shots of the late FBI Director and Temple (I was even planning on using one for that series until I came across it), but I'm pretty certain this isn't one of them; more likely something shot during one of Hoover's visits out west (for all we know the photographer was Clyde Tolson).

The two were relatively close, believe it or not; maintaining a correspondence that lasted from the late 30s to the end of Hoover's life .

Temple always did have a thing for Fascists.

Posted by: Tom Sutpen at July 11, 2006 1:01 PM

I had no idea they were buds. That explains a bit this bizarre photo - it doesn't seem QUITE so random.

Like - Hoover - please let Shirley out of that cage, mkay? But then you see the SMILE on Shirley's face and you think: So ... er ... Shirley Temple likes being caged?

WTF??

Posted by: red at July 11, 2006 1:14 PM

Tom, thanks for the info.
I too had puzzled over that pic a few times.

Regards, Hank

ps Off topic, Red, thx for the pointer a few days ago to bibigreycat. A very cool site.

Posted by: Hank at July 11, 2006 2:34 PM