Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Jan 17, 2023 7:59:59 GMT -8
One of the books in my modest diving library is George Bronson Howard's Handbook for Skin Divers, Fawcett Publications 1956. The front cover above has the striking image of a spearfisherman clad in a distinctive yellow short-sleeve jacket posing with the fish he has caught. The photograph is attributed to "L. Willinger from Shostal", which may well be László Willinger, a Jewish-German photographer based in the United States, most noted for his portrait photography of film stars and celebrities starting in 1937.
Today I came across a similar image on a web page entitled 1955 Vintage Men Spearfishing Article by Ozzie Sweet. It was another front cover from the Volume 11 No 1 issue of Men: your Goodyear dealer's magazine with two further illustrated pages inside for an article entitled "Fastest Growing Sport". The three pages are reproduced below:
The magazine is undated, but a little online research suggested that the magazine might be from 1953 or thereabouts. The spearfisherman in the image is wearing the same yellow jacket and the same red Cressi-Pinocchio-style diving mask. I wonder who his companion is wearing another colourful outfit and carrying a full-face mask and a camera. Could these diving suits be home-made?
DRW
Also her Pixie haircut is super-chic and he looks about as manly and tough as they come, like he and Popeye might beat the tar out of each other just for fun and then go out for beers!
