by CU Newswire | Aug 16, 2026 | Yesteryear
In 1947, long before the world knew her as Marilyn Monroe, a young Norma Jeane posed for a series of staged “babysitter” publicity photographs taken by David Cicero (often credited as Dave Cicero) at the Los Angeles home of Roy Metzler, a 20th Century Fox casting director.
She appears with Metzler’s children, twin boys Eric and Dick and their roughly 3-year-old sister Joanne, in domestic scenes: reading to or near the children, sitting with the babies on a couch or nearby, adjusting diapers, standing over a crib, etc. She wears an apron-style dress similar to one from her small role in the Fox film
Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!, which the photos helped promote. In the press materials she was presented as an 18-year-old former babysitter who had just landed a studio contract; she was actually 21.
Contrary to old Hollywood lore suggesting she was “discovered” while babysitting, the session was entirely staged. The studio created the lighthearted narrative to paint Marilyn as a relatable, wholesome girl-next-door. In a twist of cinematic irony, this innocent 1947 shoot stood in stark contrast to her dark, critically acclaimed 1952 psychological thriller Don’t Bother to Knock, where she played a deeply disturbed babysitter.
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by CU Newswire | Aug 16, 2026 | Yesteryear
In 2007, Louis Vuitton launched its celebrated “Core Values” advertising campaign, created by agency Ogilvy & Mather and shot by renowned portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz. One of the most arresting images in fashion and political advertising history featured Mikhail Gorbachev, the final leader of the Soviet Union.
Gorbachev is pictured wearing a pinstripe suit and overcoat inside the back of a vintage, Khrushchev-era Soviet limousine. As the car drives along a remnant of the Berlin Wall, he looks somberly out the window. Beside him on the leather seat rests a monogrammed Louis Vuitton Keepall bag. The photo starkly captures the irony of a former communist statesman participating in a high-end capitalist advertisement next to the very wall whose fall he helped orchestrate.
A fascinating detail often noted by historians is the Russian magazine peeking out of the unzipped Louis Vuitton bag. If zoomed in, the Cyrillic text reveals a headline about the unsolved murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, a fierce critic of Vladimir Putin. While Louis Vuitton claimed the magazine was merely a realistic prop brought by Gorbachev, it added a heavy layer of contemporary political tension to the image.
The luxury group LVMH specifically utilized Gorbachev to expand market credibility among men and elite consumer classes in burgeoning luxury regions like Russia and China. Gorbachev agreed to the commercial shoot under the condition that Louis Vuitton make a sizeable financial donation to Green Cross International, an environmental sustainability organization he founded.
This “Core Values” travel campaign ran in major fashion publications alongside portraits of other iconic figures, including Catherine Deneuve, Steffi Graf, and Andre Agassi.
by CU Newswire | Aug 16, 2026 | Culture Pop!
by CU Newswire | Aug 16, 2026 | Culture Pop!
by CU Newswire | Aug 15, 2026 | Culture Pop!
