The photo at left portays two Montreal women in 1963, one of whom stares brazenly at the photographer, seemingly asking him, "what the hell are you doing?" to which he replies,"I"m photographing the newest style in this city: hotpants!" Well sorry to introduce you to such a feisty lovelies with towering gams so late in the game.
She's in her 70s now, alas, so keep that in mind before emailing me for her phone number.
Things weren't all that different back then. Then, as now, cops had their hands full rounding up troublemakers, back then it was in the form of FLQ bombers. The big blockbuster at the air conditioned theatre was Lawrence of Arabia and the working-folk were thinking about the Canadiens, who were busy trading Jacques Plante for Gump Worsely. Forty-nine years later and we're all running on the same treadmill. In fact, while hotpants might be out, old-style Don Draper dresses might be back, as my equally semi-legit fashion photo to the right taken yesterday might attest.
Thanks to the hall of fame friend-of-Coolopolis MartinTV for the historical photo for which he paid $5 at a flea market on St. Michel. We'll post more of his finds here in the coming days.
Well, Montreal is my hometown and I'm not quite 70. I remember hot pants as a WEE CHILD and the rippling fat gleaming in the hot sun at Expo 67. My mother had them, but she had gams! Love the post. Memories of a home town I do miss. Thx
ReplyDeleteHow many remember the Montreal woman who was arrested in Plattsburgh, NY sometime in the late '50s for wearing "short-shorts". This was a chuckle even back then.
ReplyDeleteOf course, in those days there were even some intolerant laws where police in certain U.S. towns busted youths for "lewd" rock and roll dancing.