Johnny Carson Rings in '66

Peace On Earth

A memorable 1966 PSA from DC Comics.

Creepy Crawlers

One of my Christmas presents in '66.

Sears Christmas Catalog--1966

For many, this was THE most important item in the house in the months leading up to the holidays in '66.

Bat Stuff # 42

R.I.P. Walt Disney

Probably the worst pop culture news of '66 was the death in mid-December of Walt Disney, arguably the single most important man in 20th century pop history. 

 

The Stones in '66

The Rolling Stones have been in the news much lately for their 50th Anniversary concerts. Here's a wonderfully obsessive site that details what they were doing back in 1966!
http://www.timeisonourside.com/chron1966.html

Gary Lewis and The Playboys-Sure Gonna Miss Her

Jerry Lewis's oldest son, Gary, came into his own with his well-deserved mid-sixties success with his group, The Playboys. This was just one of their '66 single releases but it's my favorite one.

Our Man Flint Trailer

Actor James Coburn's breakthrough role after years as a character actor, Derek Flint would be the most  serious rival to James Bond if his two cinematic adventures of the sixties had been a little more serious.

Captain America Game

Robot

Was there ever a cooler robot than the LOST IN SPACE no name robot? Spotted this '66 toy, which I used to have, on Facebook.

Beetle Bailey in '66

In 1966, Mort Walker's popular BEETLE BAILEY newspaper strip had to contend with controversy as the then-ongoing war in Viet Nam made the military much less popular than it had been in previous decades. He manages to weather the storms with good humor and clever ideas and the strip still flourishes today. The volume seen here collects all of the daily and Sunday strips from '66.

Grace Kelly

Lots of gorgeous, sexy gals made the scene in '66 from Twiggy and Barbara Feldon to Marlo Thomas and Raquel Welch. But here we have Grace Kelly, by this point PRINCESS Grace, ten years retired from making movies but still the most beautiful woman in the world in '66!

Photo by Yul Brynner.

Not With My Wife, You Don't!

Tony Curtis was as big a star as they came in '66. Bigger than future PATTON George C. Scott, oddly cast here as his romantic rival for lovely Italian star Virna Lisi. A pre-Bunker Carroll O'Conner co-starred.

NBC Fall Preview, '66

The Horn Meets the Hornet

G-8 and His Battle Aces

Another attempt at cashing in on the success of the revived pulp characters in novels such as Doc Savage and The Shadow, this comic book attempt lasted only this single issue in '66 with art by aviation buff George Evans.

The 1966 Alley Award Winners

Presented in '67 for the preceding year, The Alley Awards were the first major awards for comics, set up through the fandom networks that organized from the fifties on and promoted in fanzines such as Jerry Bails' ALTER EGO. They had been around all through the sixties and had a bit of prestige by the '66 balloting.

From Wikipedia, here are the 1966 Alley Award Winners:

Christopher Lee Article

Spotted on Facebook. This December 1966 article about how Christopher Lee was wanting to try more diverse roles. It would be another six years before he was really allowed to do so.

Petula Clark is 80 Today!

But I'll always remember her the way she was in '66!

The Diabolical Dr Z

The Book of Negro Humor

Finders Keepers

Singer Cliff Richard was known in the some circles as the UK Elvis Presley. He and his group, The Shadows, had plenty of rockin' hits in the late fifties and early sixties. Like Elvis, Cliff also drifted into movies where he put out a series of fun, inoffensive pop musicals like THE YOUNG ONES and SUMMER HOLIDAY. Here, in '66, he was still putting 'em out with FINDERS KEEPERS. (Available on Netflix!)

 

Small Faces-All or Nothing

Still one of the best but most unsung groups of their day--The Small Faces.

April Dancer

Seen on Facebook, here's a publicity shot of the lovely Stefanie Powers as THE GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E., April Dancer (what a great name!) whose show premiered in late 1966.

Destination Cool Ad

One of my favorite DC Comics house ads from my earliest days of collecting! This appeared in the April '66 issue of ADVENTURE COMICS. Right now, our companion blog, DAYS OF ADVENTURE, is revisiting all of the 1966 issues of ADVENTURE COMICS.

http://adventurecomicsblog.blogspot.com/

The Saint Lies in Wait

Legendary French film star Jean Marais followed in the classy footsteps of George Sanders, Roger Moore and others when he portrayed The Saint on the big screen in '66.

Ethel Merman Gets Your Gun

Sonny and Cher

Sonny Bono was never a hippie and Cher really wasn't either. Sonny was, in fact, a clever producer/songwriter and a bit of a marketing genius who molded teenaged Cherilyn into the other half of THE royal hippie couple of the sixties...at least in the public's eyes. This 16 Mag piece from January of '66 is surprisingly open and accurate about the couple so I suspect they may have actually written it themselves.