Never-before seen JFK portrait includes kid with toy gun in odd position

[babylonsister]

From here:
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/11/12/never-before-seen-jf.html





LIFE this week released the photograph above of president John F. Kennedy stumping in Logan, WV—part of a collection of never-before-published images discussed at PBS.org. (Via Submitterator, thanks TCD004)

[Dennis Donovan]

1. If that were Rand Paul speaking, the positioning of the gun would be appropriate...

...'cause I feel like shooting myself everytime I hear him speak.;-) :hi:

On edit - I didn't realize how thin JFK was during the '60 campaign! I'd swear that was from pre-1956 given his leanness...

[MineralMan]

2. That kid is now carrying misspelled signs at teabagger

demonstrations. I guarantee it.

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. I'm not sure about this one.

Head seems disproportionate to the body.

1960 JFK head on a 1952 JFK body.

[Peace Patriot]

4. It seems rather amazing, doesn't it? That kid with the toy gun standing right there.

But, having lived through that era, I can tell you that it wasn't all that remarkable at the time. Not only was it inconceivable, to us '50s folks in that era, that anyone would shoot the president (or a presidential candidate, or, indeed, any public figure), but it was very common for kids to have toy guns. It was the STANDARD gift for boys. And boys playing at shooting people with their toy guns was STANDARD boy behavior.

----------------------

I recommend James Douglass' "JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters," for those who wish to know what really happened and why, both specifically who did what, and--equally important--WHY. It is a must-read book. It has taken me 50 years to face up to that event, it was so traumatic. And Douglass is the ideal guide through it--a writer with close connections to Trappist monk Thomas Merton (who was close to Ethel Kennedy, and who strongly opposed the existence and use of nuclear weapons). Douglass gets to the heart of the matter. He brings vast erudition to the task, and the largest possible perspective on both the "Cold War" crisis of mutual annihilation that hovered over the world and the spiritual crisis that our nation was undergoing, and that so many individuals were undergoing, as that great evil tempted our country, and individual leaders, with absolute power. Douglass is unsurpassable on both subjects--the assassination itself and WHY.

[Mimosa]

5. 2nd Peace Patriot's rec of James Douglass' "JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters"

It's an excellent book which is very relevant to today's politics as well.

[rasputin1952]

12. I agree on the 50's...

that could have been me standing there. Virtually every boy had a toy gun(s), and some of them were quite dangerous. I had one that shot plastic bullets from spring loaded cartridges, I think it was called a "Fanner 50" or something like that. It was gone after (honestly), accidentally shooting the dog; up to that point, no one in my family thought it was dangerous, and I come from an educated family. More recently, it took some tragedies before people realized that tossing heavy weighted, pointed darts at a target some 50 feet away was basically insane while others were standing near the target..."Lawn Darts", just by the name you realize something just isn't right there.

I still, on occasion feel like 22 Nov 63 is a really bad dream, who would have contemplated what was to come? 47 years later, and it seems incredible we lived through that.

[defendandprotect]

6. A time when we were moving against wars and guns ....

[uncle ray]

7. lucky he doesn't fall off that step stool.

i have that exact stool in my kitchen, like teabaggers, they are not stable.

[lame54]

8. That's how i feel when Bush speaks

[Gold Metal Flake]

9. Western Electric (later Altec) 'salt shaker' 633a Microphone

With directional baffle.

[Dyler Turden]

10. Amazing photo.

My kid sister used to date a guy whose father was his photographer for a while and wow, did he have tales to tell.

[BlueIris]

11. Um, okay.

I love me some John Kennedy, but that is one weird photo.