thedrifter
02-12-07, 06:08 PM
Salute from an icon
Former nurse in V-J Day image to eulogize friend at Riverside National Cemetery
02:16 PM PST on Monday, February 12, 2007
By JOE VARGO
The Press-Enterprise
She's the petite redhead memorialized in the most famous kiss ever caught on film.
The spur-of-the-second smooch between Edith Cullen Shain and an unknown sailor in New York's Times Square at the end of World War II has been reproduced on computer mouse pads, refrigerator magnets, purses, watches and countless posters.
Shain, a retired teacher and Los Angeles resident, will make her first visit to Riverside on Wednesday to attend a memorial service at Riverside National Cemetery and eulogize her friend Benjamin Rosenberg, a World War II Navy veteran.
Photo historians and experts who study pop culture say the picture by Life magazine's famed photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt transcends time and evokes more than just a chance encounter between strangers.
The image depicts innocence and a bit of naughtiness at the same time, and conveys the exuberance of youth, the thrill of victory, the dawning of a new day for post-war America.
"It means so much to so many," Shain, now 88, said from her Los Angeles home as she recalled the impact of the picture six decades later. "It's about the beginning of life. You could know what you were going to do with your life and make it happen. The picture hasn't dominated my life but it has definitely enriched it."
The reluctant icon continues to show her support for veterans by appearing in Memorial Day parades and speaking to former World War II soldiers.
Inland veterans say they hope Shain's upcoming visit to Riverside won't be her last. They would love to invite her back for Memorial Day or Veterans Day remembrances, which draw thousands to the national cemetery.
"She's a special person," said Fontana resident Paul Adkins, a member of the cemetery's support committee who has planned numerous Veteran's Day and Memorial Day programs there.Adkins, a member of Vietnam Veterans of America, knows the image well even though he wasn't born when Shain was captured for posterity. "She symbolizes what veterans fought for and what they live for, so they could return home to their loved ones."
The Moment
Tuesday, Aug. 14, 1945, began like lots of other days for Shain, then 27 and a nurse at Doctor's Hospital in New York. She recounted the momentous day during an interview at her West Los Angeles home.
As Shain went about her hospital duties, radio reports confirmed the best news -- Japan called it quits. V-J Day, Victory over Japan, was at hand. World War II was over. Shain left work, paid a nickel and rode the subway to Times Square, then as now the place the Big Apple cuts loose to celebrate. She arrived at 3 p.m.
Hundreds of sailors and soldiers milled about, joined by throngs of native New Yorkers and out-of-towners lured to the city by the war's end. Horns blared. People hollered and screamed for joy. Tears flowed.
As Shain made her way through the din on that warm summer afternoon, a sailor in a dark blue uniform grabbed her, twirled her around and clamped on a 20-second lip-lock caught by Eisenstaedt, on assignment to document the reaction to victory.
Eisenstaedt snapped five frames with his Leica camera, capturing the photo from below, giving the impression that Shain is taller than her 4-feet 11-inch height.
Shain said she didn't initially realize the kiss was caught on camera. She saw herself in the clench when Life magazine published the picture, butfor years she never disclosed she was the woman in the white uniform.
"It was kind of embarrassing," she said. "I certainly didn't mind the kiss. He was a sailor fighting for our country. I never took it seriously."
Friends encouraged her to come forward, and several decades later, she said she corresponded with Eisenstaedt about her role in his photo. Life magazine eventually acknowledged Shain as the woman in the picture , although at least two other women have also claimed that notoriety .
A dozen men have claimed to be the sailor kissing Shain, but his identity remains a mystery.
Shain and Eisenstaedt became friends and the famous photographer came to Los Angeles to photograph Shain. In 1980, the pair appeared on the Today show to discuss the picture.
The Myths
Almost from the second Eisenstaedt snapped the action, myths sprang up about the photo. The image was staged. There was more than one take. Eisenstaedt egged the sailor on until he kissed her. The Navy man was Shain's boyfriend. She married him.
All false, Shain says.
"He didn't say a word," Shain said of the sailor. "He grabbed me, twirled me around and kissed me. I never looked at him. I close my eyes when I get kissed. It was a long kiss, 20 or 30 seconds. After that I guess he went on to find someone else to kiss."
Eisenstaedt, who died in 1995, also maintained that he did not set up the photo.
In an account published in one of his books, Eisenstaedt said he was photographing the celebration when he saw "something white being grabbed."
"I turned around the moment the sailor kissed the nurse," he wrote. "There were thousands of people milling around in side streets and everywhere. Everyone was kissing each other. I didn't even know what was going on until (the sailor) grabbed something in white. And I stood there and they kissed."
Shain's afternoon in Times Square ended minutes later.
Another serviceman, this one in an Army uniform, planted a kiss on Shain. She beat a hasty retreat to her apartment where she spent the rest of the afternoon studying.
"That was a little too much," she said.
The Legacy
David Lubin, an art professor at Wake Forest University, said he considers the image one of the most significant of the 20th century, right up there with the pictures of Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima, John F. Kennedy Jr. saluting his dead father after JFK was assassinated in 1963, and Neil Armstrong walking on the moon
Lubin said the photo possesses all the visually energetic and dynamic elements of great picture-taking -- crisply focused subjects, sharp contrasts between the dark military uniform against Shain's white dress, and passionate emotions -- snapped "during a supremely historical moment."
It's also a bit erotic, he said.
"You can see her well-turned ankles," Lubin said.
Ken Aretsky, a New York restaurant owner and photo historian, said the image reflects the worldwide joy that erupted when the war finally ended.
"It speaks to so many generations before and to come about what it means to have a war over, as a soldier and a country," Aretsky said. "If the Iraq war ended in a good way, you'd see exactly the same thing."
Shain said she's glad for her place in history, even though she never earned a penny from it. Shain's family moved to Los Angeles after the war and she continued with her education. She did post-graduate studies in social work and eventually spend most of her career working with children. She taught kindergarten at Hancock Park school.
She has three grown children and plans to write a book about aging gracefully.
Her sense of humor remains keen.
"I'm still washing my own dishes and I have no chauffeur," she said. "I never even got a free subscription to Life magazine."
Reach Joe Vargo at 951-567-2407 or jvargo@PE.com
Iconic image
Life magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt's picture "V-J Day" remains one of the best-known of all time.
Date: Aug. 14, 1945
Location: Times Square, New York
Time: 3 p.m.
Occasion: Surrender of Japan, ending of World War II
Ellie
Former nurse in V-J Day image to eulogize friend at Riverside National Cemetery
02:16 PM PST on Monday, February 12, 2007
By JOE VARGO
The Press-Enterprise
She's the petite redhead memorialized in the most famous kiss ever caught on film.
The spur-of-the-second smooch between Edith Cullen Shain and an unknown sailor in New York's Times Square at the end of World War II has been reproduced on computer mouse pads, refrigerator magnets, purses, watches and countless posters.
Shain, a retired teacher and Los Angeles resident, will make her first visit to Riverside on Wednesday to attend a memorial service at Riverside National Cemetery and eulogize her friend Benjamin Rosenberg, a World War II Navy veteran.
Photo historians and experts who study pop culture say the picture by Life magazine's famed photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt transcends time and evokes more than just a chance encounter between strangers.
The image depicts innocence and a bit of naughtiness at the same time, and conveys the exuberance of youth, the thrill of victory, the dawning of a new day for post-war America.
"It means so much to so many," Shain, now 88, said from her Los Angeles home as she recalled the impact of the picture six decades later. "It's about the beginning of life. You could know what you were going to do with your life and make it happen. The picture hasn't dominated my life but it has definitely enriched it."
The reluctant icon continues to show her support for veterans by appearing in Memorial Day parades and speaking to former World War II soldiers.
Inland veterans say they hope Shain's upcoming visit to Riverside won't be her last. They would love to invite her back for Memorial Day or Veterans Day remembrances, which draw thousands to the national cemetery.
"She's a special person," said Fontana resident Paul Adkins, a member of the cemetery's support committee who has planned numerous Veteran's Day and Memorial Day programs there.Adkins, a member of Vietnam Veterans of America, knows the image well even though he wasn't born when Shain was captured for posterity. "She symbolizes what veterans fought for and what they live for, so they could return home to their loved ones."
The Moment
Tuesday, Aug. 14, 1945, began like lots of other days for Shain, then 27 and a nurse at Doctor's Hospital in New York. She recounted the momentous day during an interview at her West Los Angeles home.
As Shain went about her hospital duties, radio reports confirmed the best news -- Japan called it quits. V-J Day, Victory over Japan, was at hand. World War II was over. Shain left work, paid a nickel and rode the subway to Times Square, then as now the place the Big Apple cuts loose to celebrate. She arrived at 3 p.m.
Hundreds of sailors and soldiers milled about, joined by throngs of native New Yorkers and out-of-towners lured to the city by the war's end. Horns blared. People hollered and screamed for joy. Tears flowed.
As Shain made her way through the din on that warm summer afternoon, a sailor in a dark blue uniform grabbed her, twirled her around and clamped on a 20-second lip-lock caught by Eisenstaedt, on assignment to document the reaction to victory.
Eisenstaedt snapped five frames with his Leica camera, capturing the photo from below, giving the impression that Shain is taller than her 4-feet 11-inch height.
Shain said she didn't initially realize the kiss was caught on camera. She saw herself in the clench when Life magazine published the picture, butfor years she never disclosed she was the woman in the white uniform.
"It was kind of embarrassing," she said. "I certainly didn't mind the kiss. He was a sailor fighting for our country. I never took it seriously."
Friends encouraged her to come forward, and several decades later, she said she corresponded with Eisenstaedt about her role in his photo. Life magazine eventually acknowledged Shain as the woman in the picture , although at least two other women have also claimed that notoriety .
A dozen men have claimed to be the sailor kissing Shain, but his identity remains a mystery.
Shain and Eisenstaedt became friends and the famous photographer came to Los Angeles to photograph Shain. In 1980, the pair appeared on the Today show to discuss the picture.
The Myths
Almost from the second Eisenstaedt snapped the action, myths sprang up about the photo. The image was staged. There was more than one take. Eisenstaedt egged the sailor on until he kissed her. The Navy man was Shain's boyfriend. She married him.
All false, Shain says.
"He didn't say a word," Shain said of the sailor. "He grabbed me, twirled me around and kissed me. I never looked at him. I close my eyes when I get kissed. It was a long kiss, 20 or 30 seconds. After that I guess he went on to find someone else to kiss."
Eisenstaedt, who died in 1995, also maintained that he did not set up the photo.
In an account published in one of his books, Eisenstaedt said he was photographing the celebration when he saw "something white being grabbed."
"I turned around the moment the sailor kissed the nurse," he wrote. "There were thousands of people milling around in side streets and everywhere. Everyone was kissing each other. I didn't even know what was going on until (the sailor) grabbed something in white. And I stood there and they kissed."
Shain's afternoon in Times Square ended minutes later.
Another serviceman, this one in an Army uniform, planted a kiss on Shain. She beat a hasty retreat to her apartment where she spent the rest of the afternoon studying.
"That was a little too much," she said.
The Legacy
David Lubin, an art professor at Wake Forest University, said he considers the image one of the most significant of the 20th century, right up there with the pictures of Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima, John F. Kennedy Jr. saluting his dead father after JFK was assassinated in 1963, and Neil Armstrong walking on the moon
Lubin said the photo possesses all the visually energetic and dynamic elements of great picture-taking -- crisply focused subjects, sharp contrasts between the dark military uniform against Shain's white dress, and passionate emotions -- snapped "during a supremely historical moment."
It's also a bit erotic, he said.
"You can see her well-turned ankles," Lubin said.
Ken Aretsky, a New York restaurant owner and photo historian, said the image reflects the worldwide joy that erupted when the war finally ended.
"It speaks to so many generations before and to come about what it means to have a war over, as a soldier and a country," Aretsky said. "If the Iraq war ended in a good way, you'd see exactly the same thing."
Shain said she's glad for her place in history, even though she never earned a penny from it. Shain's family moved to Los Angeles after the war and she continued with her education. She did post-graduate studies in social work and eventually spend most of her career working with children. She taught kindergarten at Hancock Park school.
She has three grown children and plans to write a book about aging gracefully.
Her sense of humor remains keen.
"I'm still washing my own dishes and I have no chauffeur," she said. "I never even got a free subscription to Life magazine."
Reach Joe Vargo at 951-567-2407 or jvargo@PE.com
Iconic image
Life magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt's picture "V-J Day" remains one of the best-known of all time.
Date: Aug. 14, 1945
Location: Times Square, New York
Time: 3 p.m.
Occasion: Surrender of Japan, ending of World War II
Ellie