This photograph is frequently misinterpreted as a World War II image depicting members
of the League of German Girls, or Bund Deutsche Mädel, standing to attention.
This image is, in fact, a scene from a movie released in 1958 in West Germany,
that focused on the impact of World War II on German women who served as helpers to
armed forces on the frontline, as well as their challenges to overcome Nazi sexist restrictions.
The League of German Girls was the only legitimate girls organisation within Nazi
Germany and its Hitler Youth movement. It had its roots in Hitler's beliefs that young girls needed
to undergo training to make them fit and strong enough to be good German housewives and mothers.
They focused on all aspects of domestic duties, including ironing, cooking,
and sewing. Girls were expected to marry and have many children when their adulthood began,
but job training and education were also important. Membership of Nazi
youth movements became compulsory for boys and girls in December 1936. The experience
of both boys and girls would be similar in some ways to prepare them for life in Nazi Germany.
In the 1950s, Italy had a Bikini penalty, meaning you would risk a fine just for wearing a bikini.
This photo, taken in 1957 on a beach in Italy,
shows a young lady getting a penalty ticket by a smirking policeman.
Ironically, the Italians have one of the earliest known visual documentations of a bikini, coming
from mosaics in an Ancient Roman Villa in Sicily, dating back nearly two thousand years. In fact,
in the 50s, many countries around the world, not just Italy, prohibited revealing bathing suits,
as they were deemed to be too immodest to be worn in public. Little did they know that one
day bikinis will grow to be one of the most popular female beachwear around the globe.
Could this man from the 19th century, be the original Batman, who inspired DC Comics to
create the fictional character in 1939? This photograph of an old guy with a bushy beard,
wearing a Batman mask has been circulating on the internet for some time, and it has been claimed
it depicts a man named Bill Smith, who worked as a butcher in New York City in the 1870s. He was
a farm labourer from England who migrated to New York, in search for a better life.
Allegedly, after his shop was repeatedly targeted by shoplifters, he started catching and punching
thieves, soon gaining notoriety as a vigilante. He even patrolled his neighbourhood by night,
donning a Batman mask, on the lookout for criminals. Unfortunately, after some internet
research, however, we came upon a Facebook page belonging to the Marvellini brothers,
who run an art workshop that specialises in creating vintage-looking photographs.
And there he was, the Dark Knight himself! So, could this, once again, be the original Batman
from the 19th century? It's quite implausible, but nevertheless, it's a fun fictitious story.