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Cowboy hero John Wayne (top left) coined the term ‘Pilgrim’ to refer to a pal—using it nearly twodozen times to address Jimmy Stewart in the 1962 western The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance:
And while ‘The Duke’ stuffed many a starlet in his day—Joan Crawford, Clara Bow, Marlene Dietrich, Paulette Goddard, Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Blondell to name a few—one dish he didn’t get to dip his drumstick into was sex goddess Marilyn Monroe(top right).
The ‘Noblest Pilgrim of Them All” performed her starlet duty by posing for a series of holiday photos before Thanksgiving 1950 to publicize her bit part in that year’s aptly titled western Ticket to Tomahawk. And though she was barely known … her turkey legs guaranteed newspaper coverage {the original article below left and the actual uncropped image below right}.
Actually, her first Thanksgiving-themed pose was five years earlier in 1945—when hay•stacked housewife Norma Jeane Dougherty was merely looking for a handout in Hollywood (below left). Being Sleuth, to add a little ‘skin’ to the centerpiece of this celebration he’ll cook up a similar nude from the same time frame (below right) to whet your appetite!
But not before ‘fleshing out’ this slim clipping with the wide vintage photo of ‘Mayflower Marilyn’ contemplating how to use her blunderbuss to blow away that buzzard.
Perhaps she could distract him with this first—and only—glimpse of her peekin’ pie:
Or maybe a taste of her topless dancing days after 20th Century dropped her first contract in 1948:
Which is when, needing $50 to get her car out of the shop, Monroe did her iconic calendar session for that exact amount—an unused outtake from which (below left) shows off her yam gams without having to feast on fishnet.
From there, her career would comprise a cornucopia (below left) of classics … yet she wouldn’t pose nude again until this rare, unseen private candid while talking topless on the phone shortly before her death.
MMmmmm … thanks for giving.
