And now for something completely different…

As a father of three teenage girls, I got a kick out of this blast from the past:

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This “16” magazine from the early sixties is a hoot. (See more here.)

This issue featured the inside scoop on the big Bonanza news: the departure of Pernell Roberts due, no doubt, to “creative differences” with Michael Landon—which would date this issue to roughly 1965.

That, then, would be the year The King was in danger of being dethroned by some guy named “Petersen.” I’m not sure who this would be. There was a drummer for a short-lived group called the Beau Brummells named Jon Petersen. But he doesn’t strike me as being a big Elvis threat.

Maybe it’s this guy. He seems to be all heart-throb-y. Alas, Elvis survived the Petersen juggernaut and went on to make cheesy movies, launch an early 70s comeback, and reinvent himself in Vegas where he would achieve permanent iconal status. (Update: Yep. That’s him. He’s become a activist on child labor issues, particular child actors and performers.)

The headline about the Stones getting away with “murder” is interesting. I doubt the author was prophetically anticipating the Altamont concert four years hence in which one person would be killed when the Hell’s Angels were acquired to handle security on the promise of—get this—free beer.

Makes sense to me. Hell’s Angels + unlimited brewskis + 300,000 stoners = no worries on the security front. 

Of course, it wouldn’t be an issue of a teen mag without a offer to ameliorate that scourge of adolescence—complexion issues.