Christmas Spirit - Lennon Style

Now here is a great old magazine cover story, the Jan. 1959 issue of TV Radio Mirror. Don't the Lennon Sisters look beautiful with their dad, Bill? The article is sweet but it's the photos that are impossibly cute, especially little Mimi in that picture with Dee Dee.

Enjoy!

Complete Lennon Family Album

It's mah birthday weekend, y'all! The big day is actually tomorrow, but I'm going out partying tonight. Before I hit the town, let's fire up the 'ol scanner and post some fan magazine gems.

10 Fabulous Years! Complete Lennon Family Album: Memories That Make The Lennons Laugh - and cry!

The title kind of sums it up for this Sept. 1966 cover story from TV Radio Mirror. It's chock-a-block full of Lennon Sisters photos. Back then they were celebrating a mere 10 years in showbiz. Now of course they've got 50 years under their belts. Pretty damn amazing.

Enjoy!

"family that plays and prays together"

So says Lennon Sisters' mama, Sis, in this Oct. 1959 issue of TV Radio Mirror.

I'm not the best Catholic in the world. In fact I didn't even make it to mass at St. Joseph's this weekend. In lieu of that I figured I could at least scan an article about the Lennon family and their faith.

Enjoy.

Happy Valentine's Day

What better way to celebrate this day dedicated to L*O*V*E than to take a look back at the start of the enduring romance of Dee Dee Lennon and Dick Gass. My goodness they were so young when they married but clearly knew exactly what was important, and have thrived in making a truly happy home life for themselves and their family. Okay, the bit at the end about the apron strings is cringe-worthy. Otherwise though, it's a lovely insight into a wonderfully successful relationship. We should all be so blessed.

From TV Radio Mirror, Sept. 1960

Kathy gets engaged

The topic of Kathy's first marriage is something of a touchy subject as I found out on the Yahoo group. It's apparently not something the family wishes to have discussed, nor do they mention it in any official capacity, almost as though the marriage never occured.

It's kind of hard to ignore, given that the marriage took place during the hayday of the magazine coverage of The Lennon Sisters. So without further ado, here's a rather pleasant article about the newly engaged couple, Kathy Lennon and Mahlon Clark from TV Radio Mirror May 1967. Peggy has some really nice things to say about her sister, and the importance of her place in the family. There are some great color photos in this issue. And may I just say that Dee Dee's husband was seriously handsome? Seriously.









And just because, here's one of my favorite pictures of Kathy, with Mahlon in 1969. Don't they look glamorous?

fabulous indeed

This TV Radio Mirror magazine is one of my absolute favorites. It’s one of The Lennon Sisters’ earlier cover stories, from March 1957. They had been stars on the Welk show for a little over a year, and the Lennon juggernaut was really starting to kick into high gear.

My gawd they were so young! Have you ever seen a more photogenic family? They look like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting. I especially love the photo of all of them on the porch. Dee Dee truly did look like the perfect all-American girl.

Enjoy!

Janet, you is a woman now

Back in the early '90s, when my Lennon Sisters fascination first took hold, before the internets, I bought a boatload of those old fan magazines - TV Radio Mirror, Photoplay, and the like. For me, it was all about the photos. The Lennons were/are photogentically blessed. Kathy in particular is just a stunner of a beauty.

It wasn't just photos of the "girls" - often the magazines featured them with their (numerous) little brothers and sisters. Call me corny, but it's just fun to see these staged, yet real, family settings. It's enjoyable nostalgia without being tempered by the knowledge of future family rifts, or former childstar meltdowns. By all accounts the whole family is still staggeringly close. Oh sure, I know they aren't perfect. Please, that would be too much to stomach. But dammit, their happiness in being together is just a joy to behold.

These scans are from TV Radio Mirror, Nov. 1962

Enjoy!

Now here's a headline!