Vintage original 1954 calendar featuring a large color image of a nude Marilyn Monroe, 15.75 x 25.25, with text to right side and lower border reading: “Posed by Marilyn Monroe” and “Golden Dreams, Made in U.S.A.” Matted and framed to an overall size of 21 x 31. In very good to fine condition, with light rippled creasing to the image.
On May 27, 1949, in Los Angeles, Monroe posed nude for Tom Kelly on red velvet and was paid $50 for the sitting, signing the release on the photos as ‘Mona Monroe.’ In February 1952, two years after the original calendar was published, a wire service reporter, Ailene Mosby, discovered that the featured beauty was none other than Marilyn Monroe and a scandal broke. Fox Studio executives panicked and called Monroe in to ask if it was indeed her. Monroe affirmed that it was and soon after released a press statement explaining that she posed nude because she was penniless and needed to pay her bills. Her fan mail increased dramatically after her confession, and her latest movie, Clash by Night, opened to big business.
