Queen Bettie’s 100th Birthday

Well, Bettie fans, the day is finally here. If Bettie Page (1923–2008) was still with us, she’d be celebrating her 100th birthday today, April 22. Over the last eight or nine months, during the lead up to Bettie’s centennial milestone, I’ve been blogging regularly about various aspects of Bettie’s iconic life and work while sharing hundreds of striking photographs of the Queen of Pinups. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed researching and putting together these posts in honor of a fellow Taurus—my birthday is tomorrow, so I’ve always felt a special kinship with Bettie. That’s just one reason among many that I decided to start the Queen Bettie posts. Hopefully no one out there minds that Bettie sort of took over the site in recent months. I for one would allow her to take over anything she damn well pleases, but I’m a sucker for the Queen.

You might be wondering if reaching Bettie’s 100th means her residency at the Starfire Lounge is coming to an end. The short answer is “no,” but the longer answer is that Bettie has earned a well-deserved breather for a bit—and so have I. Don’t get me wrong! I’m not trying to tell you that looking at hundreds upon hundreds of photos of an absolute smoke show like Bettie Page is hard work. That would be absurd! It’s the most fun research I’ve ever done. That’s the thing though: it’s almost too fun and way too easy to spend all my writing time on nothing but Bettie. These posts take a while to put together, between researching facts, writing, searching for images, uploading images, formatting images, etc.

Whether or not Bettie takes a little break, she will always have an open invitation to grace the stage here, so she’ll be around, don’t worry about that. Like I said, she can take over anything any time she wants and I’ll happily sit back and enjoy the show.

Speaking of the show, click here for the massive, full archive of posts featuring our girl Bettie. I’m pretty proud of it. Now, in honor of 100 years of a major cultural icon, let’s welcome Queen Bettie back to the stage on her big day. Consider the following a greatest hits of the past year of Bettie posts, along with a slew of never-seen-here-before shots—some of which are definitely NSFW. Most of the Bettie posts have been nudity-free, but for her big 100th, Bettie in her birthday suit is a must. After all, even though it’s Bettie’s birthday, she’s the one giving us the gifts.