True Burlesque How Far you can GO? Take a Tip from Bettie Page.
Nick de Morgoli Photographs Bettie Page for Carnival and Hillman Publications.
Nick de Morgoli was far better known for his portraits of Marilyn Monroe than for these shots of Bettie Page which ran in Carnival Magazine in 1953. Intentional or not, the photos were credited with a misspelled name…Margoli, not Morgoli. Whoever wrote the copy is not identified at all. This was just the second issue of Carnival.
I think these photos would come from the period just before Irving Klaw began hiring the model, when Bettie was being shown in Robert Harrison's publications and often not identified by name. These are far from the nicest photographs of Ms. Page, but Nick usually didn't fool around. He also took photos while working for the PIX agency, some which ran in Life Magazine, and car photos for Argosy. Nick's photos of Marilyn Monroe were used for covers around the world. Photoplay, Motion Picture Magazine, Screen Life…and for a number of years he was a staff photographer for Vogue.
Carnival was a digest-sized magazine from Hillman publications. Alex Hillman founded the company to print true crime and confession magazines. Later he capitalized on the nation's celebrity obsession with Pageant, People Today, but on the side some right-wing propaganda. Until they came under criticism, Hillman was a major comic book producer as well. Lurid little versions of the same crap he published as true crime, but drawn for the kids! "Guide for Strip-Teasers"
Carnival December 1953. Photographs by Nick de Morgoli.