Glenn McDuffie and Edith Shain's Perpetual Peck

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Large hands, laughing onlookers, a loving embrace locked with a kiss, all of which can be both seen and felt in Alfred Eisenstaedt's 'V-J Day in Times Square'. With Edith Shain, the alleged nurse scoring the lucky kiss in the photograph, having passed away in 2010, and Glenn McDuffie, the alleged young Navy veteran to ignite this raunchy kiss having passed away just three days ago, I wonder if the recreation of such spontaneous affection will ever again occur.

Nowadays, had someone grabbed a female the way McDuffie did Shain, it would be a large case of sexual assault, followed by court hearings, news articles, news reports and possible jail time and compensation. There is nothing as large as celebrating Victory over Japan in present times, though anything war-like should not be celebrated or initiated to begin with, thus there would be no reason for spontaneous kissing. Imagine, though, that most people had celebrated this way, that just like in some American movies, happiness was celebrated through grabbing the nearest seemingly attractive stranger and locking lips with them long enough for a passing photographer to stop in their path and quickly snap a good shot of it all, and send it in to Time magazine.

The entire thing just about frightens me. Had I been a nurse back in the war, the last thing that I would want would be a random man, jumping about in excitement to come up to me out of nowhere and suck out my oxygen supply. It would just terrify me. Look at the size of his hands, fourteen of his hands make up her entire height, let alone just one for her waistline. Her body is bent at an awkward position, and while Princess Diaries tries to imply romanticism with the nurse's leg kicking up in the air, I am implying that the poor nurse was fighting for air. Her hand on her dress shows that she was wildly unprepared, hence the blurriness, and the way his other arm is hooked around her neck and locks her face onto his like velcro surely indicates no mercy. This man wanted a kiss and this woman had to comply.

Imagine, then, had Shain been a hostile feminist, the great picture Eisenstaedt would have taken had she kicked McDuffie right in the groin. The way his face would have wrinkled, the way onlookers' faces would have just dropped, it would have been downright perfect. Shain's arms would then be formed in fists behind her, her face growling with anger and her foot lodged right between McDuffie's ability to be fertile. Would this picture, if this was the way I just depicted, be this famous? Perhaps it would be infamous, perhaps it would have been titled 'V-J Day Leaves Veteran Infertile after Nurse Shows Him Who is Boss.' Perhaps it would be the new symbol of feminism, rather than Geraldine Hoff Doyle  posing in a 'We Can Do It!' poster. 

Perspective, and point of view are two elements that can add another sphere to this photograph. Take for example the point of view of the giggling chap in the black outfit on the left, in the foreground, smirking away as he passes McDuffie and Sheen. "Oh, boy is she caught in his meat hooks! This is the best day of my life!" Or the point of view of the man behind him, in the white uniform, "Is he? Bushwa! No, oh he is! Boy the things I would do to that dame!" Or the point of view of the older woman behind the victim of amour, "Oh young man, you slay me with your display of affection! I wish old George would kiss me like that..."

It is all quite strange, how our world allows some things and denies others, and it is strange that this seemingly innocent photograph is so truly terrifying to someone with a large imagination. Perhaps this is an adorable display of affection, one I always tend to write about when all other thoughts tend to flail and come to a dead-end, and perhaps my imagination is too sinister and must stay out of lovely photographs as such. Perhaps I am a sociopath, used to isolation to the extent where spontaneous human affection as such frightens me. Either way, swoon at this display, marvel at it with delight, for it probably will not happen ever again.


                                                                                                                                                                                         

References:

WW2 Civilian Slang:
http://www.oocities.org/faskew/WW2/Glossary/WW2-Civilian.htm

'Navy Vet in 'V-J Day in Times Square' Photo Dies' article:
http://time.com/25853/navy-vet-in-v-j-day-in-times-square-photo-dies/

'Sailor who kissed a nurse in famous WWII photograph dies aged 86' article:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/sailor-who-kissed-a-nurse-in-famous-wwii-photograph-dies-aged-86-9193528.html

The Ingeniousy of Mistletoes

"The mistletoe is still hung up in farm-houses and kitchens at Christmas, and the young men have the privilege of kissing the girls under it, plucking each time a berry from the bush. When the berries are all plucked the privilege ceases."

The quote above is from 'The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent' by Washington Irving, published in the 1820s. It describes the act of kissing under the mistletoe, and is most possibly the first written account of it. For people like me who cannot 'get lucky' in ways to do with acts of lovemaking because of a list of future spouse must-have characteristics, skills and investments longer than Santa Clause's 'Nice or Naughty' list, one thing becomes our saviour during this particular holiday period, and that is the Mistletoe. It is customary for couples during Christmas time to kiss underneath a Mistletoe. From whence it began, not most know, however I write today in an attempt to inform those lacking the knowledge of the origins of this ingenious act. 

Starting out as a mere Christmas decoration, some people claim that this lovely tradition began in Norse Mythology. Frigg the goddess had a son, Baldr, and at his birth Frigg had told all the plants to not hurt him, overlooking the Mistletoe. Then, the mischievous god Loki had tricked another God into murdering Baldr with a spear made out of Mistletoe. Baldr died, and of course, was eventually brought back to life, and so Frigg simply somehow told the Mistletoe to bring love instead of death. To commemorate Baldr's resurrection and to obey Frigg's decision, people began to kiss under the Mistletoe - perhaps even to protect themselves from the evil Loki.

Another theory claims that back in the age of the Babylonian-Assyrian Empire, outside of the temple for the goddess of beauty and love, there hung a Mistletoe. Single women would stand underneath it, waiting for single men to approach them. Once approached, they bonded - but did not kiss - beneath it. Back in these historical times, people believed that the Mistletoe had supernatural powers - that it ultimately promoted fertility, and its leaves were an aphrodisiac. These people had to get back to their homes before they could test out how fertile the Mistletoe had left them.

For this reason, Mistletoes were also a part of marriages. Couples would have them placed underneath their beds, and the Mistletoes would have to endure every squeak of the couples' springs for the rest of their lives, and all of the other noises which came with that. Soon after, England adopted this practice and young men and women would kiss beneath a Mistletoe, and pick a berry afterwards. After all the berries were picked, it would be bad luck to kiss beneath that certain Mistletoe. These kisses were not for an enjoyable time, though, they were kisses of serious commitment, and marriage had normally followed. If an innocent single man wondered underneath a Mistletoe and a crazy single woman had happened to be standing beneath it, that man would have had to work twice as much to ensure that she had a wedding ring and a rather exquisite new fur coat every three weeks. These men would have hoped that the Mistletoe was not bearing any berries.

This brings me to the reason as to why I write about the glorious Mistletoe today. I know I am not the first person to think of this, and I will not be one to carry it out seeing as I am only celebrating Christmas with direct relatives and the end result will prove disastrous and incestuous, however it can be a great tip for those celebrating Christmas time with randoms. Dress as an old English woman or man, depending on your preference, of course, and attach a fresh Mistletoe to a hat. Make sure, though, that is hangs well above your head so that chosen future spouses will literally not see what is coming to them. And a tip, purchase a wedding ring beforehand because the chances are that they will not agree to this entire prospect. This way, half of the work is done and they will most likely be with you for a while.

So now that you are aware of the origins of the Mistletoe and its ingeniousity, please use it to your utter advantage. Fear no fiend, kiss all at sight. You never know what could happen this special Christmas night!

                                                                                                                                                                                         
References:

Wikipedia: [http://en.wikipedia.org/]