In the bathroom of our home hangs a hilarious picture of Charlton Heston and Stephen Boyd in their Ben Hur outfits. On their sandals, they are pushing a Vespa scooter through the sand of the arena. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of Pontedera, Italy to a full line of scooters and one of seven companies today owned by Piaggio. The picture of Heston and Boyd was made for an advertisement series by Piaggio in the late 1950s. We found a series of postcards with several other stars on Vespas. For this post we chose our twelve favourites. Andiamo! Vroom, vroom.
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Sylva Koscina. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio.
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Angie Dickinson. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio. Dickinson was in Italy for at least two films: Jessica (Jean Negulesco, Oreste Palella, 1962), shot in Sicily but also at the Roman DEAR studios, and Rome Adventure (Delmer Daves 1962), starring Suzanne Pleshette and Troy Donahue.
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Mamie van Doren. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio. In 1958 Van Doren acted in Rome in Le bellissime gambe di Sabrina/The Beautiful Legs of Sabrina (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1958).
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Lorella De Luca. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio. Lorella De Luca had her debut in Il bidone (Federico Fellini, 1955) and from then on had a steady career in films like Poveri ma belli (Dino Risi, 1957) and Padri e figli (Mario Monicelli, 1957).
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John Saxon and Luisa Rivelli. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio.
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Jacques Sernasat the premises of Cinecittà. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio. Sernas already debuted in Italian cinema in 1948 and acted in countless Italian films, of which La dolce vita (Federico Fellini, 1960) is the most famous one.
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Elke Sommer. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio. German actress Elke Sommer did various films in Italy in 1959-1960. She returned occassionally, e.g. for Luigi Comencini's episode in Le bambole (1965).
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Edmund Purdomand Genevieve Page. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio. In 1957 the couple acted in Rome in Agguato a Tangeri/Trapped in Tangiers by Riccardo Freda and Jorge Grau.
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Luis Dominguin and Lucia Bosè. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio. The photo is taken at Trinità dei Monti, in the back Villa Medici, Rome.
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Charlton Heston. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio. Heston at the Cinecittà backlot during the shooting of Ben-Hur (Wiliam Wyler, 1959).
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Broderick Crawford and Giulietta Masina. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio. The couple played together in Federico Fellini's Il bidone (1955).
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Jean-Paul Belmondo. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio. In 1960-1962 Belmondo acted in various films shot in and around Rome: Lettere di una novizia (Alberto Lattuada, 1960), La ciociara (Vittorio De Sica, 1960), La viaccia (Mauro Bolognini, 1961). In 1963 he returned for a few bit parts and a lead in Mare matto (Renato Castellani, 1963).
This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday, hosted by Beth at the The Best Hearts are Crunchy. You can visit her by clicking on the button below.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.![]()
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Sylva Koscina. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Angie Dickinson. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio. Dickinson was in Italy for at least two films: Jessica (Jean Negulesco, Oreste Palella, 1962), shot in Sicily but also at the Roman DEAR studios, and Rome Adventure (Delmer Daves 1962), starring Suzanne Pleshette and Troy Donahue.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Mamie van Doren. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio. In 1958 Van Doren acted in Rome in Le bellissime gambe di Sabrina/The Beautiful Legs of Sabrina (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1958).
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Lorella De Luca. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio. Lorella De Luca had her debut in Il bidone (Federico Fellini, 1955) and from then on had a steady career in films like Poveri ma belli (Dino Risi, 1957) and Padri e figli (Mario Monicelli, 1957).
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
John Saxon and Luisa Rivelli. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Jacques Sernasat the premises of Cinecittà. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio. Sernas already debuted in Italian cinema in 1948 and acted in countless Italian films, of which La dolce vita (Federico Fellini, 1960) is the most famous one.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Elke Sommer. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio. German actress Elke Sommer did various films in Italy in 1959-1960. She returned occassionally, e.g. for Luigi Comencini's episode in Le bambole (1965).
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Edmund Purdomand Genevieve Page. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio. In 1957 the couple acted in Rome in Agguato a Tangeri/Trapped in Tangiers by Riccardo Freda and Jorge Grau.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Luis Dominguin and Lucia Bosè. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio. The photo is taken at Trinità dei Monti, in the back Villa Medici, Rome.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Charlton Heston. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio. Heston at the Cinecittà backlot during the shooting of Ben-Hur (Wiliam Wyler, 1959).
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Broderick Crawford and Giulietta Masina. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio. The couple played together in Federico Fellini's Il bidone (1955).
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Jean-Paul Belmondo. Italian postcard by Ed Graphicarta, Pontedera in the Kit Postcards Vespa series of Piaggio. In 1960-1962 Belmondo acted in various films shot in and around Rome: Lettere di una novizia (Alberto Lattuada, 1960), La ciociara (Vittorio De Sica, 1960), La viaccia (Mauro Bolognini, 1961). In 1963 he returned for a few bit parts and a lead in Mare matto (Renato Castellani, 1963).
This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday, hosted by Beth at the The Best Hearts are Crunchy. You can visit her by clicking on the button below.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
