The Olympics are continually evolving, but all throughout the years the Games have a simple appeal: The best athletes in the world gather and compete to see who is the fastest, the strongest, and the most acrobatic. On top of it you have pageantry: the opening and closing ceremonies can be as compelling as the games themselves.

In 1964 LIFE staff photographer Art Rickerby went to Tokyo to capture the 1964 Summer games in all their glory.

The Tokyo Olympics made history because it was the first the time the event was staged in Asia. That was also the first time the Olympics were broadcast via satellite—before that, improbable as it sounds, video tapes had to be flown across oceans before the competition could be seen by overseas viewers.

From the perspective of LIFE managing editor George P. Hunt, who covered many Olympics, the Tokyo event also stood out for the control exerted by Japanese officials. “The Games were precise, stiff and formal,” Hunter wrote, looking back in 1968. “The Japanese have a penchant for over-organization. The government even put a lid on the hot spots in Ginza.”

That management style which seemed novel to Hunter has become the standard, no matter where the Olympics are held. Host cities spend many billions to stage the games, and media companies invest heavily to broadcast them. They prepare with the same intensity as the athletes, and they do what they can to make sure all goes as hoped.

And the 1964 event, as always, made for not just plenty of athletic drama but some pretty pictures as well.

Opening ceremony at the track and field stadium of the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Summer Olympics in Tokyo, 1964.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

West and East Germans march together at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, 1964.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Japanese athletes marched in at the opening ceremonies of the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Summer Olympics in Tokyo, 1964.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Summer Olympics in Tokyo, 1964.

(Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Japanese trumpeters at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Art Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

The Summer Olympics in Tokyo, 1964.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Japanese track athlete Yoshinori Sakai lit the torch at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, 1964.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Olympic torch at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The opening ceremonies of the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, Japan.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Sunrise at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, home of the swimming and diving events of the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

1964 Summer Olympic flags, Tokyo, Japan.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Opening ceremony at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics, Japan.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A snack vendor at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Art Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

1964 Summer Olympics, Tokyo, Japan.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Al Oerter of the U.S. team won a gold medal in discus at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Summer Olympics in Tokyo, 1964.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Summer Olympics in Tokyo, 1964.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

US swimmer Don Schollander (second from left) competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics, Tokyo.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

US gold medal winner swimmer Don Schollander celebrated at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics, Japan.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

US gold medal winner swimmer Don Schollander at 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics, Japan.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Summer Olympics in Tokyo, 1964.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

USA swimmer Cathy Ferguson cried after winning gold in the 100-meter backstroke at the 1964 Summer Olympics. (L) Christine Caron of France won silver, (R) American Ginny Duenkel won bronze.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Summer Olympics in Tokyo, 1964.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The USA women’s swim team signed a kick board after winning gold in the 4×100-meter medley relay, 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics. L-R: Cynthia Goyette, Kathy Ellis ,Cathy Ferguson, Sharon Stouder.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Summer Olympics in Tokyo, 1964.

(Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

The Summer Olympics in Tokyo, 1964.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

US sprinter Edith McGuire at 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics, Japan.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

USA diver Larry Andreasen at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics, Japan.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

US athlete Hayes Jones in Tokyo 1964 Summer Olympics, Japan

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Summer Olympics in Tokyo, 1964.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Summer Olympics in Tokyo, 1964.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Summer Olympics in Tokyo, 1964.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Summer Olympics in Tokyo, 1964.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Soviet heavy-weightlifter Yuri Vlasov at 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics, Japan.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Summer Olympics in Tokyo, 1964.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Medal ceremony at Lake Sagami for the Women’s 550-meter kayak pairs event. West Germans Roswitha Esser and Annemarie Zimmermann won gold. Second place went to 15-year-old Francine Fox and 35-year-old Gloriane Perrier of the US. In third place were Hilde Lauer and Cornelia Sideri of Romania.

Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ginny Duenkel (C), Marilyn Ramenofsky (R), and Terri Stickles (L) on the victory stand following the 400 meter race at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, 1964.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post Majesty in Tokyo: The 1964 Olympics appeared first on LIFE.

That glowing assessment from the legendary Dodgers pitcher gives you a sense of what fans of the New York Giants lost when the team moved to San Francisco in 1958, taking their 27-year-old star with them. It also tells you why it might have been a big deal when, five seasons later, the Say Hey Kid returned to play in New York for the first time. And not only was he back in the city, but he would once again be patrolling centerfield in the Polo Grounds, which was the former home of the Giants. The Polo Grounds was being used by New York’s new team, the Mets, for two seasons while they waited for their own stadium to be built.

Mays had burnished his legend at the Polo Grounds, winning baseball’s MVP award in 1954 and making perhaps the most famous defensive play in baseball history there, with his seemingly no-look, over-the-shoulder catch in the 1954 World Series on a ball hit by Vic Wertz into the stadium’s unusually deep centerfield.

Here’s how LIFE reported on Mays’ return in its June 15, 1962 issue:

“It’s a good feeling,” said Willie Mays, the great centerfielder, coming back to play again in the Polo Grounds. He had been an institution there before the Giants moved from New York to San Francisco almost five years ago. Now the fans came out to cheer both for him and their new home team, the Mets. Doffing his cap, Willie went to work; 3 homers, 6 hits, 6 RBIs in four games, all won by the Giants.

That paragraph, and one photo of Mays acknowledging the fans, was the extent of LIFE’s coverage in the magazine. But the full set of images by Arthur Rickerby is a treasure trove, capturing the spirit of Mays’ return, and occasionally using panoramic photography to do so. This was a moment of appreciation for a beloved figure who was not just one of the game’s all-time greats but who would famously played stickball with the local kids in the streets of Harlem. And Mays was no oldies’ act in 1962. He was still in his prime—three years later, in 1965, he would win his second MVP award.

And while today the returns of sports stars to play their old arenas and stadiums can stir up mixed feelings—in this era of free agency and trade demands, the top players usually leave because they want to—there was none of that here. Willie Mays didn’t leave so much as he was carried away. Thus could fans come to the park with signs that read “Bring Willie Back” and “Mays for Governor” and show nothing but unabashed affection for a returning hero.

Click here for more photos of Willie Mays from the LIFE archives.

Willie Mays left the visitor’s clubhouse to take the field at the Polo Grounds as he returned to his former home stadium to take on the New York Mets, 1962.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Fans welcomed Willie Mays in his return to the Polo Grounds for the first time as the San Francisco Giants took on the New York Mets, 1962.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Fans welcomed Willie Mays in his return to the Polo Grounds for the first time as the San Francisco Giants took on the New York Mets, 1962.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants returned to the Polo Grounds, his former home field, to face the Mets in 1962.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

GIANTS RETURN TO POLO GROUNDS

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants returned to the Polo Grounds, his former home field, to face the Mets in 1962.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Willie Mays spoke with a New York Mets player during Mays’ return to the Polo Grounds as a member of the San Francisco Giants, 1962.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Mets manager Casey Stengel during the Giants-Mets series that brought Willie Mays back to the Polo Grounds for the first time, 1962.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Willie Mays returned to the Polo Grounds for the first time as the San Francisco Giants took on the New York Mets, 1962.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Willie Mays returned to the Polo Grounds for the first time as the San Francisco Giants took on the New York Mets, 1962.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Willie Mays returned to the Polo Grounds for the first time as the San Francisco Giants took on the New York Mets, 1962.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Willie Mays returned to the Polo Grounds for the first time as the San Francisco Giants took on the New York Mets, 1962.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Willie Mays returned to the Polo Grounds for the first time as the San Francisco Giants took on the New York Mets, 1962.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Willie Mays returned to the Polo Grounds for the first time as the San Francisco Giants took on the New York Mets, 1962.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Willie Mays returned to the Polo Grounds for the first time as the San Francisco Giants took on the New York Mets, 1962.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Willie Mays returned to the Polo Grounds for the first time as the San Francisco Giants took on the New York Mets, 1962.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Fans welcomed Willie Mays in his return to the Polo Grounds for the first time as the San Francisco Giants took on the New York Mets, 1962.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Fans welcomed Willie Mays in his return to the Polo Grounds for the first time as the San Francisco Giants took on the New York Mets, 1962.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Willie Mays returned to the Polo Grounds for the first time as the San Francisco Giants took on the New York Mets, 1962.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Willie Mays returned to the Polo Grounds for the first time as the San Francisco Giants took on the New York Mets, 1962.

Arthur Rickerby/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post Willie Mays: Remembering the Legend’s Return to the Polo Grounds appeared first on LIFE.

It was a wonderful hour [LIFE wrote, just a week after JFK’s assassination]. Vibrant with confidence, crinkle-eyed with an all-embracing smile, John F. Kennedy swept his wife with him into the exuberance of the throng at Dallas’ Love Field. This was an act in which Jack Kennedy was superbly human. Responding to the warmth his own genuine warmth evoked in others, he met his welcomers joyously, hand to hand and heart to heart. For him this was all fun as well as politics. For his shy wife, surmounting the grief of her infant son’s recent death, this mingling demanded a grace and gallantry she would soon need again.

Then the cavalcade, fragrantly laden with roses for everyone, started into town. Eight miles on the way, in a sixth-floor window, the assassin waited. All the roses, like those abandoned in Vice President Johnson’ car [last slide in this gallery], were left to wilt. They would be long faded before a stunned nation would fully comprehend its sorrow.

Here, LIFE.com presents photos by Art Rickerby most of which never ran in LIFE made in the hours before, as well as the moments immediately after, the killing that shocked the world.

Buy the LIFE book, The Day Kennedy Died

John and Jackie Kennedy at Love Field in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963.

Art Rickerby Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

John and Jackie Kennedy at Love Field in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

John and Jackie Kennedy at Love Field in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

John and Jackie Kennedy at Love Field in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

John and Jackie Kennedy at Love Field in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Lyndon Johnson with Jackie and John Kennedy in Forth Worth on the morning of Nov. 22, 1963, just hours before JFK’s assassination.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

JFK in Fort Worth, Nov. 22, 1963

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

President John Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, Vice President Lyndon Johnson and others at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast in Fort Worth, Texas, Nov. 22, 1963.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

President John Kennedy in Fort Worth, Texas, Nov. 22, 1963, shortly before flying to Dallas.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

President John Kennedy delivers a brief speech outside the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth, Nov. 22, 1963, shortly before flying to Dallas.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

President John Kennedy greeted admirers in Fort Worth, Texas, Nov. 22, 1963, shortly before flying to Dallas.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The scene at Dealey Plaza in Dallas in the moments after John Kennedy was shot, Nov. 22, 1963.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Outside Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas, Texas, Nov. 22, 1963, where JFK was pronounced dead at 1 p.m. in the afternoon, half an hour after being shot.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Vice President Lyndon Johnson’s car at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas, Nov. 22, 1963.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The post JFK Assassination: John and Jackie Kennedy in Texas, Nov. 22, 1963 appeared first on LIFE.

In 2014 LIFE.com chatted about the 1966 photos with Alexi Lalas, the former U.S. national team star and current TV commentator.

Of the third photo in the gallery, of Pelé in Liverpool, Lalas notes that the picture “really got me thinking about the aesthetics of the sport, and it’s a reminder of one attribute shared by most soccer players that helps explain why so many people adore the game. Namely—these guys are not huge. They’re not giants. They look, in a way, like you and me, and that guy sitting across the aisle on the train, or wherever. In Pelé’s case, you have probably the single most famous athlete on the planet at the time—but he’s not a seven-foot-tall basketball player, or a 300-pound defensive end. Still, seeing him here, there’s no question you’re looking at an athlete. The way he carries himself, his undeniable presence. Despite his unimposing stature, you can just sense his physical power.”

Not all of Rickerby’s photos from England in the summer of ’66, however, were of official World Cup matches. In fact, some of his best, most revealing work captured moments far from the sold-out stadiums in London, Sheffield, Manchester or Birmingham.

“Look at that shot,” Lalas said of English kids riveted by Brazil’s goalkeeper, Gilmar, leaping to block a shot during practice in Liverpool (the second photo ). “There’s no way those kids ever forgot watching those players, that close. Their body language shows how thrilled they are. And no wonder! There’s something about watching practice sessions that’s totally different—and better, in a way—than watching a big game. I remember training at Oakland University in Michigan before the World Cup in ’94. The fans who came out to watch us might remember that experience more fondly than watching the game we played in the Silverdome in Pontiac. There’s a reason baseball fans go to batting practice and spring training — the chance of a real, authentic interaction with the players, away from the hoopla around a game.”

Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.

Bobby Moore raised the World Cup trophy, July 30, 1966, after England defeated Germany, 4-2, in the final before 98,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, London.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Brazil’s goalkeeper, Gilmar, leapt to block a shot during a World Cup practice in Liverpool, 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Brazil great Pelé entered the stadium in Liverpool, 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

British soccer fans, 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Fans welcomed the Brazil squad to the stadium, Liverpool, 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Pelé was tackled during Brazil’s 2-0 win over Bulgaria, England, 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

English fans happily swarmed around the Brazilian squad’s bus, 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

World Cup, 1966, England.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Wembley Stadium, World Cup, 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

England celebrated a score, World Cup, 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Commenting on this photo of England celebrating a goal, Alexi Lalas said, “If I could bottle the feeling that comes with scoring a goal in a big match, future generations of my family would never have to work another day in their lives.”

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Jack Charlton slid hard against West Germany, World Cup, 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

England’s George Cohen vied with Argentina’s Silvio Marzolini during a World Cup quarterfinal match, 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

World Cup final, England vs. West Germany, July 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Fans, World Cup, England, July 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

World Cup 1966

Art Rickerby Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The post LIFE at The 1966 World Cup, Featuring Pelé and England’s Triumph appeared first on LIFE.

A sign that this championship wasn’t the big deal then that it is today: the game did not sell out the Los Angeles Coliseum. It is the only Super Bowl not to fill all its seats. The matchup was not expected to be competitive, and it wasn’t, especially. Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers handily beat the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10, with quarterback Bart Starr being named the game’s Most Valuable Player. Starr would earn that honor again in Super Bowl II, his Packers beat the Raiders, 33-14 in Miami.

In fact, the real historical importance of these first two lopsided games between the NFL and AFL champs is that it helps explain why what happened in Super Bowl III was such a big deal. After those first two blowouts of the AFL teams, it was a true shocker  when Joe Namath and his New York Jets scored that first win for the AFL, and helped pave the road to the NFL-AFL merger. 

Here, LIFE.com presents a series of photos, none of which ran in LIFE magazine, made by Bill Ray and Art Rickerby before, during and after that inaugural game.

Almost everything about the Super Bowl has changed drastically in the long years since Green Bay and Kansas City took the field. That’s part of the appeal of the photos. They’re like baby pictures of a game that is about to grow up—way, way up.

The Kansas City Chiefs waited to take the field against the Packers prior to the start of Super Bowl I, Los Angeles, 1967.

Bill Ray/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Kansas City’s Fletcher Smith, with the Green Bay Packers massed behind him, prior to the start of Super Bowl I, Los Angeles, 1967.

Bill Ray/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Green Bay offensive lineman Jerry Kramer in Super Bowl I, 1967.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Super Bowl I, 1967.

Art RickerbyLife Pictures/Shutterstock

Green Bay’s Elijah Pitts eluded Kansas City defenders, Super Bowl I, 1967.

Art Ricker/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Chiefs linebacker E. J. Holub, Super Bowl I, 1967.

Bill Ray/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Packers head coach Vince Lombardi, Super Bowl I, 1967.

Bill Ray/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Green Bay wide receiver Max McGee, Super Bowl I, 1967, was the game’s surprise star, with seven receptions for 138 yards and two touchdowns.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Football’s escalation in the American consciousness took a great leap forward in 1967, when Bart Starr led the Green Bay Packers to a win over the Kansas City Chiefs at the Los Angeles Coliseum in the first Super Bowl.

Photo by Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation

Super Bowl I, 1967.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Elijah Pitts (No. 22) ran the Packers’ signature play, the power sweep, Super Bowl I, 1967.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Tight end Reggie Carolan in the Chiefs’ locker room, Super Bowl I, 1967.

Bill Ray/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Kansas City defensive lineman Jerry Mays prior to Super Bowl I, 1967.

Bill Ray/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Quarterback Len Dawson in the Chiefs’ locker room, Super Bowl I, 1967.

Bill Ray/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Kansas City sideline, Super Bowl I, 1967.

Bill Ray/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Green Bay receiver Carroll Dale was hit by the Chiefs’ Willie Mitchell, Super Bowl I, 1967.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Green Bay running back Jim Taylor (No. 31), Super Bowl I, 1967.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Kansas City’s Fred Williamson was carried off the field after breaking his arm, Super Bowl I, 1967.

Bill Ray/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Kansas City head coach Hank Stram, Super Bowl I, 1967.

Bill Ray/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Paul Hornung (No. 5), a future Hall of Famer, did not play in the game due to injury, Super Bowl I, 1967.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Jim Taylor was tackled by the Chiefs’ Sherrill Headrick, Super Bowl I, 1967.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Jim Taylor (No. 31) in Super Bowl I.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Jim Taylor, Super Bowl I, 1967.

Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

On the Kansas City sideline, Super Bowl I, 1967.

Bill Ray/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Fred Williamson was led from the field at the end of the first Super Bowl, 1967. Williamson broke his arm during the game.

Bill Ray/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Jerry Mays and other Kansas City Chiefs, Super Bowl I, 1967.

Bill Ray/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The Packers’ Herb Adderley and Kansas City’s tight end Fred Arbanas headed to the lockers after Green Bay’s 35-10 victory in Super Bowl I, Los Angeles, 1967.

Bill Ray/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The post The First Super Bowl: The Game That Started It All appeared first on LIFE.

One long-running American tradition is the annual Radio City Christmas Spectacular, which was sidelined like so many other stage shows in 2020 but kicks off once again in New York City in 2021. Whether Radio City Hall is across the street (as it was from the old LIFE magazine offices) or a couple thousand miles away, the return of those high kicks is as sure a sign of that the holiday season is upon as as trees in the living room and window displays in department stores.

LIFE took readers deep inside the world of the Rockettes in its Dec. 11, 1964 cover story. Titled “The World’s Most Famous Kick,” the story was rich in behind-the-scenes detail and showed how the dancers prepped for four shows a day, seven days a week, on one of the most famous stages in the world.

The piece, with photos by Art Rickerby. focused on five young dancers who, out of the many hopefuls who had auditioned that year, were talented and driven enough to earn a spot on stage:

Little girls who grow up to be Rockettes are born and raised in places like Milford, Mass., and Niles, Ohio, and Erie, Pa., and they get thrust into dancing classes by their mamas when they are scarcely more than toddlers. As they grow older they hear about the great dance spectacle at the Radio City Music Hall and start to wonder if. . . .

The more enterprising ones write letters asking how one goes about becoming a Rockette. They get polite form replies listing the requirements: they must be high school graduates, between 5-feet 5-inches and 5-feet 8-inches tall, have good figures and be excellent performers in tap, ballet, modern jazz dance and high kicks.

LIFE’s story also shined a spotlight on Russell Markert, a true impresario who directed the Rockettes from the opening of Radio City 1932 to his retirement in 1971:

“Lean back [Markert said in rehearsal] as if you were saying, ‘Hallelujah!’ Got it? You, over there, put some blood in those arms. They look like weak fish. And you, the blonde, don’t be afraid to stick out your butt and never mind twisting the backside it throws you off. Don’t you hear the beat? Here I’ll hum it for you.”

Markert is a brisk and stern taskmaster, first demonstrating a new routine to his girls, then letting them try it, then throwing up his arms in dismay and flinging himself into the group to dance with them. [He] is a kindly man who clucks over his girls, and calls them “my dancing daughters” … [If] anybody falters during a performance, even so slightly that the audience would never notice, he sinks into private pits of black despair.”

Of the first-year Rockettes who were featured in the issue—young women who hailed from small towns in Maine, Ohio, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania—LIFE provided a bracing glimpse into the reality of their lives:

Each more frightened than the other, they decided to join forces in a city that turned to be even more perilous than they had imagined. They paid $300 a month for a shabby two-room apartment in a run-down hotel and nobody told them they were being overcharged. They were snapped at by waitresses and cabbies and pushed and shoved about in the subway. But four times a day they changed into spangles and feathers and make-up and danced before 6,200 patrons who had paid to see them.

More than a half-century after LIFE’s story ran, show goes on. The dancers take the stage at Radio City Music Hall, and the patrons get what they came to see. The performance is a reassuring sign that, come holiday season, tradition is alive and kicking.

The Rockettes, 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The Rockettes, 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The Rockettes, 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

First-year Rockettes in New York, 1964. From left: Susan Borin, 21; Jane Simpson, 18; Karen Galvin, 18; and Mary Ann de Mare, 19.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

First-year Rockettes in New York, 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The original caption from LIFE in 1964 noted, “Taking supper at home, they wolf down franks, beans and low-calorie soda pop. Their work schedule leaves little time for dating.”

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

First-year Rockettes in New York, 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

LIFE’s original caption from 1964 read: “After their exhausting first day at the Music Hall five roommates find energy for a yelping pillow fight to help them unwind.”

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

First-year Rockette Susan Borin in New York, 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

First-year Rockettes in New York, 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Rockettes rehearsed with director Russell Markert, 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Rockettes director Russell Markert demonstrated the troupe’s trademark “eye-high” kick at rehearsal, 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Rockettes rehearsal, 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Rockettes rehearsal, 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

LIFE’s caption in 1964 read: Caption from LIFE. “Mary Ann de Mare, 19, winces in pain as she stretches during strenuous warm-up exercises with Sue Borin, 21, prior to rehearsal.”

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Rockettes rehearsal, 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Rockettes rehearsal, 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Rockettes rehearsal, 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

First-year Rockette Sue Borin backstage, 1964.

Art RickerbyLife Pictures/Shutterstock

The Rockettes 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The Rockettes, 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The Rockettes, 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Rockettes in rehearsal, 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Rockettes in rehearsal, 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

LIFE’s original caption read, “Just like a general inspecting his troops, Markert passes along the line straightening feet.”

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The Rockettes, 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The Rockettes performed at Radio City Music Hall, 1964.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The post High Kicks and Hard Knocks: Inside Life With the Rockettes appeared first on LIFE.