--- title: International Kissing Day: 25 Best Vintage Kiss Photos description: Between lovers, between family or even between animals, a kiss can be a beautiful thing. These images from LIFE Magazine's archives prove it canonical: https://time.com/4835452/kissing-day-photos-life/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-06T13:00:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:50:20.055Z og:title: International Kissing Day: 25 Best Vintage Kiss Photos og:description: Between lovers, between family or even between animals, a kiss can be a beautiful thing og:url: https://time.com/4835452/kissing-day-photos-life/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta44d6ab540d25a88/6988d383196cf4f539040cac/life-kisses-20.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: LIFE's Best Kisses og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: International Kissing Day: 25 Best Vintage Kiss Photos twitter:description: Between lovers, between family or even between animals, a kiss can be a beautiful thing twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta44d6ab540d25a88/6988d383196cf4f539040cac/life-kisses-20.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # LIFE's Most Memorable Kisses > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Worth Your Time: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Worth Your Time is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more. Worth Your Time is a curated guide to the culture worth knowing, from the biggest conversations of the moment to the books, shows, ideas and discoveries worth your attention. Culture editor Eliza Berman taps TIME's collective taste and perspective to surface what is worth watching, reading, talking about and sharing, and why. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Jul 6, 2017 1:00 PM UTC  University of Michigan student couple engaged in an impromptu kiss, which was forbidden conduct even before school ban, because earlier rules required couples to have both feet on the floor, in the Union Building on campus. 1957. University of Michigan student couple engaged in an impromptu kiss, which was forbidden conduct even before school ban, because earlier rules required couples to have both feet on the floor, in the Union Building on campus. 1957. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Jul 6, 2017 1:00 PM UTC Sometimes you need a reason to give another person a [kiss.](http://time.com/4670016/kisses-history-video/) And, as was the case in probably the [most famous kissing photo of all time](http://time.com/4486812/wwii-kiss-photo-vj-day/), that reason can be a big one (victory in World War II). But, other times, a kiss is its own [reason](http://time.com/65708/a-kiss-is-more-than-just-a-kiss-elliott-erwitts-portraits-of-intimacy/) to celebrate. Whatever you want to call it — a peck, a smooch, a snog — a kiss communicates love in a way that few other acts can match. How people started kissing is a [mystery](http://healthland.time.com/2011/02/11/the-science-of-smooching-why-men-and-women-kiss-differently/) and why we do it is [complicated](http://healthland.time.com/2013/10/11/why-good-looking-people-like-kissing-more/), but, from a child’s sweet kiss to a lover’s sexy kiss (or a walrus’ whiskery one, as the case may be), the act is a language of its own. And a photograph of a kiss, it follows, captures that feeling. Here, with a look back at 40 years of kisses from LIFE Magazine’s archives of iconic 20th century photography, that fact is as clear as ever.  Shadows on the ground of kissing figures with camera on tripod between, 1930. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Two walruses kissing as they eat from a hand between them at the Brookfield zoo, 1938. William Vandivert—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A man and woman kissing while geared to a lie detector machine to measure the emotional reaction,1939. Herbert Gehr—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images  Couple kissing in front of the Delta Tau Delta mummy at the University of the South. Girls are told: "Kiss mummy or kiss me." 1940. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Actress Marilyn Hare being kissed by soldiers. Caption from LIFE. "Surrounded by her work, Marilyn \[Hare\] collects repayment in kind while throngs wait to manifest their gratitude. A graduate of Flushing High School, Long Island, N.Y., Marilyn is now under contract to Republic pictures. She can cook, too." 1942. John Florea—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Multiple exposure of Deanna Durbin and Edmond O'Brien walking toward each other and kissing; from motion picture "Tonight and Forever." 1942. Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Couple in Penn Station sharing farewell kiss before he ships off to war during WWII. 1943. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Mrs. Martini, wife of the Bronx Zoo lion keeper, kissing a tiger cub. 1944. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A jubilant American sailor clutching a nurse in a back-bending, passionate kiss as he vents his joy while thousands jam the Times Square area to celebrate the long awaited victory over Japan. 1945. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A little boy dressed as Uncle Sam, kissing a little girl on the cheek.1945. Frank Scherschel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Newly wed couple Marshall Jacobs and wife Yolanda kiss after being married atop a flagpole. 1946. Allan Grant—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images  Peggy Lee getting a goodnight kiss on the nose from her 4-year-old daughter Nicki at home. 1948. Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Baseball player Yogi Berra getting kiss from his wife, Carmen, before he leaves for clubhouse. 1949. George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gallant tiger bowing to kiss hand of flapper Barbara Pettit. 1949. Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Christina Goldsmith tenderly kissing a Weimaraner puppy, which she took from a new litter of her father's stock since he is a top breeder of Weimaraner hunting dogs. 1950. Bernard Hoffman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Josephine Baker receiving congratulatory kiss on the nose from her husband, orchestra leader Jo Bouillon, after her show at the Strand theater during her US tour. 1951. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jill Corey giving her grandmother, "Mamouch", a kiss on the forehead. 1953. Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Irish McCalla as "Sheena Queen of the Jungle" kissing her chimpanzee costar. 1955. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Elvis Presley tenderly embracing and kissing the cheek of a female admirer backstage before his concert, 1956. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  University of Michigan student couple engaged in an impromptu kiss, which was forbidden conduct even before school ban, because earlier rules required couples to have both feet on the floor, in the Union Building on campus. 1957. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Richard Ramsey, worker in cosmetic company covered with relics of iipstick kisses to prove that dyes in lipsticks are harmless. 1960. Yale Joel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Steve McQueen kisses Natalie Wood's hand as the actors meet to discuss their new big-screen project, 1963's "Love With the Proper Stranger." John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Astronaut Gus "Virgil" Grissom kissing his mother after his successful Gemini 3 mission, 1965. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Dustin Hoffman kissing his wife, 1969. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Oberlin College students kissing in a co-ed dorm. 1970. Bill Ray—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4835452/kissing-day-photos-life/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4835452/kissing-day-photos-life/"},"headline":"LIFE's Most Memorable Kisses","datePublished":"2017-07-06T13:00:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:50:20.055Z","description":"Between lovers, between family or even between animals, a kiss can be a beautiful thing. 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