--- description: Celebrate National Hugging Day with LIFE magazine's most joyful images of people embracing. title: Celebrate National Hugging Day With History's Most Enthusiastic Huggers image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt46bdccea304e7bc0/6988791e0b72e372736e7aa7/160113-national-hugging-day-02.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [curiosities](/tag/curiosities/) ## curiosities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Celebrate National Hugging Day With History's Most Enthusiastic Huggers  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Jan 21, 2016 1:00 PM CUT  UCLA students Marjorie Henshaw and Johnny Hessel embrace one another at homecoming, 1939. UCLA students Marjorie Henshaw and Johnny Hessel embrace one another at homecoming, 1939.Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Jan 21, 2016 1:00 PM CUT LIFE magazine dispatched its world-class photographers to cover significant world events—battles and elections, state dinners and tragedies—but it also took pains to cover events of more quotidian significance. One example: hugs. Whether between mothers and sons, fathers and daughters, children and puppies, lovers or friends, images of people embracing provide a counterbalance to the graver images that so often fill the news. On Jan. 21, as National Hugging Day reminds us of the many [psychological benefits](https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/unified-theory-happiness/201406/4-benefits-hugs-mind-and-body "undefined") of a squeeze, LIFE looks back at its most joyful images of hugs. _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk "undefined")_._  UCLA students Marjorie Henshaw and Johnny Hessel embrace one another at homecoming, 1939. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE: In dry-land training, one Jacksonville lifeguard demonstrates to another how a violent drowning swimmer gets a stranglehold on a would-be rescuer. Grip can be easily broken by pushing hard with both hands on victim's chin. (1939) George Karger—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images  A soldier hugs his wife goodbye at Penn Station before he leaves for war, 1944. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  An American soldier and his English girlfriend embrace under a tree in Hyde Park, London, 1944. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A mother hugs her son goodbye, 1947. Nina Leen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Lt. Col. James P. Devereux hugs his son upon his return, 1947. Thomas D. McAvoy—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Two students hug at Michigan's Menominee High School's annual football game against its rivals, Wisconsin Marinette High School. Lisa Larsen—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images  A man hugs his daughter, 1949. Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Dancers Roland Petit and Renee (Zizi) Jeanmaire hug each other after performing in the ballet "Carmen," 1949. Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Christina Goldsmith embraces a Weimaraner puppy, which she took from a new litter of her father's stock, 1950. Bernard Hoffman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A young couple cuddles while sitting in a hole in the sand on a hot Independence Day at the beach, 1950. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images  A woman hugs her dog, Bruiser, 1950. Francis Miller—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis embrace at a party celebrating their marriage, 1951. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Josephine Baker receives a hug from columnist and friend Nora Ray Holt in her dressing room after her show at the Strand theater, 1951. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A young mother hugs one of her sons, 1955. Mark Kauffman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Bonnie Heath and Jackson C. Dudley, co-owners of a race horse named "Needles," hug as the horse flashes across the finish line to win the 1956 Kentucky Derby. Hank Walker—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A child cuddles a puppy as part of a hospital's animal therapy program, 1956. Francis Miller—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Desi Arnaz embraces Lucille Ball at the new home of their TV production empire, Desilu Studios, 1958. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Olympic track star Wilma Rudolph hugs her grade-school teacher, 1960. George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Mrs. Malcolm S. Carpenter hugs her children, 1962. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Steve McQueen and his wife, Neile Adams, embrace in the kitchen of their Hollywood home, 1963. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Frank Sinatra shares a hug at Warner Bros. Studio, 1965. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A hug during a Twiggy look-alike contest in Stockholm, 1967. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Astronaut Eugene Cernan hugs his daughter Tracy, 1969. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Shirley MacLaine hugging fellow delegate after McGovern victory at the Democratic National Convention, 1972. Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4180625/celebrate-national-hugging-day-with-historys-most-enthusiastic-huggers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4180625/celebrate-national-hugging-day-with-historys-most-enthusiastic-huggers/"},"headline":"Celebrate National Hugging Day With History's Most Enthusiastic Huggers","datePublished":"2016-01-21T13:00:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:46:43.484Z","description":"National Hugging Day has been held annually on Jan. 21 since 1986","url":"https://time.com/4180625/celebrate-national-hugging-day-with-historys-most-enthusiastic-huggers/","keywords":["curiosities","Newsfeed","photography","LIFE Magazine"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt46bdccea304e7bc0/6988791e0b72e372736e7aa7/160113-national-hugging-day-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt46bdccea304e7bc0/6988791e0b72e372736e7aa7/160113-national-hugging-day-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"National Hugging Day","caption":"UCLA students Marjorie Henshaw and Johnny Hessel embracing one another, 1939.","creditText":"Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/curiosities/","name":"curiosities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4180625/celebrate-national-hugging-day-with-historys-most-enthusiastic-huggers/","name":"Celebrate National Hugging Day With History's Most Enthusiastic Huggers"}}]}] ```