Big Picture: Reimagining five iconic cover photos
Looking through the extensive archive of inRegister and its predecessor, The Register, is like looking through a beautifully captured time capsule of Baton Rouge. It’s easy to get lost in the black-and-white pages featuring much of the same content that we print today, like philanthropic efforts and events, style trends from local boutiques, and much more. And while much has changed since those first issue of The Register hit newsstands in the late 1940s, the tradition of highlighting the best of the local community has carried on throughout the decades.
In celebration of inRegister’s 35th anniversary, we reached into the archives and found five of our favorite covers from the past. We’ve given them new life, recreating them with some modern-day touches. Keep reading to see the original covers, spanning from 1960 to 2002, as well as their modernized counterparts.
As the oldest out of all five of the cover photo recreations, the October 1960 cover of The Register puts into perspective how much things have changed in six decades. There’s the car. Then, a 1960 Jaguar. Now, Price LeBlanc’s 2024 Lexus LS 500. The LSU cheerleading uniform. Then, sweaters and saddle oxfords. Now, crop tops and tennis shoes. Even Tiger Stadium, which is celebrating its centennial this year, is almost unrecognizable—and was in the midst of another round of upgrades at the time of our photo shoot.
The history of inRegister and Baton Rouge is forever intertwined with LSU, especially its athletics. After all, the college campus runs right through the heart of the city. And thankfully, LSU athletics will undoubtedly give us plenty more to celebrate in the coming years. So, as always, Geaux Tigers.
“Come quickly, for I am drinking the stars,” declared Dom Perignon, the 17th-century French Benedictine monk who discovered the art of making Champagne. And while New Year’s and Champagne go hand in hand, as proven by the January 1962 cover of The Register, the start of a calendar year is only the beginning of the party season here in Louisiana. “Fast approaching over the city to brighten the late winter season with gaiety and sparkle is the season of the Mardi Gras and Bacchus balls that will be held in late February and early March,” the 1962 article, featuring the image of Tommy Wallace and Fatie Alexander, states.
For this glamorous cover recreation, Lexie and Mike Polito posed amid the moody interiors of Supper Club, with a bottle of bubbly chilling within arm’s length, of course. New Year’s or not, there’s always a reason to pop a bottle—or two.
For the 1990 cover story, mother-daughter duo Linda and Polly Ward graced the front page of inRegister, accompanied by a story highlighting several well-known mother-daughter lookalikes around town.
On our updated cover photographed at the Louisiana Old Governor’s Mansion, mother Kate Brown and daughter Joyner model Anne Barge gowns from new dress shop Proper & Co. While fashion and style have changed over the years, both covers prove that the relationships—and good genes—of mothers and daughters stand the test of time.
In a full-circle moment, Kate noted that Linda Ward designed the mother-of-the-bride dress Kate wore for her eldest daughter Jane Loyd’s Baton Rouge wedding. Learn more about Linda and the clothing brand she co-founded, San Carlin, and her lasting impact on fashion online at inregister.com/style/san-carlin.
When the Bengal Belles were first featured on the cover of inRegister in September 1996, the organization had just been established that summer by Terri DiNardo, wife of then-LSU head football coach Gerry DiNardo, and die-hard LSU fan Aimee Simon. “We had over 250 people at our very first luncheon, which was just unheard of,” Simon recalls. “That was largely because of inRegister and the publicity we got from this cover.”
Today, the number of attendees at the group’s annual luncheon has grown to around 500, with the organization raising close to $2 million to help fund student athletes’ academics since its start back in 1996. For this recreation photographed at Lod Cook Alumni Center, it was only right to include many of the women from the original cover. With an impressive history from the start, the Bengal Belles show no signs of slowing down in their efforts to support LSU athletes.
“As the city’s hospital devoted exclusively to women’s health it seems natural for Woman’s Hospital to host a women-only golf tournament,” begins the article accompanying the September 2003 inRegister cover. While photographing this cover recreation, it became obvious why Jamila Freightman started Ladies on the Green BR, a beginner-friendly golf group where women can learn and thrive in the sport. The group seemed to be the only women in sight on a bright Saturday morning on the Historic City Park Golf Course.
“Our organization is passionate about creating opportunities for women of all ages and backgrounds to engage in the sport, develop skills and foster lasting connections on and off the course,” the Ladies on the Green BR website explains. Making golf more accessible for women in an approachable and fun atmosphere, the group is connecting like-minded professional women to reshape the golf scene, just like the women of the 2003 cover who were working to reshape the local medical landscape. You go, girls!