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 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.
UCLA students Marjorie Henshaw and Johnny Hessel embrace one another at homecoming, 1939.Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption 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 ImagesA soldier hugs his wife goodbye at Penn Station before he leaves for war, 1944.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesAn American soldier and his English girlfriend embrace under a tree in Hyde Park, London, 1944.Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesA mother hugs her son goodbye, 1947.Nina Leen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesLt. Col. James P. Devereux hugs his son upon his return, 1947.Thomas D. McAvoy—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesTwo 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 ImagesA man hugs his daughter, 1949.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesDancers Roland Petit and Renee (Zizi) Jeanmaire hug each other after performing in the ballet "Carmen," 1949.Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesChristina 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 ImagesA 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 ImagesA 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 ImagesA young mother hugs one of her sons, 1955.Mark Kauffman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesBonnie 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 ImagesA child cuddles a puppy as part of a hospital's animal therapy program, 1956.Francis Miller—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesDesi Arnaz embraces Lucille Ball at the new home of their TV production empire, Desilu Studios, 1958.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesOlympic track star Wilma Rudolph hugs her grade-school teacher, 1960.George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesMrs. Malcolm S. Carpenter hugs her children, 1962.Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesSteve McQueen and his wife, Neile Adams, embrace in the kitchen of their Hollywood home, 1963.John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesFrank Sinatra shares a hug at Warner Bros. Studio, 1965.John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesA hug during a Twiggy look-alike contest in Stockholm, 1967.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesAstronaut Eugene Cernan hugs his daughter Tracy, 1969.Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesShirley MacLaine hugging fellow delegate after McGovern victory at the Democratic National Convention, 1972.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
