Washington, D.C. "Baby carriage. November 3, 1921." The inscription: "This wagon was made by Issacher Hughes in Richmond, Va., in 1808 for his first-born son. Has been used by six generations. Presented to the Association of Oldest Inhabitants, District of Columbia, Nov. 2, 1921, by his grandson, James W. Hughes." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative.

"American University Basket Ball Team, 1926." View full size. National Photo Company. Scanned from a ginormous, windowpane-size 8x10 glass plate negative.

1955 and 2002 (OK, so it's not quite "now"). A gag shot my brother and I arranged with an empty beer can found nearby, and a reenactment shot by my sister 47 years later. The building is the shell of the c. 1894 Limerick Inn in Larkspur, California. View full size.

"Unidentified man with hat." 1919 or 1920. View full size. National Photo Co. Update: This is none other than National Photo Company founder and proprietor Herbert E. French, who donated his entire inventory of glass and film negatives to the Library of Congress. Where someone should have their knuckles rapped!

Washington, D.C. "Tech High basketball team, 1920." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative, Library of Congress.

Washington, D.C., circa 1925. "Texas Co. Ace truck." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative.

May 1864. "Rappahannock River, Virginia. Ruins of bridge at Germanna Ford, where the troops under General Grant crossed May 4." Wet plate glass negative by Timothy O'Sullivan. View full size. (Though the caption on the negative sleeve says Rappahannock, Germanna Ford seems to have been on the Rapidan River.)

December 16, 1963. Fire destroys the old gymnasium at the College of Marin in Kentfield, California. Arson suspected. The building had already been condemned for public assembly and was scheduled for demolition. In a way, the beginning of the end of the mission revival architecture of this institution, of which nothing remains on the present campus. Also: 1960 Thunderbird; vintage Van Pelt fire engine, but I can't identify the original truck make. Plus a really vintage, even for 1963, pedestrian signal at the extreme left. 35mm Kodachrome. View full size.

April 21, 1955. Using the self-timer on his new Lordox 35mm camera and a roll of high-speed Kodak Tri-X film, my brother photographed himself in what appears to be the canned soup and dog food section of the Rainbow Market, the exterior of which can be seen here. View full size.

October 11, 1910. "Flag Rush, Columbia University." View full size. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. So who can tell us about "flag rush."

1925. Washington, D.C. "Texas Company. Linworth Place and C Street S.W." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

1925. "Atwater Kent at test table." Namesake of the Atwater Kent radio empire at his Philadelphia factory. View full size. National Photo Company Collection.

A New Jersey lunch counter and soda fountain circa 1950. View full size.

Diamond Bar, California, July 1968. My niece Mary having a good time, apparently. Neighbor has a nice early-60s Ford pickup. I shot this on 35mm Kodachrome. View full size.

Feb. 22, 1908. "Three New York-Brooklyn bridges from Brooklyn." An amazingly detailed panorama of New York recorded by George Grantham Bain. Our 3100 pixel wide version (view full size), detailed as it is, is less than a quarter the size of the hi-res scan of the original 8x10 inch glass negative. From the left: Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge (under construction) and Williamsburg Bridge.