Washington, D.C. "Marathon dancers. April 20, 1923." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative, Library of Congress.

February 1942. Firestone Rubber plant in Akron, Ohio. "Conversion. Beverage containers to aviation oxygen cylinders. Before completion of the fourth and final welding operation in the manufacture of shatterproof oxygen cylinders for high altitude flying, all straps are subjected to physical tests to determine the strength of the weld. Occasional radiographic inspections are made to insure the quality of workmanship after the two halves of the cylinder are brought together in this atomic welding machine and made one unit. Here, the operator has just completed the union and is about to remove the whole cylinder." 4x5 nitrate negative by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information. View full size.

October 29, 1925. Washington, D.C. "Melvin Jones, 5, who pierced heart with scissors." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative.

May 1864. North Anna River, Virginia. "Soldiers bathing. Ruins of Richmond & Fredericksburg railroad bridge in the distance." Wet plate glass negative, left half of stereo pair, by Timothy H. O'Sullivan. Library of Congress. View full size.

April 22, 1925. Washington, D.C. "Nellie, pet of Johnny J. Jones Circus." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

Our third look at the Holiday Shop record and camera store in Roeland Park, Kansas, circa 1950. Frank Sinatra is pictured on the wall. View full size.

Mom plays "pass the baby brother" and my sister yuks it up with Uncle Don in Gary, Indiana. Meanwhile, the mantel is sideways at the house on Bass Lake in this double exposure. From early 1960's Kodachrome. View full size.

Barbie was made out to be some sort of vixen on those carrying cases, huh? View full size.

We broke out the slides when my father was near death this past Winter. By the time of his funeral I had pared it down to a select hundred or so and entertained Mom, my siblings, and our kids a couple of times. Not that Dad missed out. He got one last show when I visited earlier in 2007 and brought them down from the upstairs closet along with the old Graflex Constellation projector. The smell of a warm projector! I love that smell.

Having kids of our own allows us to recognize the sweet and delicate and vulnerable embrace my brother's godfather is relishing in this shot and it ties us to the past more strongly than we could have expected when as kids we were squirming in front of the screen waiting for the next slide and hoping yourself was in the shot.

Dad used his trusty Kodak Retina in the smooth brown leather case. My older sisters always complained that he shot on slide film instead of prints that they could more readily enjoy or share with friends. Dad preferred the clarity of Kodachrome and I didn't know that about him until after I cultivated my own preference for quality, which in my time means preferring film to digital.

Christmas 1964 in Rochester, Indiana. Kodachrome slide. View full size. [It's Christmas in June (for me, especially) with an exceptional selection of member-submitted color slides. There are even more here. Thanks, Santa! - Dave]

January 1969 in Rochester, Indiana. If you can figure out what movie or TV show that is, I'll give you a cookie. I'm stumped. From a Kodachrome slide. View full size.

Early 1960s in Crown Point, Indiana. View full size.

My dad around 1948, Valparaiso, Indiana. View full size.

Santa Cruz, California Beach Boardwalk September 1953. Here I am at the entrance to the Fun House, alas now long gone. We might have gone down there for my 7th birthday; the prints from this negative (2-1/4 square Kodacolor) were made the following month. Wish I still had a shirt like that. View full size.

The Holiday Shop record and camera store in the Roeland Park Shopping Center in Roeland Park, Kansas. We saw the music section last week. View full size.