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May 19, 1913. Promenaders at Luna Park, "The Heart of Coney Island." 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size.
June 13, 1911. "The Teaser," a ride at Coney Island's Luna Park. View full size. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection.
July 16, 1913. Surf Avenue on Coney Island, with Feltman's Clam Bake on the left. View full size. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2007
We'll start the day with a selection of working kids snapped by Lewis Hine, whose photographs, 100 years after they were taken, seem to exist in eerily infinite supply.
February 1, 1917. "Vincenzo Messina, 15 years old, and brother Angelo, 11 years old, baking bread for their father at 174 Salem Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Vincenzo is working nights now. Angelo helps a great deal, tends store and helps bake, too." Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.
November 1909. Two of the boys on night shift in the More-Jones Glass Co., Bridgeton, New Jersey. View full size. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine.
March 1909. Hartford, Conn. Solomon —— . Began selling at 7 years of age. Been selling six years (four at night). View full size. Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine.
August 1908. "Greek bootblack in Indianapolis." An interesting example of a time exposure where the subject either enters the frame after the shutter opens or leaves it before it closes. View full size. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine.
WW2 KODACHROMES
Below, a selection of 1940s color transparencies, three of them the large-format 4x5's that we love so much and wish there were more of. I wonder why Ken Burns didn't make more use (or any use) of these in his excellent documentary "The War," given that it is being presented in HD. The aviation shots are especially impressive. - Dave
October 1942. "Clerk in North American Aviation stockroom, checking to see if the proper numbers of parts were received and placed in the proper bin. Inglewood, California. This plant produces the battle-tested B-25 (Billy Mitchell) bomber, used in General Doolittle's raid on Tokyo, and the P-51 (Mustang) fighter plane which was first brought into prominence by the British raid on Dieppe." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer.
October 1942. Assembling switchboxes on the firewalls of B-25 bombers at North American Aviation's Inglewood, California, factory. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer, Office of War Information.
1942. Grand Grocery in Lincoln, Nebraska. View full size. 35mm Kodachrome transparency by John Vachon. Alternate version shows a different view.
October 1942. Lathe operator machining parts for transport planes at the Consolidated Aircraft plant in Fort Worth, Texas. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Howard Hollem, Office of War Information.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2007
Today's theme is fire in and under New York. Or at least a lot of billowing smoke. Yesterday our readers did a great job figuring out the addresses of the various storefronts I posted. To them, a tip of the Shorpy miner's cap! - Dave
June 29, 1916, fire at the Fox Playhouse between East 13th and 14th Streets. Tenants in the building owned by restaurateur August Luchow included the vaudeville house (showing "photo plays"), Loewinger Brothers printers, a pool hall and Greater New York Film Rental. We also see women at two of the windows. View full size. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection.