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Vintage photos of:
Our holdings include hundreds of glass and film negatives/transparencies that we've scanned ourselves; in addition, many other photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs) in the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) They are adjusted, restored and reworked by your webmaster in accordance with his aesthetic sensibilities before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here. All of these images (including "derivative works") are protected by copyright laws of the United States and other jurisdictions and may not be sold, reproduced or otherwise used for commercial purposes without permission.
[REV 25-NOV-2014]
April 1947. New York. "Chirp discusses life while getting a massage" is the caption for this revealing photo of the unjustly obscure jazz singer Gloria King. Medium format negative by William Gottlieb for Down Beat. View full size.
September 1941. "Two of the Gaynor boys walking to school near Fairfield, Vermont." Medium format negative by Jack Delano. View full size.
July 1946. New York. "Doris Day at the Aquarium, jazz club on Seventh Avenue." Medium format negative by William Gottlieb for Down Beat. View full size.
The Mississippi River circa 1898. "Winona, Minnesota. The levee below the bridge." At left, the sternwheeler Lafayette Lamb. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photgraphic Company. View full size.
New York circa 1947. "Jazz singer Dottie Reid walking on 52nd Street." The stretch of pavement last seen here in a nighttime view. Kodachrome transparency by William Gottlieb for Down Beat. View full size.
PHOENIX, December 3, 2018 -- Big band singer and jazz artist Dorothy "Dottie" Reid died today at the age of 97. Dottie sang with Jimmy Dorsey and Buddy Rich, and went on a world tour with Benny Goodman. Born June 15, 1921, in Arkansas, she lived in New York and moved to Arizona in 2004.
June 1940. "One-spot town along U.S. Highway No. 1, between Washington and Baltimore." Jessup, Maryland, was the corporate headquarters of flea-powder manufacturer One-Spot. Medium format negative by Jack Delano. View full size.
June 1940. "Colored tourist cabins along U.S. Highway No. 1, between Washington and Baltimore. Near Waterloo, Maryland." Medium format negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
New York circa 1947. "Billie Holiday and her dog Mister at a 52nd Street jazz club." Medium format negative by William Gottlieb for Down Beat. View full size.
Circa 1900. "Harry Houdini (1874-1926), full-length portrait, standing, in chains." McManus-Young Collection, Library of Congress. View full size.
New York, 1911. "Longacre Square south." Times Square to you and me, with the Rector and Astor hotels flanking the New York Times building, now almost completely encased in electronic signage and launch pad for the New Year's "ball drop." Gelatin silver print by Irving Underhill. View full size.
April 30, 1908. The Charles River in Boston. "Houdini in chains and handcuffs before jumping from Harvard Bridge." Photo by John Thurston. View full size.
New York, 1933. "Midtown Manhattan skyline -- Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick's Cathedral." Gelatin silver print by Irving Underhill. View full size.
October 1959. "Pilot and auto test driver Betty Skelton at McDonnell Aircraft Corp., St. Louis. She is undergoing a multitude of physiological tests to assess her fitness to become an astronaut." 35mm Kodachrome by Bob Sandberg for the Look magazine assignment "Girl Astronaut -- Lady wants to orbit." View full size.
July 1948. 52nd Street in New York. "The Street is at its best at night, when the neons start to bloom. It loses some of its carnival atmosphere when daylight dims its gaudy luster." Kodachrome by William Gottlieb for Collier's magazine. If anyone needs us, we'll be digging Harry the Hipster at the Onyx. View full size.
UPDATE: Our astute commenters have identified this as Pittsburgh's Gateway Center, circa 1952.
This is by far the most unusual photo (from a stereo slide) that my grandfather ever took. To this day it still does not look real to me but more like an artists rendering of what the building will look like when completed. I have no idea where it was taken but a good guess would be Pittsburgh, as that is the nearest city to where he lived (Titusville) and ran a camera shop for 32 years. I would guess the year is the late 1940's or early 50's judging from what I can see of some cars that appear to be taxis lined up in front of the building on the right side. I tried to estimate just how many sides and windows there would be in this building complex but gave up after still not being convinced it was real. View full size.