Framed or unframed, desk size to sofa size, printed by us in Arizona and Alabama since 2007. Explore now.
Shorpy is funded by you. Patreon contributors get an ad-free experience.
Learn more.
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]
December 1937. The Alamo movie theater in Washington, D.C. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration.
June 1940. An all-day community sing in Pie Town, New Mexico. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration.
July 1940. Another view under the elevated tracks in Chicago. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration.
June 1940. Pie Town, New Mexico. Wife of a homesteader with her WPA (Work Projects Administration) music class. These children walk eight miles for their music lessons. View full size. Medium-format safety negative by Russell Lee.
October 1938. Fire station at Greenhills, Ohio, a planned community built by the federal government (Suburban Division of the Resettlement Administration) during the Depression. The image, scanned from a print, is a composite, with the utility pole and fire alarm superimposed; the asphalt was retouched with an airbrush. View full size. The fire station photo is by John Vachon.
July 1940. "Under the elevated railway, Chicago, Illinois." 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Resettlement Administration. View full size.
May 1940. Parked cars in Des Moines, Iowa. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration.
Washington, D.C., circa 1919. "Lunch cars. One of the greatest foes of the H.C. of L. [High Cost of Living] in Washington has been the lunch wagons selling 20 cent box lunch, which is very popular with the Department clerks. A concerted effort has been made by the lunch room keepers to keep them off the street but so far without success." On the box: "Leoffler's Liberty Lunch 20¢" 4x5 inch glass negative, National Photo Company Collection. View full size.
June 1942. Fort Knox, Kentucky. "A good job in the air cleaner of an Army truck. This Negro soldier, who serves as truck driver and mechanic, plays an important part in keeping Army transport fleets in operation." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information.
January 1942. Bantam, Connecticut. "Defense homes. The heating unit is in the kitchen of Fred Heath's four-room apartment in the new federally-financed homes for 80 families just a few minutes from the Warren McArthur factory in Bantam. The well-insulated coal fire puts steam in the radiators and provides the heat for cooking. The tenants are well-pleased although on several nights when the temperature dropped to 10 degrees below zero they were forced to replenish the fuel every two or three hours. That cigarette Fred Heath holds is not tailor-made, by the way -- he likes to roll his own." View full size. Medium-format nitrate negative by Howard Hollem for the Office for Emergency Management.
Freckles on his face, mischief in his eye: Another shot of the cute kid with the calf from May 1940 in Granger Homesteads, Iowa. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. Who are you?
October 1935. Young residents of Amite City, Louisiana. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Ben Shahn for the Farm Security Administration.
Unidentified man in an uncaptioned frame from a roll of 35mm film shot by Farm Security Administration photographer John Vachon in 1937. View full size.
May 1940. "Young boy and calf at Granger Homesteads, Iowa. His father is a miner." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the FSA. It's interesting to note that the dirt-eating calf seems to have a collar.
January 1942. Bantam, Connecticut. "In the basement of the town firehouse is the bowling alley, revenue from which helps to support the town's volunteer fire companies. Each night is alloted to a specific group, and there are several hot rivalries. Among the women shown here is Mrs. Winfield Peterson, whose husband is foreman of the Warren McArthur experimental shop." View full size. 5x7 nitrate negative by Howard R. Hollem for the Office of Emergency Management.