June 6, 1950. Pembroke, Ontario. "Vis-O-Matic department store." A variation on mail-order shopping, the Vis-O-Matic system used color slides to display merchandise to potential customers, with orders placed by Teletype and delivered to your door. Photo by Bernard Hoffman, Life image archive. View full size.

Winnetka, Illinois. June 1950. "Student Rue Lawrence wearing frilly summer dress and bright lipstick in classroom at New Trier High School." Rue was on the cover of the October 16, 1950, issue of Life. Color transparency by Alfred Eisenstaedt, Life magazine photo archive. View full size.

"George H. Corson, 1920" is the caption for this enigmatic and slightly damaged photo of bathers in the Potomac River. National Photo Company. View full size.

Washington, 1921. "People's Drug Store, 929 Seventh Street N.W., exterior." The scene at Mass and Seventh, evidently the hernia capital of our nation's capital. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

July 1956. Greenville, North Carolina. "Segregationist tobacco sharecropper Marshall Joyner and family bowing heads in prayer before dinner." Color transparency by Margaret Bourke-White, Life photo archive. View full size.

Washington, D.C., circa 1915. "Child with birdcage." A budding Audubon with her notes. Or maybe a recipe. Harris & Ewing glass negative. View full size.

July 1864. "Broadway Landing, Virginia. Surgeons of 4th Division, 9th Army Corps, in front of Petersburg." Main Eastern theater of war, the siege of Petersburg. Wet plate glass negative, photographer unknown. View full size.

February 28, 1913. "Woman suffrage. Greeting hikers arriving from New York." The scene at Pennsylvania Avenue and 15th Street in Washington. From the pages of the Washington Post: "General" Rosalie Jones and her suffrage "army" marched triumphantly into the Capital shortly before noon yesterday, through the Capitol grounds and down Pennsylvania avenue, with an escort of local enthusiasts and citizens which fairly choked the streets and delayed traffic. It was one of the most remarkable street demonstrations ever seen here." The bunting is decoration for the upcoming presidential inauguration. View full size.

Supermarket dairy case circa 1950. You'll get change back from your half-dollar if you purchase a dozen eggs. View full size.

Circa 1959. "Swimming pool." Not just any swimming pool, but an Esther Williams prefab above-ground swimming pool. I wonder if any of these survive. Color transparency by Frank Scherschel, Life magazine photo archive. View full size.

1964. The Super Giant supermarket in Rockville, Maryland. Color transparency by John Dominis, Life magazine photo archive. View full size.

1912. "Democratic National Convention, Baltimore. Bennett Clark, son of Champ Clark." Beauchamp Clark, favored to win the presidential nomination, ended up losing it to Woodrow Wilson. Son Joel Bennett Clark represented Missouri in the Senate from 1933 to 1945. Harris & Ewing glass negative. View full size.

1916. "Woman's National Service School, under woman's section, Navy League. Mrs. Slater and Miss Moore." Harris & Ewing glass negative. View full size.

Circa 1922, another entry in the "Surgery" series, this one pre-op. The laundry mark on the towel says "Vets Hospital No. 11 (or maybe 17) Washington D.C." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

Bowling alley circa 1956. Next door: Fine dining at the Thruway Restaurant. Color transparency by Dmitri Kessel, Life magazine photo archive. View full size.