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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]
Washington, D.C., 1926. "Semmes Motor Company. Barber & Ross truck." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
Washington, D.C., circa 1926. "I.C. Barber Motor Co., 14th & Irving Streets N.W." Here we have everything from a Hudson-Essex car dealership to moving vans to a florist to "scalp specials." And not only ghost pedestrians in this time exposure but a ghost car! Also note the use of trees as 1 Hour Parking signposts. National Photo Company Collection glass negative, Library of Congress. View full size.
Circa 1919, "Boxing at Walter Reed Hospital." With some connection to the Knights of Columbus. View full size. National Photo Company glass negative.
March 1917. Muskogee, Oklahoma. "Play-time at the Oklahoma School for the Blind. Children have a great deal of freedom (Ellis Report)." View full size. Photograph and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine. Library of Congress.
"Radio at Garfield Hospital, Washington, circa 1924." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative, Library of Congress.
"Better 'Ole Wedding." Informal nuptials circa 1922 at the Better 'Ole, a Greenwich Villagey "bohemian" nightspot in Washington, D.C., that, while short-lived, made its mark. In 1935 the Washington Post called it "the first real night club of the so-called 'night club era.' " The article continues: "It was started by Charles W. Smith, now the noted black-and-white artist, had a membership charge of $1 and was located on the second floor of a three-story building at 1515 U Street. A hot colored dance orchestra held forth in a room decorated with drapes in a sort of cubist style." More here. National Photo Co. glass negative. View full size.
Roller coaster at the Glen Echo amusement park in Montgomery County, Maryland, circa 1928. View full size. National Photo Company glass negative.
April 1936. "Farmer and sons walking in the face of a dust storm. Cimarron County, Oklahoma." Perhaps Arthur Rothstein's best known Dust Bowl image, and overall one of most memorable photographs to come out of the entire FSA/OWI program. Gelatin silver print by Arthur Rothstein. View full size.
April 1936. "Son of farmer in dust bowl area. Cimarron County, Oklahoma." Medium format nitrate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Arthur's daughter Annie Rothstein-Segan writes in with a reminder that Documenting the Face of America, about the thousands of Depression/WW2 era photos taken by her dad and others under the auspices of the FSA-OWI, premieres tonight at 10 on PBS. NYT article.
Washington, D.C., circa 1924. "Maret French School." The book: "Fables la Fontaine." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative.
Washington, January 1925. "Justice Department, Nat'l. Bureau of Identification." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
Washington, D.C., circa 1921. "Baltic Building, 606 F Street." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative, Library of Congress.
Washington movie houses circa 1918. "Crandall's Theater, 9th & E Streets N.W." Now playing: Madge Kennedy and Tom Moore in "The Kingdom of Youth." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "Union Station, tracks in rear." National Photo Company Collection glass negative, Library of Congress. View full size.