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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]
December 1936. Dickens, Iowa. "Part of the L.H. Nissen family of ten living in a three-room shack. Rest of family at school. The whole house was of unusually high humidity. The wife said they could not dry out the bedding because of the poor ventilation. This is the living room and kitchen combined." View full size. Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the Resettlement Administration.
December 1936. "Washstand in corner of kitchen of Edgar Allen's home on farm near Milford, Iowa. Contrast this with washstand picture of Harry Madsen farm, tenant house." View full size. Medium format negative by Russell Lee.
October 1938. Cincinnati, Ohio. "Watching the sesquicentennial parade go by." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the FSA.
November 1938. "Unemployed man. Omaha, Nebraska." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration.
April 15, 1920. Washington, D.C. A timeless message from the tots seen earlier today in the previous post. View full size. National Photo Company Collection.
April 15, 1920. Washington, D.C. "Tree planting." View full size. I looked high and low for a good CCC photo in honor of Earth Day, but they were all disappointingly low-res. So it's a National Photo glass negative to the rescue.
October 1911. South Framingham, Massachusetts. Joseph Frank Nugent, 22 Howard Street, works in Department 8A of Dennison Factory; makes paper boxes. "I nip the covers." "One year there, 'bout time for a raise." View full size. Photo and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine. This reminds me of a painting by Magritte.
May 1910. St. Louis, Missouri. "Bundle Boys at Nugent's, Washington and Broadway." Photograph and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.
December 1941. Goodrich plant at Akron, Ohio. "Rubber stock for track treads of scout cars and other Army halftrack vehicles is milled in one Ohio tire plant. All rubber firmly 'welded' to the steel parts is formed into one tough durable piece." View full size. 4x5 negative by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information.
December 1941. "New recruits for America's armies. Scout cars ready for delivery. White Motor Company, Cleveland, Ohio." View full size. 4x5 nitrate negative by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information.
Firestone rubber plant. Akron, Ohio. February 1942. "Conversion. Beverage containers to aviation oxygen cylinders. After the circumferential straps are welded to the cylindrical portion in the metal division of a large Eastern rubber factory, rough edges and accumulated weld scale are removed by a skilled workman. The twin rotary brushes do their work on the inside and outside of the cylinder in the same operation. This process is required in the manufacture of shatterproof oxygen cylinders for high altitude flying." 4x5 nitrate negative by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information. View full size.
New York or Washington circa 1844-1851. "General Hugh Brady, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing three-quarters left, in military uniform." Half-plate daguerreotype from the studio of Mathew Brady. View full size.
March 1939. "Mexican man in front of movie theater. San Antonio, Texas." 35mm negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
October 1942. "Testing electric wiring at Douglas Aircraft Company. Long Beach, California." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer.
Chicago, January 1943. "Chicago, Milwaukee, Saint Paul and Pacific 'Hiawatha' about to leave from Union Station." View full size. Photograph by Jack Delano.