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- Texas Flyer wanted
- Just a Year Too Soon
- WWII -- Replacing men with women at the railroad crossing.
- Yes, Icing
- You kids drive me nuts!
- NOT An Easy Job
- I wonder
- Just add window boxes
- Icing Platform?
- Indiana Harbor Belt abides
- Freezing haze
- Corrections (for those who care)
- C&NW at Nelson
- Fallen Flags
- A dangerous job made worse
- Water Stop
- Passenger trains have right of way over freights?
- Coal
- Never ceases to amaze me.
- Still chuggin' (in model form)
- Great shot
- Westerly Breeze
- For the men, a trapeze
- Tickled
- Sense of loneliness ...
- 2 cents
- Charm City
- What an Outrage
- Brighton Park
- Catenary Supports
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Lone Star: 1942
August 1942. Corpus Christi, Texas. "Women from all fields have joined the production army. Miss Grace Weaver, a civil service worker at the Naval Air Base and a schoolteacher before the war, is doing her part for victory along with her brother, who is a flying instructor in the Army. Miss Weaver paints the American insignia on repaired Navy plane wings." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Howard Hollem for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Kodachrome
This image (and all the OWI color images) makes me appreciate Kodachrome even more than I did. To last as many years as it has and still retain its color without shifting is nothing short of miraculous. It also brings up a question: What will happen to all of the family photos that are being taken by digital cameras these days in 50 years? Unless they are properly stored and cared for, a whole generation will lose its heritage.
Darn good paint
The rest of the star is bone dry. I wish I could find paint that dried within seconds of applying it.
Not buying it
In addition to the immaculately white blouse and squeaky clean hands, from that position, with the extended arm, her brush strokes could not possibly have been that steady. Plus, she is setting the can on top of the fresh paint! No experienced painter does that. Call me a skeptic, but I'm convinced it is a staged shot.
Nevertheless, she's easy on the eyes (in a 1940's kind of way), and I'm sure the real painter didn't look as nice.
[I think you're confusing "posed" and "staged." The "real painter" is the lady in the picture. Not to belabor the obvious, but the Kodachrome OWI work portraits are not documentary photography. They are almost all posed and floodlighted. - Dave]
Blue and White
Applying blue paint while wearing a spotless white blouse. I wonder how long that will last.
No stencil?
I'm surprised to see no stencils or masking to keep her from getting the Insignia Blue paint on the white star. Taken with the spotlessness of her clothing as already noted and I have to imagine the photo as being staged.
She's a Schoolteacher
Which is why she can stay inside the lines! A great photo for Flag Day.
Black and white
Applying black paint while wearing a spotless white blouse. I wonder how long that will last.
[The paint is blue. "Insignia Blue." - Dave]
Goodbye Kodachrome
What a lovely image (color and composition-wise); and, sadly, one we won't see being made again any time soon with the demise of Kodachrome (and film in general) as a medium.
No decals for me, thank you.
That just might be a Grumbacher brush she's holding! Oh and I can smell the lead-based 1-shot lettering enamel and pure gum turpentine from here!
Neatness Counts
Amazing how she hasn't gotten paint on her hands or that white blouse.
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