Most of the photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs, 20 to 200 megabytes in size) from the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) Many were digitized by LOC contractors using a Sinar studio back. They are adjusted by your webmaster for contrast and color in Photoshop before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here.

November 1940. Taftville, Connecticut. An uncaptioned shot by Jack Delano taken from the grounds of the Penomah Mills factory. Note the Coke sign. Archie and Betty no doubt somewhere nearby. 35mm nitrate negative. View full size.
It wasn't until these recent Jack Delano photos that I realized he used a 35mm machine at times. I have always been so blown away by his spectacular 4x5s I guess I just didn't notice this fact. Makes me wonder what camera he used? Somehow I get the feeling it was a Contex with Carl Zeiss lenses.
Delano got the company's name wrong: it should be Ponemah. Most monumental mills in Connecticut.
Not a word about Miss Veronica! Poor baby.

From Google Streetview: http://goo.gl/maps/DW9QG
Sadly, those swell cars are long gone.
[As are the stately elms. - Dave]

Today's Top 5