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.

Shorpy is moving to a new server tonight, so there may be times when the site is unavailable. See you when we get back! 4x5 Kodachrome transparency of Civil Air Patrol plane (Stinson 10A) at Bar Harbor, Maine, by John Collier, June 1943. Full size. A couple more here and here.

" 'Safety first' is the motto of Miss Mary Jayne of Keith's circuit. Mary Jayne, seated in rocking chair with pistol strapped to her knee, claiming exemption from concealed weapon regulation by saying her thirty-two isn't a concealed weapon in these days of knee-length skirts." National Photo Company Collection, February 14, 1922. View full size. The Keith Circuit was a chain of vaudeville theaters that eventually transitioned to motion pictures.

Chicago & North Western RR worker putting the finishing touches on a rebuilt caboose on the rip tracks at Proviso Yard, Chicago. April 1943. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano.

Celebration on Wall Street upon the news of Germany's surrender in World War I. November 1918. View full size. Photograph by W.L. Drummond.

U.S. Army Quartermaster's Department, Alexandria, Virginia. View full size. Albumen print from a photograph by Andrew J. Russell taken during the Civil War (1861-1865). Note the elaborate signal mast on the roof.

My dad's brother Charlie on a 1949 cruise to the Bahamas in the sailboat they built. View full size. 35mm Kodachrome by Marvin Hall.