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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.
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6 Gals $1
Submitted by Dave on Tue, 01/08/2008 - 7:29pm.
Summer 1938. "Tourist signs in Central Ohio." From a series of photos taken along Route 40. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Ben Shahn for the FSA.
35mm negatives
Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Wed, 01/09/2008 - 8:45pm.
seems as all of the photos shown here give credite to 35mm Nitrate negatives. Prior to WW2 the film size of choice by cameras in the US was 120 and 220 with a few 616 thrown in. Most news and magazine photographers used 4x5 Speed graphica and in some cases a 2x3 Speed graphic. I would like to know what kind of 35mm cameras all these folks were using. I love the site and as an older photographer that cut my teeth on black and white of the late 1940's and 50's it is great to see the interest in old b&w pix
[They used the famous camera that did so much to pioneer the 35mm still format -- the Leica. - Dave]
Credit Cards?
Submitted by Joshua on Wed, 01/09/2008 - 9:36am.
What could they have possibly meant by "Credit Cards Honored" in 1938?
[It means you could use your oil company credit card to buy gas. Which is how credit cards got started back in the 1920s. - Dave]
Six Gals
Submitted by Dave on Tue, 01/08/2008 - 11:25pm.
Six people so far have commented that Gals "probably" or "no doubt" stands for gallons. The Shorpy braintrust never sleeps! (Next question: Gallons of what?)
[For all those people who have kindly submitted an answer: Yes, we know. Gasoline. That was a little joke there, the question. - Dave]
What in the world?
Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Tue, 01/08/2008 - 7:43pm.
The sign to the left of the 6 gals for 1.00 seems a little risque for the 30's doesn't it? Or am I not seeing what it appears I'm seeing?
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Shorpy.com | History in HD is a vintage photo blog featuring thousands of high-definition images from the 1850s to 1950s. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago.
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