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]
Vintage photos of:
1906. "Post Office and Eagle Building. Brooklyn, N.Y." At the Alcazar Theatre: "smoking concerts." Detroit Publishing Co. glass negative. View full size.
Luna Park at Coney Island circa 1905. Detroit Publishing Co. glass negative. Tonight only: "Infant incubators with living infants." View full size.
"National American Ballet." August 20, 1924. Our svelte dancers take a dip in or around Washington, D.C. National Photo glass negative. View full size.
Shorpy's on Facebook! At last count, Shorpy had zero 725 friends. Who'll be the first next to friend him? Also new: The Friends of Shorpy history group.
Washington, 1926. "Atlantic City Boy Scouts on Ellipse." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative, Library of Congress.
July 1915. "Barbara Lieber, 9-year-old sugar beet worker, hoeing with her 11-year-old sister on a Wisconsin farm near St. John." These bonnet photos are an interesting glimpse at a way of life not much different from how people lived in the 19th or even 18th century. View full size. Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine.