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.

April 1940. "Dubuque, Iowa. Sash and door mill." 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. It's a Vachon-a-rama here at Shorpy, thanks to high-resolution versions of this photographer's 35mm work being recently made available online by the Library of Congress. View full size.
I'm old enough to recall the billowing smokestack being a symbol of prosperity.
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