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.
Vintage photos of:

Sunbathers at the city park swimming pool in Caldwell, Idaho. July 1941. The girls are rubbing olive oil on each other. View full size. Photograph by Russell Lee.

Basketball at Durland's Riding Academy, New York. 1908. View full size. George Grantham Bain Collection. Since 1949, the Durland's building at Central Park West has been home to ABC, at 7 West 66th Street. Until 1999, the sets for "20/20" and "Good Morning America" were in the main riding ring (above).

Basketball on the tanbark at Durland's Riding Academy, New York. 1908. Evidently it's traveling if you let go of the reins. View full size. George Grantham Bain Collection. Check out how this pic looked before restoration.

"Backstage" at the girlie show at the Vermont state fair, Rutland. September 1941. View full size. 35mm Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano.

Lady residents of a St. Paul rooming house. September 1939. View full size. Photograph by John Vachon.

"Living on a Skyscraper." Boys playing marbles on the roof of a New York apartment building circa 1910. View full size. George Grantham Bain Collection.

Toy show at Madison Square Garden, 1908. View full size. George Grantham Bain Collection. In the foreground: Junior Aero Club display. Several shadowy blurs can be seen in this time exposure moving about what at first glance appears to be a deserted exhibit space. The car merry-go-round is slowly revolving.