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:

Washington, D.C., circa 1919. "Oppenheimer's dress shop." Another view of the store seen here last week. National Photo glass negative. View full size.

From a friend's collection of her family's slides I'm scanning for her. She's the little girl on the right, along with her older sister (previously seen here on Shorpy), and their aunt and grandmother. Shot on 126 Ektachrome. Obviously this family was big into fruit. View full size.

"Stenographers' room, Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing Co., Detroit." It's always helpful to have a calendar in the room when dating a photo, and here we've hit the jackpot. In fact the main focus of this room seems to be calendars, with paperweights a strong second. These ladies ran a tight ship, with little doubt as to what year it was or whether that crucial report might go sailing out the window. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

Iowa circa 1902. "Chicago & North Western Railway -- steel viaduct over Des Moines River." 8x10 glass negative by William Henry Jackson. View full size.

New York circa 1921. A lady and her phonograph. The name looks like Farnum or Farmer. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size.

June 1914. Poughkeepsie, New York. "Wisconsin freshmen on Hudson River." More rowers from the heyday of the Poughkeepsie Regatta. View full size.

Washington, D.C., 1912. "Government Printing Office -- views." Our second installment in this exciting series. Harris & Ewing glass negative. View full size.