Circa 1898. "Armored cruiser U.S.S. Brooklyn, stern view." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.

From Columbus, Georgia, or vicinity circa 1959 comes this uncaptioned shot of a guy and his guns, all ready for a well-regulated sleepover. 4x5 inch acetate negative from the Shorpy News Photo Archive. View full size.

May 1938. "Southeast Missouri Farms. Son of sharecropper washing hands." Our title for this photo comes from the things in this photo. Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

February 1939. "Bench of potted plants at side of home of Mexican day laborer. Near Santa Maria, Texas." Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

May 1939. Peoria, Illinois. "Prostitutes 'roping' at window." Photo by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

March 1940. "Snow shed over Union Pacific tracks. Carbon County, Wyoming." Photo by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

Circa 1920. "Bimini, Bahamas. Fish dock with day's catch." 4x12 inch panoramic nitrate negative by Albert M. Price. View full size.

April 28, 1909. "Launching party, freighter Benjamin Noble, Wyandotte, Michigan." 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

        Top-heavy with a cargo of steel rails, the Benjamin Noble capsized in a squall 20 miles out from Duluth on April 14, 1914, vanishing into Lake Superior with the loss of all hands. After 90 years as a "ghost ship," its wreck was discovered at a depth of 400 feet off Knife Island in 2004, the front half buried in 40 feet of mud -- "heavily overloaded, just a submarine waiting to happen."

Fredericksburg, Virginia, circa 1928. "John Paul Jones House, Main Street." 8x10 inch acetate negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size.

Alameda County, California, 1959. "29th Annual Newark Fireman's Ball." At center, fireman Ed Brazil. 4x5 inch acetate negative. View full size.

New York, 1949. Broadway in neon and Kodachrome, courtesy of Shorpy member RalphCS. Where we're waiting to get Phil Spitalny's autograph. View full size.

San Francisco, 1922. "Stephens Salient Six touring car." Named after the founder of parent company Moline Plow, Stephens was a short-lived marque, lasting from 1916 to 1924; in 1920, its best year, the Illinois-based firm produced around 7,000 cars. 5x7 inch glass negative by Christopher Helin. View full size.

Circa 1905. "Dead River sawmill, Marquette, Michigan." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.

May 1941. "Mulatto ex-slave in her house near Greensboro, Alabama." Nitrate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

Circa 1905. "St. John Street, Quebec." Rue Saint-Jean at Côte du Palais in Quebec City, home to the drugstores of P. Mathie and J.E. Livernois. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.