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Vintage photos of:
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]
March 1943. "A truck driver on U.S. Highway 29 near Charlottesville, Virginia." Photo by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size.
March 30, 1955. "Fontainebleau Hotel, Miami Beach. Roof view of pool, cabanas and garden. Morris Lapidus, architect." The valet will be happy to park your Cadillac. Large-format acetate negative by Samuel H. Gottscho. View full size.
Two things you cannot escape:
1. The Spanish Inquisition.
2. The costumed cats of Harry W. Frees
1914. "Kittens in costume preparing to make tea with kettle boiling on toy stove." Photo by Harry W. Frees. View full size.
April 1865. "Richmond, Va. Ruins of Richmond & Petersburg Railroad bridge." Span over the James River, burned by Confederate troops before the advancing Federal Army. Wet plate negative by Alexander Gardner. View full size.
Circa 1908. "West front, U.S. Capitol, Washington." Today only, a tricameral legislature. 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
New York, 1920. "Graham shop." Store window display of the Graham Talking Machine Co. at 75 Graham Avenue in Brooklyn. Among the titles you could take for a spin: "Ever of Thee I'm Fondly Dreaming," "Drowsy Baby" and "My Little Bimbo Down on the Bamboo Isle." Who'll be the first brave soul to attempt a Nipper count? 5x7 glass negative, Bain News Service. View full size.
December 1921. Washington, D.C. "Machinists Association." And what could be an exhibit for the Museum of Antique Office Equipment. Experts please weigh in. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "551-53-55 Randolph St. N.W." We'll take the one next to the castle. National Photo Company glass negative. View full size.
The International Sweethearts of Rhythm, the pioneering all-girl jazz-swing group, with bandleader Anna Mae Winburn in the 1940s. Guitarist Carline Ray, who died in New York earlier this month at age 88, is third from left. View full size.
July 1936. "Many fruit tramps live in tents like these. Yakima, Washington." Slang for the itinerant agricultural workers, many of them Dust Bowl refugees, who picked apples, pears and cherries in the Pacific Northwest. Photo by Arthur Rothstein for the Resettlement Administration. View full size.
March 9, 1923. Washington, D.C. "Miss L.M. Alexander," possibly of the Department of Agriculture. National Photo glass negative. View full size.
Circa 1906. "Y.W.C.A. building, Detroit." Once again the interesting stuff is at the periphery -- note signage at right advertising Cracker Jack and the services of a "bell hanger." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
Copper production circa 1906. "12,000 horsepower compound pump, Calumet and Hecla stamp mill, Lake Linden, Michigan." Note the faint double exposure in this 8x10 inch glass plate. Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
1965. "Entertainer Johnny Carson working on the Tonight Show. Includes Carson standing backstage." From photos taken for the Look magazine article "Johnny Carson, the Prince of Chitchat, Is a Loner." View full size.
August 1938. "Refreshment stand at county fair, central Ohio." Photo by Ben Shahn for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.