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]
Vintage photos of:
Talk host Johnny Carson and his brother Dick, who directed the "Tonight" show, in New York in 1962. From photos taken for "Johnny Carson: Nighthood's New Prince," an article in the April 23, 1963, issue of Look magazine. View full size.
"NO CAPTION, 1936" is the label for this Harris & Ewing plate. We think it probably has to do with diving, or maybe Roswell. View full size.
1952. "Grocery store display of frozen foods." Kodachrome by Charlotte Brooks or Arthur Rothstein for the Look magazine article "How Hot Are the Freezer Food Plans?" View full size.
1928. Washington, D.C. "NO CAPTION" is the label for this Harris & Ewing plate of a lady showing us an obviously superior example of whatever this is. Deep knowledge of the Shorpy catalog tells me this is Texanna Loomis of the Loomis Radio School. The thing is -- what? You tell us, in the comments. View full size.
Germany circa 1938. "Meeting room of Nazi Party facility in Upper Bavaria." The swastika candles lend a rustic note. This looks like something out of a comic book or movie serial, but it was all too real. Photo-Pfaller print. View full size.
Additional details on this photo, one of seven pictures in a portfolio that's part of the Third Reich Collection at the Library of Congress:
One portfolio (seven photographic prints); 13 x 18 cm. Photographs on mounts 23 x 29 cm. No captions. Ink stamp on back of mounts: "Photo-Pfaller, Traunstein/Obb. Tel. 451." Confiscated by U.S. military intelligence authorities, 1945-1946. Transfer; 1947. Photographs show a chapel (?) in a Nazi party house in Bavaria. Includes wooden carved benches and podium; elaborate Nazi eagle and swastika symbol made of wood; mural of fallen soldier and SA companion; light fixture incorporating a helmet. Also includes exterior views of the house showing a mural with SA soldier with swastika flag and farmers with tools.
The Woolworth Building under construction in 1913. One hundred years later, the top 30 floors of the former department store headquarters are being converted to 40 luxury apartments, with a five-story penthouse in the cupola. Other New York landmarks in this view include City Hall Park and its post office, as well as the Singer and Park Row towers. 8x10 glass negative. View full size.
1954. Judy Garland in a still from one of the musical numbers in her movie "A Star Is Born." Color transparency by Robert Vose for Look magazine. View full size.
Gotham City in 1966. Batman and Robin (Adam West and Burt Ward) in an unguarded moment in the Bat-Cave (or perhaps on the Bat-Set) with the Bat-Mug. Photo by Richard Hewett for Look magazine. View full size.