Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "John D. Hayes" is the caption here, perhaps indicating a connection to the Fanny Farmer chain of candy stores. Economics majors have probably heard of Adam Smith's "invisible hand" of the market; here we see evidence of its phantom foot. National Photo Co. View full size.

Washington, D.C., circa 1925. "Homeopathic Hospital." And the leg bone's connected to the knee bone ... National Photo Co. glass negative. View full size.

December 1942. Melrose Park, Ill. "L. Logan, of West Chicago, boilermaker at the Proviso Yard roundhouse, Chicago & North Western R.R." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size.

October 1943. Washington, D.C. "Walter Spangenberg, captain in the Woodrow Wilson High School Cadet Corps, at the school's Regimental Ball." Medium-format negative by Esther Bubley, Office of War Information. View full size.

New York circa 1915. "Brooklyn Bridge, East River and skyline." The Woolworth Building stars in this Lower Manhattan view, with the Singer, Bankers Trust, Hudson Terminal, Municipal and Park Row buildings as understudies. 5x7 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

February 1939. "On U.S. 99 near Brawley, Imperial County, California. Homeless mother and youngest child of seven walking the highway from Phoenix, Arizona, where they picked cotton. Bound for San Diego, where the father hopes to get on relief 'because he once lived there.'" Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

Fall 1977. Sea Crest Motors was a Cadillac-Pontiac-Mazda dealership on Route 1A in Lynn, Massachusetts. The Indian could be a reference to Pontiac, the Native American chief and namesake for the car company. Very impressive to gaze up to at night; I don't think he sold many cars though. View full size.

January 1, 1863. "Contrabands coming into camp -- arrival of Negro family in the Union lines." This image, half of a stereograph pair, was turned into a sketch by the artist Alfred Waud and appeared in the Jan. 31, 1863, issue of Harper's Weekly over the caption "An arrival in Camp -- under the Proclamation of Emancipation." Wet plate negative by David B. Woodbury. View full size.

June 22, 1911. "Navy Yard, New York. U.S.S. North Dakota messmen being served from crew's galley." Three heaping helpings of something. View full size.

In 1958 my father worked for Ford and our family was transferred from Windsor, Ontario, to Geelong and Melbourne, Australia, for five years. Ford Australia cars were mostly British models, such as Zephyrs and Consuls. The Falcon was introduced and it took direct aim at General Motors Holden products. There were a few "Yank Tanks" around, and the 1959 Fairlane 500 would have been in that category. This Kodachrome was taken by my father on what appears to be a tour of Ford dealers, as Coates Motors was located in Bairnsdale, 280 km east of Melbourne. There is a rain deflector on the driver's side window -- Victoria state law still required hand signals. View full size.

Circa 1915. "North approach, Pedro Miguel Lock, Panama Canal." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

Circa 1902. "Youngstown, Ohio. Steel mill and Mahoning River." 8x10 inch silver gelatin glass transparency, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

"Pine Street below Kearney." Aftermath of the great San Francisco earthquake and fire of April 18, 1906. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative. View full size.

New York circa 1920. "Burke." Covent Garden tenor Tom Burke, a former coal miner dubbed the "Lancashire Caruso." Bain News Service. View full size.

Circa 1910. "Passenger (observation) locomotive train car of New York Central R.R." 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size.