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Dorothea Lange: 1936
Dorothea Lange, Resettlement Administration photographer, in California atop car with ... giant camera . February 1936. View full size. Dorothea Lange's giant camera is a Graflex Super D, a 4x5 SLR. See ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/30/2012 - 2:41pm -

Dorothea Lange, Resettlement Administration photographer, in California atop car with her giant camera. February 1936. View full size. Dorothea Lange's giant camerais a Graflex Super D, a 4x5 SLR. See http://graflex.org/articles/series-d/ [Thank you, DHM! - Dave] Dorothea's CameraWho can ID it? sneakerswho can identify her sneakers? I didn't know they had them back then what a camera ! it is a beautiful camera, which brought all the grandeur of those golden days. what is wrong with it ? What a car!The wood on this "woody" came from Henry Ford's mill at Alberta, Michigan just south of L'Anse in the Upper Peninsula, this mill still exists in its entirety but as a museum ---- The plant for Ford's "woodies" was located also in the Upper Peninsula at Kingsford, Michigan ---- the last vestage of the plant were the towering twin smoke stacks which stood alone until about two years ago when they were considered a hazard and torn down. SneakersThe Converse All Star type shoe was started in the late 1910's, looks like Converse type sneakers.... Graflexhttp://graflex.org/articles/series-d/ It's a Graflex SLR alrightYep, definitely a Graflex. They generally used large-format sheet film. This looks like a 4x5 model given the size of the thing, maybe even a 5x7. The folding hood at the top provided shade for the large ground-glass viewfinder. The flap at the front acts folds down to shield the lens and bellows when not in use. These were rather bulky but very robust cameras, just what you'd need on a long dusty roadtrip in 1936. I love the car.I love the car. 5x7 GraflexLooks like a 5x7 Graflex to me. http://graflex.org/articles/series-d/ Lange's GraflexI own a 5x7" Press Graflex, and looking at the size of her hand compared to the size of the camera, I think this camera is a 4x5" Graflex, not a 5x7". The arrangement of the metal parts on the side that is visible would identify it as a Series D or Super D, which is a later camera than my Press Graflex. Dorothea Lange took theDorothea Lange took the famous (if not somewhat controversial) picture called Migrant Mother. GraflexIt's a Graflex, looks like it might be a 5 x7, but must be at least 4 x 5. I would guess it's older than this one, as I doubt it is a Series D http://graflex.org/articles/series-d/ Now that's a Camera!!!!Hi There, Looks more like a 4x5 Series D, than a 4x5 Super D. The super has the chrome-plated struts on the hood / top lid. Also by the looks of it, she has a Bag Mag mounted on the back (horizontal position) which doesn't work on a 4x5 Super D with the Graflock back. I have a 3x4 RB Graflex series D, a 4x5 RB Graflex series D, and have owned a 4x5 super D. Unless she was a very tall woman, my money would be on the 4x5 size. A 5x7 Graflex SLR is a monster of a camera. I don't think it is a series B as the front door that covers the lens has the flaps on the sides that act as a lens hood. As far as I know they were only on the series D, Super D, and big 5x7 models. Does anyone know how tall she was....that would help. Cheers Rob DL's cameraIt sure looks to me like a Series D, not a Super D, which weren't produced until 1948 (in the 4x5 size). It looks like a 4x5 to me, I have one and the proportions look right. DL wasn't a very big woman so I think a 4x5 would look just like that in her hands. I love my Graflex(es). If you get one you tend to get more. Great photo. I would also love to know what those sneakers are! Dorothea Lange's CameraIt is a Graflex Super D 4X5 SLR Don't think it is 1936See the plate: California 1938 [The plate says 1936. - Dave] So...If this is Lange and her camera, who's taking the picture... and with what? [Somebody else. With a camera. Next! - Dave] Photo by Rondale PartridgeThe photo is by Rondale Partridge, son of Imogen Cunningham. Dorothea is holding a Graflex 4x5 single lens reflex camera, which took sheet film. The flap in the front covers the lens, popping open to reveal the view. There is a big mirror at a 45 degree angle which transfers the image up onto the ground glass, essentially sitting on top of the camera box. The top pops up and the viewing hood folds up. The photographer looks down at the glass through the little rectangular opening at the very top, viewing the image that is flipped upside-down and backward, like all view cameras or similar SLR cameras such as a Hasselblad -- it works the same way. The camera could be hand-held, and the big negative made for great quality. You can see her left thumb on the shutter release. When the photographer trips the lever, the lens stops down, the mirror goes up against the ground glass, the light heads straight back through the camera flipping upside down and backward as the image always does through a lens, and at the end of all that mechanical clunking around, the fabric shutter at the very back of the camera, right in front of the film, slides up and allows the light to expose the film. The photographer then changes the film to the next sheet and resets the camera for the next image. They are beautiful cameras and some photographers find restored cameras just like this one and still use them. I would love to have one, but they are quite rare and expensive. Edward Weston also used this camera to photograph people and his models when doing nudes. Dorothea 's shoesThe shoes of Dorothea looks like Converse. [They're Goodrich Posture Foundation sneakers ("P.F. Flyers"). - Dave] Dorothea's cameraHer camera is 100% guaranteed 4x5 Graflex RB Series D. They were never made in the 5x7 size. The Camera, The Sneakers, The Car ... Oh MyYou are all focused on really Fantastic aspects of this image, But, for me, with No doubt, the Star, the pioneer here is Dorothea. I have not seen her before this photo, but I'm instantly intrigued by her, and nothing else in this photo. I would have loved to have spent a day with her on location. Anywhere. I'm betting she was cool AF to hang out with and certainly left us a lot of Amazing images to enjoy. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Dorothea Lange, Great Depression, Portraits)
535-07-5248 and Wife
... this picture was taken.) Medium format safety negative by Dorothea Lange. View full size . Wow, and is she hot. Wow. She's kind of hot ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2020 - 3:52pm -

Oregon, August 1939. "Unemployed lumber worker goes with his wife to the bean harvest. Note Social Security number tattooed on his arm." (And now a bit of Shorpy scholarship / detective work. A public records search shows that 535-07-5248 belonged to one Thomas Cave, born July 1912, died in 1980 in Portland. Which would make him 27 years old when this picture was taken.) Medium format safety negative by Dorothea Lange. View full size. Wow, and is she hot.Wow. She's kind of hot too. Well, I am not showing proper respect for history either. Wow. He's kind of hot.Wow. He's kind of hot. I am really not showing the proper respect for history. She'sno slouch either as long as you're on the subject. I'm loving this series of Dust Bowl era pics. I have known a few people who back then had their number on their arm upside down so they could read it. Relative?He's my brother's namesake, which makes me wonder if we're related. Can you get more information from Social Security numbers, other than name and d.o.b./d.o.d.? I'm Australian, so I don't know anything about the system. [The dates and place of death (Portland, Oregon) are the only information given. - Dave] Hey- Even grandpas were sexyHey- Even grandpas were sexy in their day! SSDIYou can search the Social Security Death Index (available at Ancestry.com, among other places) and it will tell you dob/dod plus last residence. You can also generate the form to send to the Social Security office to request (purchase) a copy of the original application which will give a little more information. I'm impressed with how well groomed they both are. Sure he's got stains on his trousers, but his hair is combed and (except for the mustache) he is clean-shaven. In the background, his wife is wearing what looks like a fairly stylish dress and her pose looks like it could have come out of a fashion magazine. They certainly do not look like the tired and downtrodden people we've seen in other pictures. Makes me wonder what he did before and how long they've been following the harvest. [He was, as the caption says, a lumber worker. - Dave] Pierce Brosnan?He bears an uncanny resemblance to Pierce Brosnan when he as in The Matador. Or, I guess I should say, Pierce Brosnan bears an uncanny resemblance to him. See for yourself: http://tinyurl.com/2gga3j They managedThey managed to keep clean and she looked pretty good They're both veryThey're both very attractive! The Depression was tough, even for the good-lookin'.. :) Hubba!What a babe! :) There are just so manyThere are just so many awesome things about this photo. The elegant beauty of the woman. The handsome man with pipe. The tattoo on the arm with his Social Security number of all things. Then to be able to search them out by using his social and modern technology. It's just a treat! Thomas CaveTHOMAS CAVE born: 02 Jul 1912 death: Jun 1980 last residence: Portland, Multnomah, OR 535-07-5248 Oregon Death Index Name: Thomas Urs Cave Spouse: Annie Birth: 1912 Death: dd mm 1980 - Multnomah U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 Name: Thomas U Cave Birth: 1912 Military: 29 Oct 1942 - Portland, Oregon Residence: Oregon, Multnomah, Oregon U.S. Veterans Gravesites Name: Cave, Thomas U Thomas U Cave Birth: 2 Jul 1912 Death: 4 Jun 1980 Military: 12 Nov 1942 Military: 4 Feb 1946 Pierce Brosnan?I think he looks more like a younger Treat Williams. www.movievillains.com/images/xanderdrax.jpg Well now, he's obviously aWell now, he's obviously a Dapper Dan man! A treat, indeed! Wish weA treat, indeed! Wish we could interview this couple now and ask them about those times. I'll bet they'd say it wasn't such a bad time of their lives. They had each other... Perhaps we people have forgotten what's really important in life. SmokeIt was a inexpensive pleasure back then Harder TimesTimes were harder back then, and arguably so were the people. I'm struck by how much older than I he looks as we are both the same age. Makes me wonder if he had a great head start on life experiences at 27, and I'm lazily slow-poking my way through life. Maybe I should just count myself blessed to live in such times of relative ease and prosperity. Actually, it probably has more to do with the fact that he could actually grow facial hair at this point in his life...but I think I'm going to stick with the "harder times" thesis : ) Or more smoke?Maybe it was all the smoking those people did that aged them? Imagine being flat broke, having to live under a tarp, and still spending money on tobacco! Social Security Number? PricelessNot thrilled that so much is revealed with a SSN search. Somebody is probably getting a credit card in his name right about now. Re: Harder TimesI think that it was a product of responsibility. People back then were given greater responsibility at a much younger age and had a lot more expectations back then. SSNI asked the Library of Congress to upload the .tiff file so we could read his SSN. It could be a 9, not a 4. The LOC librarian took out the original negative but could not be sure either. I agree, Thomas Cave makes more sense because the other option, Clarence Horn, was born in 1917. That man does not look 22. But, often writing history comes down to this kind of reasoning and, hopefully, corroboration. Unfortunately, Thomas Cave's 1942 enlistment document lists him as "divorced, with dependents." That might not be accurate for a whole host of reasons, especially he does not show up on the 1930 Federal Census. I'd like to believe she was the "Annie" listed as his spouse on his death certificate. History doesn't kill romance; it just makes sure it's true. Tobacco was a standard ration in the Depression. Do note the date of death, however. He died at 67. That said, there is no dress rehearsal for life. Times were tough, in a way we can only begin to imagine today. Scurvy: can you give me lists of those tatooed numbers or maybe let me interview you about the people you knew? If anyone wants to know more about the conditions in which this man and woman lived during the Depression, please do not hesitate to ask. I am teaching the photo tomorrow and am introducing my students to the kind of enterprising research and insight I've seen reflected in this list. Bravo. (And yes, he's hot--my students agree). Dr. Kate Sampsell-Willmann Assistant Professor of American History and Photographic Historian Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar ksw29@georgetown.edu Re: SSNThe TIFF is already on the LOC site for anyone to download. Here's the number in question. 535-07-5248. Maybe you are not using the highest resolution file available. (There are two.) LookalikesUnfortunately I don't have a picture to prove it, but he looks like my brother in law at that age. Rich is Greek and Irish. I wonder what nationality Thomas Cave was. [His nationality was American. Ethnicity? - Dave] SSN numberHi Dave: As a professor of history, the LOC uploaded the highest res photo on my request. The LOC librarian examined the neg with a magnifying glass and could get no greater detail. Unfortunately, writing a 9 with an exaggerated bottom hook was common handwriting practice in the '30s (as it in in Western Europe today). Also, the tattoo was not doen with a gun. A 4 with an open top would have been easier to do than a curved 9. If it is indeed a 4, the tattooist made the job harder on himself by closing the top of the 4. If you notice, the straight lines in the 3 and 7 are more distinct than the curved lines. Quite honestly, it looks like my Dad's handwriting (1924-1991, US Army 1942-1946). In some ways, we cannot believe our eyes when looking at old pictures. We have to see them in their historical context. Also, the the letters are SSA not SSN. They stand for Social Security Administration. SSN did not become a common acronym until after World War II. The first SSNs were issued in 1935, a year before this picture. The New Deal agencies were referred to back then as "the alphabet agencies" and then "alphabet soup." For example, Lange, a photographer working for the RA, had previously worked for FERA (forerunner of today's FEMA) and later the FSA, took the picture under the auspices of the USDA. Before the New Deal, government was much smaller, and, saving the USDA, these "alphabetics" (as they were also called) did not exist. There were dozens. For a great read on the Depression (that assumes no prior knowledge of the era), I recommend Robert McElvaine, _The Great Depression: America, 1929-1941_. We have to take all the facts, inside and outside the image, before making sound historical conclusions. But, engaging in ths kind of dialogue is the best way to learn more of our history. I hope that looking at these amazing artifacts of our national past sparks a greater interest in the history, one that is not dependent on memorization of dates and names (which I hate too). History is about feelings and motivations and all manner of human endeavor. Thanks for the opportunity to discuss this picture with you. BTW, if anyone thinks he is an ancestor (his middle name was Urs), is the names "Urs" a common name in your family? I think it might be German. Giving a mother's maiden name as a middle name, or the first name of a parent or grandparent, was common practice in the early 20th c. Because "Urs" is textspeak for "yours," I can't do too much with a quick Google search. Best, Kate Dangling modifiersTouché. I wish my students picked up such things. Kate [Imagine a fact-checking school of piranhas and you basically have our readership. (Kidding!) - Dave] The Trap of the Dangling Modifier>> As a professor of history, the LOC uploaded the highest res photo The LOC is a professor of history? Hmm. UrsThe name “Urs” is common in Switzerland, but not in Austria or Germany. Only the female equivalent, Ursula, is quite common here. SmokingMy father once told me that he started smoking during the Depression because it killed his appetite. You know how some folks worry that if they quit smoking they'll gain weight. He smoked so there would be more food for his brothers and sisters. Unfortunately he like his father and several of his uncles, brothers and sister fell victim to emphysema re: Lookalikes-DaveThanks Dave, that's what I was trying to say. Mind goes blank ever so often and I use the first word I can think of. Old age and drugs are he-- on a mind. Urs, smoking, and identityI think Urs is also an old Celtic name. I still don't get why he doesn't show up in the 1930 census. Anyone on the list in Multnomah, Oregon? He's buried at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland: Col-2, Row 382, Site B. Maybe they have a next of kin on record to whom the picture can be shown? His 1980 death cert. lists an Annie as spouse, but his enlistment record lists him as divorced with dependents. Don't know if the woman is Annie (before they got married) or the former Mrs. Cave. Every generation thinks it invented premarital sex and cohabitation. In the 1920s and 1930s, it was pretty common in all strata of society. Sometimes in the Depression, the especially hard-hit would not bother to get a formal divorce; people would just leave. He also might have been a Wobbly. 1935 is kind of late, but they were always strongest in the West: mining and timber. Another thing bothers me about his "identity": Thomas Cave's enlistment record has him at 5'6" and 156 pounds. I know there are ways to judge height of sitting people with software, but that's beyond me at the moment. My father used to cup his cigarettes in his hand until he quit in the 1980s, "so the snipers couldn't get a fix." That's why it's "unlucky" to light 3 cigarettes with one flame, so says my Vietnam Vet husband. Remember the old WWII movies, "smoke-em if you got-em, boys." I think I also remember my Dad saying something about the tobacco killing hunger in the Depression. Dad was a tenant farmer 'til he went off to war. Pregnant women were encouraged to smoke to stop morning sickness. Tobacco use was ubiquitous. The Red Cross even handed out cigarettes in the 1931 drought. Best, Kate re: to Kate Urs, smoking, and identityThanks for the info Kate. Maybe he and the woman in the picture weren't really married. Interesting, and I agree about the "premarital sex and cohabitation". I couldn't believe my ears when I finally was told the stories about my family ;o) My dad used to do that with his cigarettes too. He never said why however, but now I know :) TattooYou mention that you don't think the tattoo was put on with a machine. As a tattooer for 17 years I can pretty much assure you that it was. That kind of serif style and the continuity of size would be impossible for a novice to achieve using a hand-poke method. Thomas CaveThomas Cave, 1912-1980. Kind of WeirdThis is one of my favorite pictures I've seen here on Shorpy. For some reason, these two make me think of Rooster and Lily from "Annie." Looking Back to NowThere are some historic photographs -- and they are rare indeed -- that somehow manage to look as if they were shot in the present, just yesterday. This is one such. I'm not speaking of the people exactly but the manner in which they enter the camera. Not all of Dorothea Lange's (or other commercial photographers of any era) manage to convey such "magic" but this one does. It took my breath away when I first saw it (elsewhere) last month. A handsome rakeNot sure if this fits the bill, but I'd nominate this pic for the Handsome Rakes gallery. I'll bet people walked up to him and told him he looked like Errol Flynn. His girl is on the pretty side as well, though I think we have pictures aplenty in the pretty girls gallery! Movie star looksHe reminds me of Errol Flynn. Maybe it's the mustache? Two more photos of Thomas CaveTwo more of Lange's photos of Thomas Cave (neither quite so interesting visually as the one here) came up via the LOC's "Neighboring Call Numbers" browser: LC-USF34-020536-E and LC-USF34-020538-E. In the second of these, Cave appears to be deliberately displaying his Social Security number tattoo. Perhaps he was a true believer in the promises that it represented. Other photos from this group of 30 identify the bean harvest locale as "Oregon, Marion County, near West Stayton." "Cute Boys"?We have "Bathing Girls!" and "Pretty Girls" categories; when, oh when, will "Cute Boys!" be created? Along with Mr. Cave, "Powerhouse Mechanic and Steam Pump" should be included! Yowza is it getting warm in here? [Look at the tags above the photo. The category you're describing already exists. - Dave] Bean Pickers, Marion County, OregonMy father's family left Oklahoma in 1934 headed for California, and by 1939 would have been permanently settled in Marion County, still picking other people's crops and working odd jobs. None of my family from my father's generation, or the one before his, is still alive, but it does make me wonder if they might have encountered this handsome couple back then. First Generation LifelockMr Cave's efforts to protect himself against identity theft were, perhaps, not so well thought out. PragmaticI think he is a pragmatic man, his circumstances make it quite possible that he will be found dead at the side of the road or in a ditch. The number on his arm makes identification possible. Mofred InfoHere he is, with three wives, on FamilySearch: Tillman Thomas Ursel Cave 2 July 1912 – 4 June 1980 https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GQL8-S8Z A little bit more about Thomas U. CaveAll this information was found via the newspaper archive at genealogybank.com. (I would have just posted links to save space, but it is a paid site.) In the June 4, 1949 issue of The Oregonian, there is a birth announcement that Mr. and Mrs. Thomas U. Cave gave birth to a daughter on May 28. Then, on Sept. 22, 1950, another announcement that another daughter (Juanita L.) was born on Sept. 13. An address is included in both announcements. Then, a tragic story from the May 4, 1952 issue: "Kelso Grid Star Dies in Collision". It reads: KELSO, Wash. May 3 (AP) - Richard "Rip" Raappana, 24, well-known southwest Washington athlete, was killed early Saturday. His automobile swerved into a Consolidated Freightways truck and trailer a mile north of here on the Pacific Highway, the state patrol reported. Louise N. Robinson, 21, Longview, a passenger in his car, was injured critically. The state patrol said the truck driver was Thomas U. Cave, 39, of Portland. Raappana was an all-round athlete at Kelso high. He played college football for Eastern Washington college at Cheney and last fall was with the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. No Golds Gym HereWhat impresses me most is that his nice body is most likely due to heavy labor, not lifting weights in a gym. LooksHe looks like David Gandy, one of the top male models of the last 10 years We know him as 535-07-5248But his wife just called him "5". I think she's got kind of the Dorothy Lamour vibe: Who knew History could be so HandsomeI love checking out Shorpy everyday, and it's a double pleasure when such a handsome picture pops up. Service DetailsThe grave marker said he was a Sgt during WWII. One of the lucky ones to have made it to the end after enlisting in 1942. Does anyone have the ability to look up his service record? Would love to know what he did and where he was during WWII. Reminds me of Freddie MercuryBritish musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Queen. Late to the game, but --I have a little more information about this man, if anyone is interested. Anyone looking on a genealogy/records site might have some trouble finding him under the name Thomas Urs Cave, because it looks like his real name was Tillman Thomas Urs Cave. I initially found a census record for a Thomas U Cave in 1940. At the time he was renting a house in Shasta, Oregon, and stated that he was a truck driver who had an eighth grade education. He was also married - but not to Annie (Ann Kathryn per the grave marker?). His wife was a woman named Vivian, who was a fruit picker on a farm. I believe Vivian is the lady in the photograph. But that was it, beyond the service records/SSA death record already posted about. But a census record for 1920 caught my eye because the young boy, Tilman T Cave, had a sister called Juanita - the same name Thomas gave his daughter in 1949 per the newspaper announcement. In 1920 Tilman and Juanita lived with their parents, Tilman B and Sarah N Cave, on a farm in Buckham, Oregon. A possible match, but not 100% guaranteed. Searches for the name Tilman Cave, though, found three good records: - a 1918 WWI draft registration for a Tillman Benjamin Cave, wife Sadie, both living in Buckham, Oregon - a 1930 census record for Benjamin T and Sadie N Cave in Los Angeles, California - a 1940 census record for Benjamin T and Sadie N Cave in Portland, Oregon I realize the names change during this time. I've known plenty of people who go by their middle name, which would account for Tillman Benjamin becoming Benjamin T, and it's possible that Sadie is a pet name for Sarah given the shared middle initial of 'N'. As for the sudden jump from Oregon to LA and back, I'm guessing a lot of people migrated for possible work. The clincher record: a 1934 marriage record of a Tillman T.U. Cave to a Vivian Couture (both residents of Multnomah County, Oregon) in Washington State. The witnesses' signatures are Benjamin Cave and Saddie [sic] Cave. Unfortunately I still can't find Tillman or Thomas Cave in the 1930 census, but we're at the mercy of both the census-takers and transcribers here. I've found faults from both before (a prime example: the census of 1940 says Vivian worked as a picker on a Fruit Farm, but it has been transcribed in the index as a Kunt Farm. I don't even want to imagine what one of those would be.) He's probably out there somewhere. All of this isn't 100% proof, but that's hard to get without a chain of vital records. If any of the previous posters are still reading this, or new readers comes across this, I hope you find this information of interest! Relationship dynamicsHer place on the photo, uncomfortable body language and wary eyes as if the photographer was an attractive woman. My Great-GrandmaI loved reading all the comments. Yes, this is a picture of my great-grandma Vivian. My grandmother recounted the story to me. A photographer came into camp and because of this, no one was allowed to go work while the photographer went tent to tent taking pictures. Hence the death stare she was giving. They lost out on an entire day’s wages because this guy wanted to take their picture. And yes, my grandma remembers it as a man who came even though it is credited to Dorothea Lange. I know very little of the man in the picture. I do however know that my grandma is not resting in peace next to him. What I remember of Grandma Vivian is how her house was in the middle of the woods and she had a pet deer that would visit her daily and she would let it in the house. She had the most beautiful flowers around her property. And she always wore a head scarf. She died when I as around 3 years old. My Cooper cousinTillman Thomas Cave was my cousin, he was married at least twice. Vivian Couture (pictured), I have some photos of her and she worked for Kaiser Mills in Portland, Oregon. She had a photo ID indicating she was 5'9", Tillman was 5'6". She was a slender dark haired dark eyed girl and her half brother Melvin was lighter haired with very blue eyes. Tillman's full name is Tillman Thomas Ursel Cave, born July 2, 1912, died June 4, 1980. He married Vivian on July 3, 1934. They were together seven to nine years. He later married Ann Kathryn Bloom. His name Cave had been shortened from Cavendish at some point. (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Great Depression, Handsome Rakes)
Valley Boy: 1939
... what that boy can pick." View full size. Photograph by Dorothea Lange. Dorothea Lange DL bores right into her subjects and trips the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/03/2012 - 11:36am -

August 1939. Migratory boy in squatter camp. Has come to Yakima Valley, Washington, for the third year to pick hops. Mother: "You'd be surprised what that boy can pick." View full size. Photograph by Dorothea Lange. Dorothea LangeDL bores right into her subjects and trips the shutter at the perfect moment to capture the despair and grinding hopelessness found among many who endured the Depression. But at the same time, amazingly, she also manages to capture the set of the subject's jaw or the look in their eye that says "just you wait, we're a great nation, we'll be back" attitude they seemed to possess. Amazing and astonishing, indeed. Thank you. Denny Gill Chugiak, Alaska Holy Cow - awesome captureThis image strikes like few others. It's right up there with the other touchstone images from Depression. The innocence of youth tinged with the questioning of why life has to be so hard. I would LOVE to know what this child was thnking when the picture was taken and what kind of life he ended up living. Dorothea Lange = stupefyingDorothea Lange = stupefying YakimaHaving grown up in Yakima, I can tell you this picture could have been taken 2 years ago ... you couldn't tell the difference! (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Kids)
Cracker Barrel: 1939
... of store owner stands in doorway." 4x5 nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Admin. View full size. Country Store ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/28/2022 - 6:28pm -

July 1939. Gordonton, N.C. "Country store on dirt road. Sunday afternoon. Note kerosene pump on the right and the gasoline pump on the left. Rough, unfinished timber posts have been used as supports for porch roof. Negro men sitting on the porch. Brother of store owner stands in doorway." 4x5 nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Admin. View full size. Country StoreLook how the threshold is worn down. A lot of repeat customers have passed through that door. Gasoline PumpI remember old stores like this growing up in Dyer County Tennessee. Those old gas pumps were all mechanical with no electrical power, notice the hand crank, you pushed the crank back and forth to pump the gasoline up into the glass container at the top which had gallon markings, then you put the hose nozzle into your tank and it was gravity fed until the container was empty. Overalls and a tieI love it. The second guy from the right might be living in tough times, but he's still cool enough to make that look good. Set a SpellThe only thing lacking here is an old hound dog lying around somewhere ... under the porch or in the yard. Is that 22 cents on the gas pump?? Wow! Great picture. 'nother onewhat a great picture! untold histories laid right out there. Go DaveI don't know how to describe humor but I know it when I see it . . . ROTFL Dave as in David Hall, I presume - this blog is awesome. [Yes, that's me. Hi, Tom! - Dave] BOOM!Anybody else notice that the gentleman on the far left is sitting right next to the gas pump AND smoking a cigarette?! [At least he's not holding a baby! - Dave] 22 cents in 1939According to this inflation calculator, 22 cents in 1939 was the equivalent of $3.04 in 2006. Gas wasn't really so cheap back then. What, No WiFi?A wonderful composition. Hollywood set designers would poor [?] of this type of picture to recreate rural America in the 1930s. Life before the Internet sure looks simple. Lotus07@gmail.com Homepage: http://www.bruceandsueinencanto.com 22 centsThat 22 can't be correct for gas a gallon--unless it didn't change for 35 years or so! [22 cents per gallon is correct. Click here for a chart showing historical gasoline prices in the United States. From the 1920s to 1970s the pump price of a gallon of gas changed very little. And adjusted for inflation, it's about the same now as it was in 1920. - Dave] ChickensThe casual nature of the chicken-keeping situation . . . is awesome! Wha?Is that Dave Chappelle on the left there? Country StoreI love the props under the porch, stacks of stones with bits of timber at the top! The accumulation of Stuff has taken off, the ads, the little Pepsi-Cola off to the side, the BIG Coca-Cola! Great shot. Extraordinary textureThe image is beautifully composed, and (I think) truthfully depicts a country store in the rural south of the 1900s to the 1950s. While it is not entirely clear if this is a "plantation" store, the evidence appears to be that it is independent. Note the sign that says "sell your tobacco". The distinction is important. Independent rural stores sold on a cash basis (though there was also credit). Plantation stores existed largely an extension of the sharecropping economy and "furnished" their hands with credited food and household items until the crops were brought in. There were widespread abuses as plantation owners cooked the books. The cedar posts on the porch were selected to withstand rot and insects, and the stone pillars under the joists that support the floor also were selected to withstand moisture and insects. And the store was open on a Sunday. No blue laws in the countryside, I suppose. All those signs...It looks like the inside of a Crackerbarrel restaurant. Georgia, 1950s?I'd be willing to bet that this is 1954 or 1955, in southern Georgia.The fourth guy from the left has a new pair of bib overalls,but with a wide top. The top of these got narrower in the early sixties. Some of the tin signs on the wall date to the early'30s, and I would expect that the building dates to the late 1890s, with some updates in the late teens or early twenties. All guesses, but I've been dealing with old photos for a long time as a museum dude, and have spent a lot of time in the south. Again--Just guessing. [The caption is correct as is. Note the sign "Sell your tobacco in Roxboro." - Dave] Country store of all country storesI am only on page 434, so it is hoped that I am not too premature, but this has to be the best of the lot. It depicts the rural South minus the hard times between people. It is one of the greatest shots I have ever seen in print. This picture was taken in Person County, NCFor those of you who have pondered the origins of this photo, it is indeed a photo taken at a country store in Roxboro, N.C. This was called Bayne's Store and we do get a lot of questions and email here at the museum pertaining to this picture. It is a wonderful snapshot of a period and location in history in which racism doesn't seem to be at the forefront of the community and there are still several community stores around here today where a picture similar to this one could still be captured. Country Store 2010My wife and I found the building and took theses pics. http://www.panoramio.com/user/1811082/tags/Gordonton Born the same year as the creation of this image, the current owner is the nephew of the man in the doorway. The store stopped operating in the mid forties whereupon it was used as a tobacco curing barn. It would be terrific if this structure could be preserved. Only thing I don't recognizeThe small gray box mounted on the right side of the window above the last man on the right (in blue shirt). Looks like an electric panel but a tad too modern for the period? It's gone in the recent pictures taken by Cole Image. Anyone have any idea of what that is? [Cutler-Hammer junction box. - Dave] Set a SpellWas in Gordonton on May 11, 2011. The building is still there, talked to the owner, and he said they are trying to get the historical society to restore it. Wish them all the luck. Its a great old building. He took us inside to see everything there. Out of the Dark AgesRE: Electrical box The date of the photo and the apparent newness of the object are all consistent with what was going on in NC at the time. I did a little research and found out that in 1930, only 3% of NC farms had electricity. By 1935 it had grown to 11% and by 1961 93% of rural farms and residences had electricity. So, by 1939, it appears this store had their wiring installed sometime during the early period of electrification and that new box is a good example of one of the period. The men are smiling because that soft drink is ice cold! More on the buildingThe building is still standing and I photographed it. And I met the great-nephew of the man standing in the doorway. In addition, this almost exact setting is used in the American Adventure at Epcot (see photo in link). My story and photos are here. KolorizedLest we forget, this was colorized by a fellow Shorpy-ite. https://www.shorpy.com/node/11281 Not a lost artI disagree with Sewickley. Club I belong to does not have a working TV. Everyone I know there are chatting and joking. No working TVs, only a broken one. Yes, there are times technology (computer or cell phone) comes into play, but it does not dominate. Conversation and good cheer dominate. The Lost ArtWhat's the lost art? Just sitting and talking with your neighbors. Look at their faces, and it's clear that they're fully present, living in the moment. Today, you're unlikely to find six men gathered together. If you did find them, they'd be staring blankly at a television. Watching the storeHere is the Google Street View. The store is in Gordonton, NC. Spin around to the other side of Wheelers Church Road and you'll see a house maybe as old as the store. I'm going to believe this is where the brother-owner lived and from which veranda he kept an eye on his store. Well wornThe front step reminds me of the steps going to the basement in an old hardware store I worked at in high school. The steps were so worn in the middle they were at least half an inch thinner in the middle than at the ends. Coveralls and Tie GuyLife has blessed me with a lot of luck: I'm a white American male in the 21st century. But, just one day in my life, I surely would like to look that cool! (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Gas Stations, Rural America, Stores & Markets)
Migrant Mother: 1936
... camp. Mother of seven children. Age thirty-two." Photo by Dorothea Lange. View full size. Wonderful Simply one of the greatest images ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/04/2018 - 10:37pm -

        The anonymous subject of this famous Depression-era portrait known as "Migrant Mother" came forward in the late 1970s and was revealed to be Florence Owens Thompson. She died in 1983. February 1936. Nipomo, California. "Destitute pea pickers living in tent in migrant camp. Mother of seven children. Age thirty-two." Photo by Dorothea Lange. View full size. WonderfulSimply one of the greatest images in photographic history. The desperation in her eyes will always haunt me. Very powerful indeed.Very powerful indeed. ThinkingIf only we knew what she was thinking. about the subjecthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Owens_Thompson Anonymous TipsterThanks for the link with the info. About the pic. That was great. More on the subjectHere is a link for more in depth information on the famous photo. http://tinyurl.com/yntpzk Thirty-two years old...She looks to be about 45. The strain this woman must have been under... Why?Why didn't she get some training and become a member of the wealthy elite class as the CEO of a BIG corporation. Or, become a sports or entertainment star? You commoners deserve your fates. where are her kids now?where are her kids now? GrandsonHere's a link to a site presumably written by Florence Thompson's grandson that answers some questions about the family: http://www.migrantgrandson.com/the.htm Migrant mother's childThe daughter is in Modesto, Calif., and was recently burned out of her home. http://www.modbee.com/local/story/104433.html Golden DreamsIn the Golden Dreams show at Disney's California adventure, they re-created Dorothea Lange taking this picture and the people in the video looked SO much like the real deal, it's spooky. I loved this photo in the film and I'm very happy to find it on Shorpy. Thumb RemovalNotice that the mother's thumb has been (partially) removed from the post in the lower right hand corner. You can see the ghost of it. I always heard it had been removed but this is the first time I have seen a clear enough print to see the removal work. The photographer thought the thumb was a distraction. Sign of the timesShe looks a lot older than she might today for a couple reasons. One is malnutrition. When the draft started in World War 2 the Army was complaining about all the recruits they bounced because of nutritional diseases (scurvy, rickets). By 1946 the government started a school lunch program to keep people from starving in the recession after the war. I get a kick out of people who are idiots waxing on about the good old days. The good old days were where you maybe lived until 43 if you didn't die of some disease, alcoholism, accident on the job, malnutrition, or in childbirth. Migrant Mother's DaughterInterviewed here, on CNN. (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Kids, Rural America)
Pop Kola: 1939
... seen here two years ago. 4x5 nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Dental ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/28/2022 - 1:00pm -

July 1939. Gordonton, North Carolina. "Country store on dirt road. Sunday afternoon. Note kerosene pump on the right and the gasoline pump on the left. Rough, unfinished timber posts have been used as supports for porch roof. Negro men sitting on the porch. Brother of store owner stands in doorway." Our second look at this establishment, seen here two years ago. 4x5 nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Dental SnuffThat sign is the only one that survives according to Google. All of those other signs are gone. See the comment "Improvements" below. Maybe the "American Pickers" added some of those to their collection. Smoke 'em if ya got 'emI guess since no one is actually pumping gasoline at the moment, it's OK to be smoking. Somehow these folks are not quite as sophisticated as the gents in the cigarette ads. Priceless junkI'll bet the "American Pickers" guys would love to just step into that shot and start spreading the cash around. It's everything they dream about. ImprovementsSince 1939, they've painted the sky blue. Click for more. Cannot Live on Bread AloneMust also have soda pop and tobacco products. Curious that nothing else is advertised and that 71 years later those two evil items seem to be the root of all health problems. We must be slow learners. Orphaned ShoeThere it is! Lower right, under the porch. Not under the porchIt's a damn shame that there's no hound dog sleeping down there! Gas PumpAppears to be a Fry Model 117. Immortalized in FloridaIf I'm not mistaken, this scene was almost completely duplicated as a stage set for "The American Adventure" show at EPCOT Center. The gents in the show are or were audio animatronics robots who spoke for a few minutes about the Depression and how not many people would pay 18 cents a gallon for gas. Is this show still in place? American AdventureAnnoying Disney Fan, I was thinking the same thing. The show is indeed still there. The banjo player strums and sings, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" FDR comes over the radio and says, "the only thing we have to fear..." On the LevelI suspect the store owner believed his "unfinished timber posts" added to the rustic charm of his establishment - he obviously could have used plain timbers. The stone supports for the porch have been artfully built up to keep the porch level, so he cared about maintaining appearances. Note to Dave: I am very protective about the quality of your wonderful web site, and I appreciate the necessity for advertising support. However a fine line is crossed when ads expand out of their sidebar location and obscure half the page, as the Jack in the Box ad did tonight. Making the reader reach up and close the ad is cheesy and impertinent. This Shack in the Present DayThat store in Gordonton has been documented in the present day! I like the previous shorpy picture betterIn the last picture they were just talking amongst themselves. This one most of them have turned to look at the Camera. It just looses something now. Chicken catching or "catchin"I revisited this picture and now see what I missed before. There is a chicken crate barely visible under the left side of the building. I went to high school one year in a small town in the south. On Friday nights sometimes chicken farmers would come to town and pick up boys and men to work the chicken houses. The workers would run around and catch the chickens in the houses, throw them in crates like the one shown. They would load them on the trucks for market. They say some of the good catchers could grab 4 to 6 chickens by the feet with one hand. Bell BottomsDid anyone else notice the boy under the coke sign wearing the trousers from an old Navy blue uniform. The suspenders are a classy touch, but probably more a necessity than a fashion statement. Great PictureThis is really a great picture. It captures so much in one shot. Thanks, tipster,for posting the photos by panorino of the current state of the store. And there's nothing like a "Carolina Blue" sky! I wonderwhat a building inspector would say about those deck supports. And yet it seems to have worked, since it's still standing. Navy uniformI wore those navy 13 button trousers for thirteen years and I'd bet that the pants pictured are not navy trousers. If I recall correctly, there was a civilian "style" during those years that resembles what is shown. SupportLooking at the state of the place now, I'd have thought those rocks and tree stumps were added later on as support as the place started to fall down and need maintenance. But nope - looks like they were there all along, piled just like that! Clicking on the previous post is totally worth it, by the way. I LOVE the characters photoshopped in! So cool. Pop Kola cap and a quarterIn 1939 in Corpus Christi, Texas you could take a ride in a Ford Trimotor for 25 cents and a Pop Kola bottle cap. I took such a ride in 1939. This is the first reference to Pop Kola that I have seen in 70 years. Thanks for making my day. Now that's marketing.Pop Kola. So when Yankees come down and ask for a "pop" you can give them one. "Pop Kola. People ask for it by name. Even when they don't mean to." What did they sell?I am looking at signs on stores like this and think that they didn't sell anything except cola and cigarets. ColorizedClick to enlarge. [Wow!! I made this into a a separate post here. - Dave] (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Gas Stations, Rural America, Stores & Markets)
Migrant Daughter: 1936
... Sacramento, California." Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. It's ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/11/2017 - 4:26pm -

        UPDATE (2017): Thanks to the sleuthing of journalist Tori Cummins and historian Joe Manning, we now know the identity of the young woman in this photo: Ruby Nell Shepard (1916-1970). You can read her story on Joe's website. November 1936. "Daughter of migrant Tennessee coal miner. Living in American River camp near Sacramento, California." Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. It's in the eyesFantastic. I wonder where her mind is. The crease where her hand meets her forehead shows just how heavy her head, and perhaps her heart, is. I like how she has her left elbow resting on her right wrist draped over her knee. When you have a bony elbow (like I do) it makes those long introspections slightly more comfortable. Ms Lange sure knew how to capture a moment. Another outstanding photo in a wonderful repertoire. LangeI am amazed how Dorothea Lange continually found beauty in pathos. Wow ...I can't imagine what's going through her mind ... but she is absolutely beautiful. T.G.O.W.It's like seeing Rosasharn from Grapes of Wrath. A true beautyThose young hands appear to have known hard work, and that right there is the look of lost love, if you ask me. BreathtakingHer beauty, the pathos, the stories it makes you wonder about in your head -- I might actually like this one more than "Migrant Mother." Devotion to her father? Trapped by duty? Lost sweetheart? Dreams of running away? Dreams already fading? Incredible photograph. Lange was a master of the character study, wasn't she. RubyThe Oakland museum of photography has other photos of this girl, one of which is "Ruby from Arkansas." Oh, women...All that hard work and she still found the time to wave her hair. Don't think I'm smack talking - I'm on here waiting for my flatiron to heat up! Happiness At Last!After reading her story on Joe's website, I can say that at last she found a happiness that only few women can attain in life. A man that adored her, a great adventure with the one she loved, and skills (making clothes) that have now, sadly disappeared (mostly). Kudos to Joe for the most fascinating story. I see a wonderful movie from this and Dianne Lane as the older Ruby, Not sure who would play the younger. Well done Dave for giving this glimpse into a life that (for the most part) turned out well. Spectacular sleuthingThanks indeed to Tori and Joe for Ruby's story. Joe Manning websiteI just read the story about Ruby. She actually looks a lot happier in the photos from the 40's. She was a good looking woman. Sadly cancer doesn't spare anyone. Tori Masucci Cummins and Joe Manning did an excellent research on Ruby. Thank you Joe and Tori!It is so satisfying to learn what became of people in these photographs and know that eventually life got better. Great job Joe and Tori! Joe Manning strikes again!The last time I read one of Joe's stories was the cotton mill girl, Eddy. Incredible journalism. [Well done, sir.] Ruby had a beauty that became rather elegant, as we can see by the 1969 picture. Gazing into the face we see here, you can tell she doesnt know that better days are ahead. A profound look of uncertainty. As Laura said, the look of a love lost. (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Great Depression)
Shovel-Ready: 1937
... root hog or die for us folks." Large format negative by Dorothea Lange for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. When Poor ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/28/2013 - 4:24pm -

February 1937. Calipatria, California. Native of Indiana in a migratory labor contractor's camp. "It's root hog or die for us folks." Large format negative by Dorothea Lange for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. When Poor Was Really PoorAn unfortunate time that many today would find totally untenable, yet these folks somehow made it. Thankfully, most of their children thrived in the 50s and 60s. Like the old John Wayne movie, these people had "True Grit". She looks like one tough lady.Hope things got better for her as time went on. Agree, these people were tough. But a lot of people these days have it pretty tough, and they're making it. That has got to be......one of the most haunting photos I've ever seen in my life. Dorothea LangeShe was a real American genius for capturing unpretentious human expression. (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Great Depression)
Pittsburgh: 1941
... photos did not have the pathos and personal drama of Dorothea Lange's work, but more than any other American photographer, he has left an ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/17/2023 - 2:46pm -

June 1941. "Rain. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. I love the rain...This photo immediately brings forth the smell of rain, the hiss of car tires as they pass and the drip drip drip of rainwater off the eaves of the porch. Pittsburgh by VachonThis is a beautiful picture. John Vachon's photos did not have the pathos and personal drama of Dorothea Lange's work, but more than any other American photographer, he has left an invaluable scrapbook of the vernacular American landscape. He is my favorite photographer. What are the towers ...... in the background? Is that another church? Looks Orthodox. Perhaps someone familiar with Pittsburgh will know. A Rainy DayThe person walking with the umbrella really makes the photograph work. You can almost feel the rain.. Pittsburgh PrecipitationI agree with others here about the evocative quality of this photo. Staring at this for a few moments I swear I can hear the rain coming down! Canada Dry SpurCanada Dry Spur ("the cola drink with Canada Dry quality") was Canada Dry's attempt at entering the cola wars. By this time of course the company was owned by P.D. Saylor and Associates and the only connection with Canada was the name. Such a wonderIt's 103 degrees on my front porch (yes, that's in the shade), my part of Arizona hasn't seen rain in 3 or 4 months. Guess whats going on my desktop. Thanks. DSS Look how it falls straight down!Not only can I relate to DSS since we don't get a lot of rain in West Texas, but I'm just amazed at how it's coming *straight down*. (Huge gusts of wind aren't sucking her umbrella inside out, and the rain isn't coming in sideways and raising welts on her skin!) P.S. Not that I'm complaining...I love it here, and my glasses usually protect my eyes from the infrequent SIDEWAYS rainstorms! Tioga Street, PittsburghPittsburgh has a lot of onion-dome ethnic churches all over town. The 1941 City Directory lists a Wm. James Confectionery at 7314 Tioga Street, which is where Point Breeze meets Homewood meets nothing original still standing. This would be east of downtown. South Side P-BurgThis looks like the "South Side" of Pittsburgh and if I am not mistaken, this is an orthodox church which is now the private home and studio of the owner of the number one Pittsburgh chain of hair salons and spas. Morrow TriangleAtlantic ave is a one-way northward running street to the east of downtown. The only intersection that makes a bend like the one photographed is at Liberty and Baum. There are no row homes or churches there now though. The vantage point of the photo is a parklet called Morrow Triangle. The filling station and church are now the site of a car dealer. Unless there was a street name change that the Atlantic ave in the picture is different from the current Atlantic ave I think I'm right. [The "Atlantic" sign is advertising a brand of gasoline. - Dave] It's SouthsideI've lived in Pittsburgh all my life and this shot looks remarkably like the Southside (flats) to me just off Carson Street. Many churches of similar Greek Orthodox venue there. A previous poster indicated he thought that Atlantic sign was a street. It looks like a gas station to me, or something else. It's DeutschtownThis is the corner of Madison and Lockhart, looking west. The church with the onion domes is St. Mary's -- Bavarian Catholic, believe it or not. You can't go and see this intersection anymore since it was destroyed in the 1980s so that the Parkway North could be built. The church is still there, although now it's a hotel. Pressley StreetThe previous comment is correct. That's St. Mary's (now known as the Priory) which sits at 614 Pressley Street. Atlantic GasThe Atlantic sign is for the gas station. Atlantic petroleum was founded in Philly, then eventually acquired by Sunoco in the 80's or 90's. (The Gallery, John Vachon, Pittsburgh)
Try the Train: 1937
... View full size. Medium format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. Magnificent Now THAT is a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/17/2012 - 10:12pm -

California, March 1937. "Toward Los Angeles." View full size. Medium format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. MagnificentNow THAT is a photograph. Such powerful social commentary captured in a single image. Lange couldn't have gotten a better shot. Incredible ShotIt made me think of "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck. Ms. Lange......shows us how it's done. Again. It's like a white rural version of......Margaret Bourke-White's famous shot, "There's No Way Like the American Way", also from 1937. (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Great Depression, Railroads)
Migrant Mother II: 1936
... Arizona entering California." Medium-format negative by Dorothea Lange for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. A different ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/03/2012 - 4:59pm -

August 17, 1936. Blythe, California. "Drought refugees from Oklahoma camping by the roadside. They hope to work in the cotton fields. There are seven in family. The official at the border inspection service said that on this day, 23 carloads and truckloads of migrant families out of the drought counties of Oklahoma and Arkansas had passed through from Arizona entering California." Medium-format negative by Dorothea Lange for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. A different timeMy first day in California was spent in Blythe in January of 1979. I know because that night in the motel room we watched the pilot of "Dukes of Hazzard." The family was headed for LA and I hated every minute I was in that town. I thought Blythe was a miserable town in January. I can't imagine what it was like sitting on the side of the road in August. This photo almost brought tears to my eyes. Whoa!Ohhhhh. So that's what they're used for. DaddyAnother shot by Dorothea. An Exotic CultureIt's a poignant photograph. By the sensibilities of the time, though, one just didn't show photos of women breastfeeding. Unless, of course, the woman was from an exotic and inferior culture, who's whose nakedness was suitable for display in the pages of National Geographic Magazine. One wonders if Dorothea Lange viewed the Okies this way. Sensibilities of the timeI doubt DL would have lasted five minutes if she had had such a patronizing attitude as to view "Okies" as an inferior culture. What she's saying IMHO is, "you sent me to document the indomitable American spirit and this is what I found." The first thing poverty kills is privacy. Sorority SisterTo me she looks amazingly contemporary. Minus the steely gaze and the nursing baby she could be a college girl.I'm sure she's in her early 20s. Straight out of Steinbeck. What a life. Slouching towards BakersfieldStill no room at the inn. StrengthOne of the most strinking and haunting pictures you've found. 'Powerful' is too weak a word. Thank you. Down but not outLook at the set of her jaw and near glare of her eyes. There was a lot of spirit left in this young woman. Ow. Ow. Ow.This is pure pain. This shot, all shots by Dorothea Lange transend time, simply put, each one is "art". IMO, she was the master of photography. I have so much personal pain viewing this that I cannot even comment. A long sleeved shirt?I'd at least have the sleeves rolled up, if that was my only shirt. Every August in Blythe when I passed through, it was 110 or more. And I didn't have air-conditioning in the VW, so I felt every one of those degrees even in a tank top, shorts, and sandals. You don't see any sweat because it evaporates almost instantly in the low, low humidity. My Ozark relatives would say that looking into those young woman's eyes, she got some spunk in 'er! Those were tough times.I like to relate to the pictures on this web page. 1936 was the year I entered the Henry Ford Trade School and now know how fortunate I was. Would like to know what happened to this young lady. Have read that some of these people or their children did quite well in California. Blythe, CA in Augustis hell on Earth under any conditions. This must have been pure misery. MothersThe child looks a little big to be still nursing which would mean this is the only way mom could feed him, Dad looks hopeless while mom looks strong. One of the strongest photos of motherhood I have ever seen. Those EyesEven though this is a still photograph, I believe she has what they would call an unwavering gaze. Those eyes have seen misery and hardship impossible for most of us to imagine. I wish you well, dear woman. Compelling time periodI am a huge fan of researching this time period the images, such as this one, capture moments of raw human emotion. I did a post recently about The Great Depression, using archive photographs to look at the support systems that are put in place to aid people, like the family member shown here. http://www.collectivepic.com/2009/08/the-great-depression-the-current-re... Nursing momI wish we had a breastfeeding tag here. I've seen other babes nursing. The child is definitely not too old to be nursing. It's only been within in the last century that Americans as a whole have put their babies on artificial baby milk or weaned from the breast way too early. The minimum recommended ranges from 12-24 months--and that's a minimum on the breast, not a maximum. I've come across other nursing mother pictures in old photos. I think that it was likely seen as a normal thing to do. Totally modest, there was no accusation of a lack of discretion--this is simply how infants and toddlers are fed and comforted. Hopefully we can move back toward attitudes such as this. This picture is both beautiful and sorrowful. This ladydefinitely has more femininity, modesty and class than modern American women. True BeautyThat is the face of the most beautiful woman I have seen, such strength, love, character. Antibodies, tooThis lovely mother isn't just providing food and comfort for her toddler. She is also passing on her own antibodies, to help protect him from illness, because his own immune system would have still been developing. (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Great Depression)
Elm Grove: 1936
... County, Oklahoma." Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. The girl can ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/15/2014 - 8:47am -

August 1936. "People living in miserable poverty. Elm Grove, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma." Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. The girl can also be seen here. Not so CreepyShe reminds me of "Scout" in To Kill A Mockingbird. Man, those eyes!The girl is even more creepy in this photo than in the other one. And the poverty! This family has really reached rock bottom. Haunting. Elm GroveI have in-laws who live almost at this level today -- in Borneo. Elm GroveFor the cost of your internet connection, your in-laws in Borneo could live like royalty. 1930's Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas were tough places to scratch out a living during the double-whammy of the dust bowl and depression - my family included. I see two fairly healthy-looking kids in the picture - seems Mom was doing a pretty good job considering the circumstances. Damaged ChildI absolutely adore Dorothea Lange's work! Damaged Child--the picture of the girl--is one of my favorites, I'm so delighted to find another picture of her! She reminds me of Sofie (but as a child) in Carnivale, the HBO show I dearly love--and the reason why I got interested in the 1930s and so much more. In fact, all of Dorothea Lange's marvelous work reminds me of Carnivale. Wonderful website by the way! The pictures and graphic design are absolutely stupendous! Civil WarI believe all the poverty/hardship seen in these pictures of the South...can be directly traced to the slash/burn policy of Shermans. THe South espically the slave states.. The war ended in 1865...those born in that year..would have been 40 years old..they in turn had children who carried the burden placed on them...it goes on to present day. however THE SOUTH DID RISE AGAin.. My comments do not reflect the right or wrong of slavery. That topic is still being discuss dailey.. [Check your math. And spelling. - Dave] Ukrainian Security ServiceIt's funny but now SBU (Ukrainian Security Service) tried to prove starvation in Ukraine with Shorpy photos. http://varjag-2007.livejournal.com/687279.html Waiting for new collage. Boot camp luxuryI would say this boy was about 11 when this was taken. The war was a little over five years away. I would bet that, by 1942, he had enlisted in some branch of the service. I would also bet that he did not take part in the widespread complaining about the cooking and accommodations on stateside bases. "SOS" and a bunk in a barracks, complete with indoor plumbing, would have been luxury compared to what we see in this picture. (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Great Depression, Kids)
Zines & Beans: 1938
... I really enjoy all the photos, the depression era by Dorothea Lange, And the photos of the old cars. Keep up the excellent work Dave. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/12/2017 - 4:07pm -

November 1938. "Capitol Avenue storefronts, Omaha, Nebraska." Medium format negative by John Vachon for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. Oyster stew!It's been forty years since I've made oyster stew! I'll bet mine was better, because I used oysters we picked up off the beach, at Dabob Bay, on Washington's Hood Canal the night before, and opened that day. In Nebraska, I'll bet they had to use canned! I'd even settle for canned right now, though! Hurry up!I don't know what that third car from the left is, with the 1-1813 license plate, but I want it and I want it now. I also want 45 cents worth of oyster stew, with some of them teeny little saltines and some Tabasco. And make sure that the oysters are the kind that grow in the ocean and not around Omaha, Nebraska, if you please. Top to BottomSam in 1616 and 1616½ has you covered from one end to the other. Spotted car1-1813 is a 1935 Oldsmobile top of the line sedan . Spotted Car1-1813 is a 1935 Oldsmobile L-35 touring car as seen here. No longer thereThe buildings have since been torn down. A Doubletree hotel sits in its place. Don't know if the restaurant serves oyster stew or not. FlawedThe adulation for that Oldsmobile would vanish quickly when one of its pistons blew --- - common problem for the 35s and 36s. Mine failed leaving Jackon Hole, Wyoming in 1948. Had to limp over the mountains and down into Salt Lake City where the second piston failed necessitating an engine tear-down in a parking lot. Before Parking LinesHave the feeling the 2nd car from the right, is going to be a little upset when it's time to back out. 1-1990 must have squeezed into that parking spot. Even after parking lines, he's probably still parking like that. Precursor?I favor the funky one fifth from the left, with the interesting back door. Anybody know what it is? Maybe it is my fondness for VW buses in my youth, but it looks intriguing. Travel Rule #1Don't order the seafood when the nearest ocean is 1000 miles away. Or do, but eat it with a side of Imodium. What Kind Of Oysters?As a son of The Land Of Pleasant Living I have always been leery when traveling of restaurants advertising oysters. If a restaurant isn't within 50 miles of a major oyster producing body of water I won't order them since my preference in oysters run to the Chincoteague style and not the Bull Durham variety. Precursor?The Funkymobile is a 28/29 Ford Model A Sedan Delivery. Very rare and desirable to the restorers and hot rodders alike. I'd choose it over all the cars in the lineup Rear door1929 Ford Sedan Delivery Current prices begin around $30,000 Oysters in Omaha? You betcha!Just a few blocks south of 1610 Capitol Ave (Now the Doubletree Hotel and First National Bank) lies a great seafood joint called appropriately 'Shucks' with a great oyster stew and all sorts of the succulent bivalves on the half shell - from both coasts, and even occasionally from the Choctawhatchee Bay in the Gulf. I've lived in Omaha for 31 years and vouch for the freshness of the seafood offerings here in our fair city. (Also has pretty good beefsteaks, as well!!!!) Can't say I've ever seen that 1935 Olds still around, though we like our classic cars here as well. Salty roads in the winter have been the ruin of many a fair classic, including my old '71 VW Westphaia. Shorpy and history.My son hooked me up to the Shorpy site years ago. Have just recently gotten the nerve to register and leave a comment. I really enjoy all the photos, the depression era by Dorothea Lange, And the photos of the old cars. Keep up the excellent work Dave. Shop to right?What is the shop between New Capitol Bar and Dean Lunch? I can only make out the word "Falstaff", and the objects in the window give few clues as to what they sell. [It's part of the New Capitol Bar; Falstaff is a brand of beer. -tterrace] Half-Seen Zine StoreA big bunch of people on FictionMags, an invitational Yahoo group I'm in, have been fascinated by the "zine" shop on the far left, and what the kid visible in the window is reading. Other images of magazines and especially newsstands here on Shorpy, for instance the recent 1938 Omaha newsstand, have been widely dissected. Falstaff BeerThe Falstaff brewery was south of downtown Omaha near 25th and Vinton Streets. Another Omaha local beer (also defunct) was Storz. Of course, there are numerous craft beers now brewed locally - and those have much more flavor than the old locals! Try 'Lucky Bucket' if you can find it. TrunkThe second car from the left is a 1932 Ford sedan with an aftermarket trunk mounted on an aftermarket support made by Kari-Keen or possibly Potter. Queued CarsFrom left to right: 1. 1937 Ford Tudor or Fordor (slant back) 2. 1932 Ford V8 with non-standard bumper 3. 1935 Oldsmobile L-35 4. 1936 Studebaker, likely a Dictator 5. 1929 Ford Model A Deluxe Delivery 6. 1936 Ford Deluxe Tudor Touring Sedan 7. 1933 Plymouth coupe (Business Coupe?) 8. 1937 DeSoto S3 Touring Sedan Note the partial reflections of the cars in the store windows. Bygone 'Zines DealersShortly before this photo was taken, the "Zines" store had been one of two news dealer stores of Charles C. Savage. This one, at 1618 Capitol Avenue, was being run by his daughter Hazel Lydia Savage. Two of her brothers both worked at the main family store at 1260 S. 16th in 1938. Hazel married Paul Colgrove on November 6, 1938, moved to Bandon, Oregon where she spent the rest of her life, and had a daughter, Colleen. The couple divorced in 1966. Hazel was born on September 12, 1917 in Omaha, and died January 15, 2011 in Bandon. After Hazel Savage, the store on Capitol Avenue became the business of Paul William Lehn. His last name can be partially seen in the window. He was born in Nebraska to George and Madeline Lehn in 1920. Less than a year after the photo was taken he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps on June 19, 1941. After WWII he became an accountant, and he remained in Omaha at least through the late 1950s. He died on Chrismas Day, 1971 in Los Angeles, California, but he was buried back in Omaha. Re: Error in descriptionThe information that I provided in regard to the store is easily found in the Omaha city directories from 1936, 1938, and 1940. I have attached extracts that verify the information that was provided. Perhaps Hazel's daughter was simply just never told how her mother ran a news store prior to being married, and that her uncles also were clerks in their grandfather's store. Not a traceThe street was redone sometime in the 1950s. The Edward Zorinsky Federal Building was originally completed in 1958 as a home to the US Army Corps of Engineers. It's been modified a couple of times, most recently completed as a post-9/11 security and environmental retrofit in 2008. It is an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly and sustainable building. But I'd do anything to sit in Sam's Barber Shop shown in the original image and listen to the stories drift in and out with each customer. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Eateries & Bars, John Vachon, Omaha)
Bank Garage: 1934
... here and there, but generally well preserved: Dorothea Lange The 728 Montgomery St. photo studio of Dorothea Lange was up the ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 05/16/2015 - 8:27am -

San Francisco April 14, 1934. "East side looking south, Montgomery Street commercial buildings." In later years the Gold Rush-era building here housing the Chicago Specialty Co. became the law offices of flamboyant San Francisco attorney Melvin Belli. Today this block is part of the Jackson Square Historic District, while down the street at the next corner the Transamerica Pyramid rises. Large format negative by Roger Sturtevant for the Historic American Buildings Survey. View full size. Magnificent FailureBarely visible, at the right, is a 34 DeSoto Airflow. Is that Geppetto's Workshop?Since there is a decidedly Italian flavor to this neighborhood, I noticed that just between the Conradi Mountain Wines and Washington Broom Co., at 728 Montgomery, there is a tiny doorway advertising "Puppets". My imagination wanders to thoughts of a hand-carved Pinnochio or other individually made specialties. Could there have actually been a business that sold only puppets? [That was Perry Dilley's Puppet Theater. -tterrace] The Montgomery BlockThe four story building in the next block (now the site of the Transamerica pyramid) was the historic 1853 Montgomery Block. First a professional office building and at one time the tallest structure west of the Mississippi, then later known for artists, writers, and various bohemian inhabitants, it was demolished to make way for a parking lot in 1959. Whats that?What is the flag on the tower in the distant background? looks like an eagle? [It's atop the Shell Building at Bush and Battery. -tterrace] That flag in the distance Could it possibly be a NRA (National Recovery Act) flag? [Here's an example. -tterrace] Facelift in progressA few updates here and there, but generally well preserved: Dorothea LangeThe 728 Montgomery St. photo studio of Dorothea Lange was up the stairs to the left of the sign for Conradi Ltd Mountain Wines. [Her husband, artist Maynard Dixon, had his studio at 728. Lange's had been at 716 and later 802 Montgomery. -tterrace] Oldest signPage 213 of "San Francisco of the 1930s," published by the WPA says, "San Francisco's oldest sign, hanging from the Genella Buiulding, 728 Montgomery St., states in faded black and gold letters that 'H. and W. Pierce...Loans and Commissions' once did business here, exchanging paper and coins for gold bullion." Melvin BelliI used to wander SF in the late '60s, photographing things that interested me. On a couple of occasions I walked past Mel Belli's offices and glanced in the windows, and did see him inside once or twice. I have lived near Sonora California for 20 years now, which is where Mr. Belli was born and raised, and is now buried. For many, many years, Mel Belli listed his personal phone number in the SF phone directory (anyone remember those, LOL). However, instead of putting it in his own name, he listed it in his dogs' names - Weldon Rumproast. Over the years he had several dogs with that name, adding a number at the end. A friend once found the name Weldon Rumproast III in the phone book and called it. He spoke with Melvin Belli for quite some time, and it wasn't until they nearly finished the conversation that he realized who it was he was speaking to! (HABS, San Francisco)
Link to the Past: 1955
... the background... absolutely wonderful. This is as good as Dorothea Lange photo. Pictures like this keep me coming back to this site day after day. ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 01/11/2023 - 3:02pm -

1955, Larkspur, California. Our neighbor Mr. Cagwin at age 98. Born 1857 in Joliet, Illinois; as an infant came west via sailing vessel from New York and by litter across the Isthmus of Panama; selling newspapers in Hangtown, California, at age of five when the Civil War broke out; worked at Carson City Mint, then San Francisco Mint at the time of the earthquake; retired in 1922. My brother, doing occasional yard work for the Cagwins at the time, took this Ektachrome slide in their Arts & Crafts style home, which they had built after moving to Larkspur in 1905. View full size. GrandparentsHis grandparents could have been alive during the Revolution. Long-lived FamiliesMr. Mel's observation that Mr. Cagwin's grandparents might have been alive during the Revolution could easily be true. I was born in 1949. My father was born in 1909. My grandfather was born in 1867, and my great-grandfather was born in 1829, only four generations in 120 years. (In our family the trail ends there, almost. My great-grandfather's father-in-law was born in 1790.) So it's no stretch to suppose that Mr. Cagwin, born in 1857, could have had a grandfather who was born in 1775. Stories aplentyFantastic shot, really well done. You just know he had a rich history of stories. I wonder if he shared them freely or if they needed to be pried from him. LifeWhat a long and beautiful life. And in California, without the 10-below weather Joliet, Illinois, is having. What A Great Face...This is such a well done portrait. This gentleman's colorful history just adds that much more, but the photo stands on its own merits as a really well observed scene. His wrinkled visage, his rumpled yet style conscious attire, his hand holding the smoking pipe, the chair he is sitting in, the canes hanging there, the chair behind, the potted plant, the light on the windowsill in the background... absolutely wonderful. This is as good as Dorothea Lange photo. Pictures like this keep me coming back to this site day after day. I wish a rating system were in place here because I'd rate this gem 5 stars! tterrace, thank you for sharing your, and your brother's, vision. Henri!Are you sure Cartier-Bresson didn't sneak into Larkspur? What an eloquent portrait! There's so much in that face and posture and surroundings. Looking into HistoryHis eyes are wonderful, and I can't imagine all the change and history he's witnessed! If just for the contemplation of the passage of time this is an important photograph. And I would agree......with The Wingman! tterrace please keep them coming! Ye Olde LarkspurBack then Larkspur was semi-rural, despite its proximity to San Francisco. What's great about this photo is how modern it looks. It could've been taken down the street, today. Indeed.very brilliant, this picture alone connects to so much and tells a thousand stories. thank you greatly for sharing it. 54 years ago, this man was nearing a century... it's break-taking. [Coffee, anyone? - Dave] Mr. Cagwin, Role ModelI talked with my insurance company the other day and they think I should give up smoking my pipe, which I have done for 40 years. I figure if I can get another 40 years or so out of pipe smoking I will outlive everyone else. Mr. Cagwin updateMr. Cagwin died August 14, 1959, age 102 years, 8 months. The day before my own 13th birthday, as a matter of fact. His wife had died 13 months previously, aged 92. Papa George CagwinThis Mr. Cagwin is my great-grandfather George Wilder Cagwin (Papa George); his wife was Frances (Mama Fanny). They lived in Larkspur for many years. My grandmother grew up in the house right across from the Lark Creek Inn and it still looks very much like it did back at the turn of the century -- latticed windows, red house, green roof, front porch, all look the same. I have a photo of my grandfather Aubrey Cagwin standing in hip boots in thigh high water on Magnolia Avene. My grandmother was Alice deVeuve. I believe her father built the house on Magnolia Ave. A lot of history has been gathered about the Cagwins by the Cagwin family over the years, photos included. What a great photo you took! Thank you! I will direct my siblings and my Uncle, cousins, etc. to it. Papa GeorgePapa George was my great-great grandfather. I remember visiting him at the hospital with my father, Tom Cagwin, when I was about 4 years old. Dad was quite close to him and lived in the Larkspur house as a small boy. He lost his eye one fourth of July due to an accident with a firecracker. He did not go to the hospital right away, but gave his Independence Day speech as planned. He was also the Mayor of Larkspur. His wife, Fanny, lived to 98. They were definitely pioneer stock! Thank you for this wonderful photo. Lori Alden Cagwin Mr. Cagwin's 100thPerhaps some of the Cagwin kin who've commented are in this Ektachrome slide, also taken by my brother; it's Mr. Cagwin's 100th birthday party in January 1957. Mr. Cagwin himself just managed to get in the shot; that's his wife behind him. What a birthday!Below is a photo of Papa George's 99th birthday on New Year's Day 1956 with grandsons Tom Cagwin & John Costa, wife Mama Fannie and me (great-granddaughter). The color photo under that includes Papa George's daughter Marie and her granddaughter D'arcy. (Marie taught us how to bake great apple pies!) My son calls my dad Papa Tom in memory of Papa George. My father, recently visiting, told us how he looked for Papa George's spare glass eye on his dresser when small, fascinated as boys are with such things. Papa George's father, Hamden Aubrey, took a wagon train in the spring of 1850 with his brother from Joliet, Illinois, to Placerville in search of gold and wrote about the trip, archived at the California Historical Society by granddaughter Louisa. After an arduous four-month journey of 2,557 wagon-train miles, he managed to extract enough gold from Hangtown Ravine ($7979.65 worth) to bring his family out to California six years later, away from cholera and the beginnings of the Civil War. Papa George was an infant on that trip. 102 years later, the story was shared by Papa George! Thank you again for rekindling these memories. Interesting life! By coincidence, I was born in Joliet, Illinois, and lived 50 years on Cagwin Avenue. Very interesting. Camera too closeOtherwise it would have revealed a glass of brandy in the "vicinity", too? My father will be 95 in May. Unlike George he quit smoking in his late 60's. Still maintains his "before the breakfast" grape, plum or pear brandy small shot. The way I see he should be able to match this picture in three years. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Portraits, tterrapix)
Buena: 1939
... of agricultural production." 4x5 inch nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Thanks!!!! ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/26/2022 - 2:07pm -

August 1939. "Buena, Yakima County, Washington. Yakima Valley small town whose county ranks fifth in the United States in value of agricultural production." 4x5 inch nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Thanks!!!!It's great to see Dorothea Lange's work here on Shorpy! My morning visit just got a bit brighter!! I'm hungryI want some Eats, and it looks like I have my choice of two Eats providers. [There was no shortage of Eats, Meats or Coca-Cola in Buena! - Dave] The location of this photo......is here (Google Maps). Behind the "Eats" sign on the left is the Golding Warehouse (still standing). Here's a picture from flickr of how it looked in January 1997. None of the other buildings are still there. Long ShadowsIf this shot had been taken a second or two later a bicyclist would have appeared in the right side of the picture. You Know You're In Redneck Country When......The word "Eats" is a noun instead of a verb. I'm sure there are also places in this town that sell "Chow" "Grub" and "Vittles," but not food. That's "YakimAH"NOT "YAKimuh" (which I keep hearing on TV and it drives me crazy). From a daughter, granddaughter, great-granddaughter and great-great-granddaughter of Washingtonians. Golding Warehouse follow up…The Golding Warehouse, the only extant building way back when this was first posted here at Shorpy, was apparently demolished sometime between September 2008, when it was still visible in Google street view, and July 2012, when it is no longer standing. (The Gallery, Agriculture, Dorothea Lange, Rural America, Small Towns)
Imperial Valley: 1937
... Imperial Valley, California." 4x5 inch nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange. View full size. That little girl peeking out That little girl ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/26/2022 - 2:10pm -

March 1937. "Migratory Mexican field worker's home next to pea field. Imperial Valley, California." 4x5 inch nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange. View full size. That little girl peeking outThat little girl peeking out is the real star of this shot. The dark doorway draws you in, and the sweet face child keeps you there. Dorothea had such and eye for composition. Thanks, Shorpy, for introducing me to her. Imperial ValleyToday, if you drive the back roads of Imperial and Coachella Valleys, you will see dilapidated trailers and homes that do not look too much improved from this scene. Migrant WorkersI'll second the comment that this is a scene that you can still see today. The car will be different. The looks on the faces can be the same. There are shacks, still to this day. The children attend school only sporadically as they migrate with the location of the crops and different picking seasons. It's still a very, very hard life for them. (The Gallery, Agriculture, Dorothea Lange, Great Depression)
Squatter Camp: 1937
... camp near Calipatria." Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. Sick It ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/29/2009 - 11:12pm -

March 1937. "Water supply: Open settling basin from the irrigation ditch in a California squatter camp near Calipatria." Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. SickIt is easy to see why typhoid ran rampant in these camps. Out of PlaceThe boy looks like he belongs in today's world. His hair is well styled and he was a clean appearance. I bet he has a cell phone in his pocket.. The times, they aren't a-changingChange the year of the car, and maybe some clothes, add plastic junk, et voila, it's Calipatria today. Dignity by DorotheaAn insight gleaned from the excellent new biography by Linda Gordon, and put into my own words: Dorothea Lange spent the 1920s as a fashionable portrait photographer in San Francisco. When she began photographing Depression-era migrants, she continued to honor a subject's dignity and sense of worth, regardless of their physical and social situation. In praise of strong women.Washday goes on, no matter that your life is falling apart. (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Great Depression, Kids)
One Year Old: 2008
... for the work you do. I was admiring the photographs of Dorothea Lange and thinking about her skill in using film and light, when I realized yet ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/14/2008 - 4:26am -

Shorpy is a year old today! Thanks to the many thousands of visitors and commenters and contributors who have helped make this Web site the remarkable place that it is. And of course we wouldn't be here without the efforts of the photographers whose pictures appear here, and the conservators and archivists who have preserved their work and made it available online through the Library of Congress. This might also be a good time to reflect on the life of our namesake, Shorpy Higginbotham, whose likeness animates these pages and spirit inhabits them. And now on with the show. Only a zillion more pictures to go   .  .  . Congratulations!!Congratulations!! Happy birthdayThe site looks old for its years. Thanks for all the hard work. It is much appreciated! Congrats on 1 year!I have throughly enjoyed your site so far, and I can't wait to see what the next year brings. One yearThanks to Dave and Ken for a great site, looking foward to another year of great pics and even better comments. Shorpy will always be a part of us. Happy Birthday!I have been checking this site daily for months. It's one of my favorite web destinations ... keep up the great work! Congrats!Congratulations on the one year mark! This is a great, great service. Happy Birthday!Wow, has it been a year already? Amazing how time flies when you're having fun. I must say I feel horrible that I haven't submitted more of my own family photos, but life and other projects have distracted me. But I'd like to send a bit thank you to you guys at Shorpy/Plan 59 for all the hard work you put into this site. I find it both entertaining and educational. Don't forget to make a wish! TK http://unidentifiedfamilyobjects.blogspot.com/ And we wait eagerly... for a zillion pictures to see. It's been great checking Shorpy out for last year, it will be even more so in times to come. CongratulationsCongratulations to the Shorpy staff on your one year anniversary! Keep up the excellent work. Happy Birthday!Happy birthday Shorpy and thanks for many wonderful hours of viewing! Congratulations!Excellent pages, I've been addicted for few months now. Keep that way and I will be very happy. Old photos just have that 'something'. Happy Birthday!Happy Birthday! You are doing a tremendous job showcasing these great pictures, thank you very much. Every single day, this siteEvery single day, this site posts a picture that educates, entertains, and delights me. I've learned more about the way Americans lived from here than I ever did in history classes. Here's to many more years! ¡Feliz cumpleaños!Happy birthday to one of the most interesting sites! ¡Feliz cumpleaños! CongratsCongrats on your anniversary. I very much enjoy these slices of life, and thank you (and the LOC) for making them available to us. Happy Anniversary!I love this site. Congratulations!Congratulations! Shorpy is one of the few sites (apart from weather, traffic and work related) that I visit at least once a day. The growing collection of pictures by itself is interesting enough, but Dave's dry sense of humour is the cherry on the cake. Keep it up! Thanks Shorpyi hardly ever comment on this site, but i view it everyday. shorpy.com is my homepage so i see it whenever i go online. this is the perfect time to thank you for providing me with access to some of the greatest photos ever snapped on a what is undoubtedly one of the greatest sites on the web. keep em coming. i'll keep enjoying. Happy Anniversary!Has it only been one year? You have done a lot of work and created a blog that is a delight to visit. More than that, you have developed a community that I'm proud to be part of. Here's to many more anniversaries to come. Congratulations and thanks!I came across this site following a link to the "CONDEMNED TO DEATH" triptych (it is still the bookmarked page for the site). This is my favorite website. I tell anyone who'll listen about it and I look at it at least once EVERY DAY! I can't tell you how much I enjoy and appreciate the site. Best to you and yours! CongratulationsCongratulations on a year. I found this site ages ago and it's one of the first feeds I check every day. Keep up the good work! Shorpy.comFantastic website! Great photographs, taking you all the way into 19th century! Congratulations!!! Wish you all the best. Thank you and well doneThis site is an extraordinary piece of work, one of 2-3 I visit almost every day. The combination of art, scholarship, history and commentary are almost unique. I'm looking forward to more excellence and am glad I only missed the first 11 months. Happy AnniversaryThis is a wonderful site and I visit it every day. Keep up the great work (please)! I have learned so much about the generation before me that I could not have ever known without this site. I am a baby boomer and remember my parents and grandparents talking about how things were when they were young. Now I can get a "picture" of how life really was then. Thank you so much. 386 imagesI've got 386 images from this site on my hard drive. I visit at least twice a day and I'm never disappointed. Here's wishing you many more. Thanks!Thank you so much for the work you do. I was admiring the photographs of Dorothea Lange and thinking about her skill in using film and light, when I realized yet again that it would not be possible to admire her work if you were not such a wizard with Photoshop and if you did not show such good judgment in its use. I appreciate your thoughtful approach to all of the material, and your wit--and your encouragement of the use of spell checkers. Thank you...Happy birfday Shorpy! This site is the bomb and I enjoy coming here to view these little bits of our shared past! Thank youThank you, thank you, thank you! Happy BirthdayI'm new to the site, but I'm addicted! Thank you so much for all the hard work. Congrats and Happy BirthdayYou've made a fan out of me! May there be many more! Happy Anniversary!I stumbled across this site quite by accident about a month ago and am absolutely addicted! I've told all my friends that they've got to check this out. Keep up the awesome work - if you don't there's going to be a lot of people in "withdrawal"!! I wish to addMy congratulations to the many others that you have received. This is a wonderful site. I visit each and every day and really appreciate the hard work that you do each day. Once more congratulations to Shorpy.com and long may Shorpy's memorial blog continue. Woohoo!!Well, it's no surprise, considering how great this site is! The real surprise would be if it was gone! Well, let's not think such ridiculous things. Happy Birthday!!! Thanks Shorpy !I would like to offer a "Toast" to Shorpy and all involved in this great website. I can't wait to get my daily dose of pictures. Hip Hip Hooray....long live the memories. Congratulations!I love Shorpy. Happy first anniversary, and may there be many, many more! [Thanks to everyone who has signed the birthday register today! It's all a little overwhelming. - Dave] Only a Year?Wow, this site's so extensive and wonderfully maintained, I thought for certain you'd been around much longer than a year! Thanks for the hard work, and congratulations! A great year!And rest in peace, Shorpy, where ever you are. May the next life bring you happiness not found in this one. The best site on the webShorpy is . . . ShorpyA daily pleasure for me. Thanks for a great year. Thanksfor a wonderful site! I stop by at least once per day and thoroughly enjoy these well selected and superbly presented glimpses into the past. Denny Gill Chugiak, Alaska Happy Birthday!I check Shorpy for new photos almost every evening and especially love the Kodachromes. Thanks for all your hard work on this great site! CongratsIs it only one year? You've done an important and beautifully creative job. I'm a regular visitor and I've learned so many things and have been inspired. I love that Shorpy represents the site. He is the very courageous, indomitable symbol of working America. Congrats and the BookI found this site few months ago and got hooked. I pray that this site will continue another year. I am looking forward to buy the book where all photos with background information put together. It will be a great addition to my huge library. Congrats AgainOne of my favorite bookmarks! – happy birthday. Thanks!Shorpy is one of few sites that I have in a favorites folder named "daily". A simple idea very well executed. Me TooLove the photos, the information, and I also enjoy the reader comments and sense of community. Thank you very much! Dave & KenThank you both, and anyone else working at Shorpy, for the Post Civil War History and Photography course. I think the regular participants should receive college credit. I can't tell you how much I enjoy my daily (and sometimes hourly) visits. Keep it up. Happy BirthdayLike everyone has mentioned, happy 1st birthday and I hope this is the start of something long lasting. It is a treat to drop by every few days and see the wonderful photos - and read the many comments from folks who know the details within these vintage images. Keep up the good work. Happy Birthday Dear ShorpyThank you for the amazing work in showing us the pictures of Library of Congress. I loved the huge archive but your site is like a special guide through the database. I also noticed that the comments are adding details and new informations about the pictures, this is useful also for the Library of Congress. I loved the story of Addie Card, for instance. I check the site daily and it'a lovely pause while I am working. You have great taste in choosing the best images and the design of the web is very nice. I hope you will keep doing this work. I am a deputy photo editor of a national magazine in Italy and unfortunately I don't usually research so much on LOC images, but sometimes it happens. I'd like to ask you if there will be in the future a "search" option. This could be extremely useful for my work while researching archival images. Congratulations and compliments. All my best. Paola Vozza. [Thanks, Paola! We already have a "search" option. - Dave] "Happy Birthday to You "Happy Birthday To You Happy Birthday to youuu Happy Birthday , Dear Shorpy.com , a great website Happy Birthday, toooo youuuu Joe P.S Hats off to you InfoWho exactly runs this site, and who else is involved? Why were you going to call it "mike.com"? Who is Mike? [That's what I'd like to know. - Dave] GOOD JOBI love looking at you site of living history. I also love finding subjects to colorize and try to bring to life. The most fun I've ever had on the computer!! (ShorpyBlog, Lewis Hine)
No Money, Ten Children: 1937
... View full size. Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. No Money, 10 Kids You'd ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 12:38pm -

March 1937. Stalled in the Southern California desert. "No money, ten children. From Chickasaw, Oklahoma." View full size. Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. No Money, 10 KidsYou'd think maybe the guy with the camera could help him out. [That would be the gal with the camera. I've wondered about that too. - Dave] Stranded FamilyI would give anything to know what became of them. Stranded OkieThe composition here is epic. I feel like there's an entire novel conveyed in this one image. Compassionate, not "Immune"Ms. Lange stopped beside a car full of children that had stalled in a waterless desert. Anybody who stops for a stalled car is stopping to help in some way. At the very least she would carry the news to the next town that there were ten children and their parents stuck in the desert. It's easy to imagine that if she had any money at all to spare, she gave some to this family. (Wouldn't you?) These people were not in the safety of a migrant labor camp. They were stuck in the middle of nowhere. It is obvious from Ms. Lange's photographs that she was not "immune to poverty." She chose to document the suffering and the humanity of people in poverty. She must have had a good rapport with her subjects, or else their faces would not be so expressive. See myhero.com (http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=d_lange ) for a short biographical essay that stresses her sensitivity and compassion. See also the Wikipedia article about her (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_Lange). "Immune to poverty" is exactly what she was not. DorotheaLange was contracted to this work from 1935. I suppose she was quite immune to poverty by that time. GivingYou know, in those days it wasn't easy to give money to a man like that. Most people wouldn't accept charity. It was considered an admission of failure, defeat. He might have accepted a loan. If he did, I'm willing to bet he paid it off with the first money he came by after feeding his kids. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Dorothea Lange, Great Depression, On the Road)
Granville County: 1939
... 'putting up' tobacco." Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange. View full size. Tobacco barn Those sticks propped up against ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/19/2022 - 4:02pm -

July 1939. Granville County, North Carolina. "Tobacco people take it easy after their morning's work 'putting up' tobacco." Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange. View full size. Tobacco barnThose sticks propped up against the barn were used for tying tobacco leaves for curing in the barn. Today, when they are found, they are often turned into walking sticks. Never throw away what is still usefulNotice the horizontal boards to the right of the door; many of the black spots appear to be old nail holes from some previous use the boards had. Often even the nails would be straightened and reused. I remember doing that with my dad, decades ago when things were harder to come by, at least for us. I've never outgrown that attitude but few people I know still hold it. [The dark spots are rust from the nails, which are still there. But yes, waste not, want not. - Dave] Tobacco BarnInteresting - note the tobacco leaves strewn around in front of the barn door. Also notice the small size of the barn door - the better to keep the heat in during curing...same with the mud caulking between the boards...it's not there to keep the cold out of the barn - but to keep the heat in. The sticks resting on the door and the one under the man's arm were used for hanging the tobacco leaves up in the rafters of the curing barn...which this obviously is. The boy has a string in his mouth which is most likely from a spool used to tie the "hands" of tobacco to the sticks. The tobacco would be bunched and tied into hands then strung onto the sticks. The sticks would then be passed up by the crew and placed in the many rafters up in the barn. The boy's job most likely would have been to be the one that climbed up to the upper part of the barn - receiving the sticks strung with tobacco and placing then in the rafters to cure by gas fire set on the floor underneath. [Thanks for the info, Bowwow. Very interesting. These curing barns were old-school, fueled by wood fires instead of gas. Below: "Piles of wood for firing the tobacco barns and curing the tobacco." The wood is fed through small openings at the base of the barn. - Dave] (The Gallery, Agriculture, Dorothea Lange, Kids, Rural America)
Farmville: 1938
... and reasonably prosperous. You see enough of those Dorothea Lange images, you begin to think there were NO viable, operating farms in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/13/2011 - 10:40pm -

May 1938. "Farm family, Scioto Farms, Ohio." 35mm nitrate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. UPDATE: This is Earl Armentrout and his family, government rehabilitation clients who were relocated by the Resettlement Administration to a new house in a cooperative farming project, a story repeated thousands of times for families who were forced off the land by crop failures during the Dust Bowl era. Goes to showWhat having no TV will get you. Farm FamThese guys look exceptionally healthy for a Depression era family - none of that terrible gauntness, not even in the mother who has borne so many children -- shiny hair, big smiles. And kittens! A very hopeful picture of a bad time in American history. GollyThis photo is mind blowing! Look at the faces on these folks, especially the children. No ADD, no prescription medications because there depressed. Pure Family happiness that a Park Avenue kid couldn't buy for a million bucks. Total respect for each other, animals (speaks volumes) and life. You made my day. Great FamilyWhat a great-looking, loving, happy family. Love the kittens. Must have been a great family to grow up in. Thank you!Such beautiful smiles and joy in this photo. It made my morning. Re: 1899-1967They say women survive their men, but men don't live long once their women are gone. Earl only lasted three months. So different This family is a contrast to the Dust Bowl poverty we see often at Shorpy. I love those cute kitties and the way the children love (ack! choke! gasp!) them. No Tea Party hereA government program that helped the American people that was not met with self-proclaimed ultra conservatives ranting about a socialist president leading America to damnation. God Bless America. [Actually, Franklin Roosevelt and his New Deal programs encountered exactly that kind of criticism. - Dave] Smiles!Only a few decades before, it was decidedly not done to get yourself photographed while smiling. It's so good to see that had changed by this time. Happy daysThey certainly are a cheerful bunch, compared to what we usually see in FSA photographs! Even the cat on the right is smiling. Wow!Now that is one good looking family. Aw, kittiesRelaxed, well fed, happy kitties! The AcornThe old man sure put his stamp on the oldest boy. Depression era?What a great family photo! I had to remind myself that this was taken during the Great Depression, for they seem so happy and healthy. It goes to show that not every family suffered all the time during the Great Depression. These kids are happy, clean, and appear healthy. I bet some are still around. A farmer's work is never done"Come sunup, got me some plowin' t'do! Come sundown, got me some plowin' t'do!" Loving CoupleThe headstone gives a clue as to how happy and loving Mr. and Mrs. Armentrout were. I don't know why she passed on, but the dates say he died of a broken heart. Any idea if the children know their family portrait is now on Time's 15th best blog of 2010? It would be very interesting to see these kids as adults and with their children, and their children's children. [If past experience is any guide, we will eventually be hearing from some Armentrouts. - Dave] Nice contrast to other Depression-era photosA farm family that looks happy, healthy, and reasonably prosperous. You see enough of those Dorothea Lange images, you begin to think there were NO viable, operating farms in America in the '30s. Which is impossible, of course. [As it turns out (see caption), these folks had been relocated from a failed Dust Bowl farm by the Resettlement Administration. - Dave] Brings To Mind"Our house is a very, very fine house With two cats in the yard Life used to be so hard Now everything is easy 'Cause of you" Genuinely HappyLooking at the picture, I don't get the feeling that any of the people are just smiling for the camera. There seems to be genuine happiness on every single face - not a single sourpuss. Makes you wonder if home life for this family was as upbeat and warm as the picture portrays. The Good Old DaysCompare this family to any of the "Real Houswives" of Orange County etc., or "John and Kate Plus Eight." Simple, honest, happy, children proud of the kittens they are holding. How far off track we are now! Nine Happy FacesIt is difficult to "fake" genuine serenity and joy but I sense that it was present in each of the family members pictured here just from the very sincere and natural smiles all around. I would bet that this was a tightknit supportive family, all for one, one for all. They really light up this photo in a good way. For all the young whippersnappers out there, it was not unusual for families in those days to have seven, eight, nine kids and more. Family farmers and ranchers often produced their own employees as appears to have happened here, yet nobody appears to be suffering. Bless 'em all. Ain't nobody's business but their own. It'll get youOne heck of a good looking family. It's a shame we don't know who they are, to find out how things turned out for them. 1899-1967Googled Earl Armentrout, and came up with this from Ohio. Is this the same man? [I checked the SSDI records for various Earl Armentrouts -- this would seem to be he. His wife was Lovie Mae. - Dave] They are all happyTo pose for the pic for the "Farm Family of the Year" in Ohio. Put on a happy faceWhile it sounds as corny as Kansas in August to say so, an amazing amount of happiness seems to be radiating from this family. I don't know when I've seen such genuine smiles. I love this pictureIn how many family photos of today would you see that many genuinely happy-looking faces? You can just see the pride in the father's eyes. Wish I could have lived there with them. Eating regularly really makes a difference.They seem so happy. I guess being a farm family they had enough to eat. Quite a difference from the photo of the slum children posted recently. American LifeA very nice photo of a proud American farm family. A slice of 1938 farm life. Yes, Virginia.There is a Walton's Mountain. WheeEven the baby is giving a thumbs up! I bet they are feeling some serious reliefI cannot imagine trying to raise seven children in the Depression on a farm that was yielding nothing. I bet the relocation in many ways felt like a blessed fresh start. Good on 'em. (And I love too that the baby is giving a thumbs up!) A Tolstoy familyAn example of Tolstoy's happy families ("Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way"). These people really are a happy family. A little thingBut I love that it's the dad that's holding the baby, not the mom. That feels unusual to me for this time (am I wrong?). The love and happiness on their faces is a real inspiration. An Only Child's DreamBy all appearances, what a fun family to be a member of! I can just imagine all the activity and the dinner conversations 'round the table with this gang. I so hope one or more the Armentrout clan navigates to this post and introduces him/herself. Resettlement ProgramsThere was a large resettlement program like the one refered to here in the area of Crossville TN where I am from. The families were selected from many who applied and they worked together to clear the land, building barns first to live in while the houses were built using wood cut from the property and stone quarried as well. It brought a group of very special families many who remained here. They had cooperative farming, a furniture factory, a lumber mill etc. and the farms were designed to be subsistence farms for the families to raise their own food. The photo above was probably taken on move in day and would esplain the very happy faces. ReactingI don't doubt the strength and overall happiness of this family, even in hard times, but it seems to me that most are reacting rather than posing. I suspect that they are reacting to something the photographer said, but the very fact that they are in an amiable mood says a lot. (The Gallery, Agriculture, Arthur Rothstein, Kids)
Dust Bowl Kids: 1936
... November 1936. View full size. Photograph by Dorothea Lange. Perfect title! They look like my son when he gets home from ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/30/2012 - 2:39pm -

"Children of Oklahoma drought refugee in migratory camp in California." November 1936. View full size. Photograph by Dorothea Lange. Perfect title!They look like my son when he gets home from playing! Dust Bowl KidsThis photograph is heartbreaking. The children look old beyond their years. The girls eyes look so vacant, so full of despair. These children experienced some real heartache. They Look Like......normal kids who just got out of a hot car after driving for days. I grew up in and have retired now in Oklahoma...it would be nice if someone showed Oklahomans as anything other than frowning miserable people. Funny how 5 million "Okies" moved west in the 30's from a state with only 1 million people! People are as normal here as anywhere else--I lived in other states for 30 years--I know. Ukrainian Security Service 2Hi guys, This photo have been used by SBU (Ukrainian Security Service), that tries to prove the Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine. More about (in Russian): http://gorojane.tv/forum/index.php?showtopic=322&pid=1223&st=0&#entry122... http://varjag-2007.livejournal.com/687279.html If you could read Russian...Amazingly, this photo and three others from The Great Depression USA were presented in Ukraine... as part of an exposition dedicated to 1930's hunger. Organizers used them to prove a genocide against ukrainians. In addition, there were two shots from Volga region. Links for reference: http://www.nr2.ru/crimea/223417.html http://www.lenta.ru/news/2009/03/09/exibition/ Google translation to English: Link 1 ("SBU Caught Counterfeiting") Link 2 ("Falsified Exhibition") [These kids are definitely not in Ukraine. My advice to Shorpy: "Avoid foreign entanglements." - Dave] "Liberated"Result of "Russian liberation" in Ukraine: http://www.dazzle.ru/antifascism/kvgicy.shtml (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Dust Bowl, Great Depression, Kids)
'If You Die, You're Dead - That's All'
... you're dead – that's all." View full size. Photo: Dorothea Lange . Bio of Nettie (1898-1984) and audio interview . Nettie in 1979 ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/05/2009 - 2:36am -

June 1938. Nettie Featherston, wife of a migratory laborer with three children. Near Childress, Texas. "If you die, you're dead – that's all." View full size. Photo: Dorothea Lange. Bio of Nettie (1898-1984) and audio interview. Nettie in 1979Nettie Featherston in 1979. And an audio interview. Life was real hard then. (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Great Depression)
Manzanar: 1943
... Manzanar For more on Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adam's photography at the Manzanar internment camp: - Impounded : Dorothea Lange and the censored images of Japanese American internment / ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 12:30pm -

1943. Japanese-American internees at the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California. "Players involved in a football game on a dusty field, buildings and mountains in the distance. Note: Be sure and straighten horizon when printing." Medium-format nitrate negative by Ansel Adams. View full size. The BlurLooks like the great Ansel Adams used a shutter speed slow enough to blur the runners' legs. Or maybe he just wanted to show action. I like his "note to self". AnselI was not aware that Ansel Adams took pictures at Manzanar. I've driven by there many times. The barracks are gone, but the entrance gate and gymnasium are still there. Ansel AdamsLong ago a photographer friend took an Adams workshop class at Yosemite. He said he was so in awe of Adams he could hardly remember what was said. He did take the opportunity to ask Adams "Are all your photographs so perfect??" My friend said Adams laughed and replied "No, they only print the best ones now." ManzanarOf possible interest to those wanting to see more photographs taken of Japanese-American Internment camps, here is a link: http://www.csuohio.edu/art_photos/famalbum/famalbum.html RT Masumi HayashiMasumi Hayashi's photographs showing what remains at these camp locations: http://www.csuohio.edu/art_photos/gallery.html ManzanarFor more on Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adam's photography at the Manzanar internment camp: - Impounded : Dorothea Lange and the censored images of Japanese American internment / Dorothea Lange ; edited by Linda Gordon and Gary Y. Okihiro, c2006, ISBN: 039306073X - Born free and equal : the story of loyal Japanese Americans, Manzanar Relocation Center, Inyo County, California : photographs from the Library of Congress collection / introduction by Archie Miyatake ; contributions by Sue Kunitomi Embrey and William H. Michael ; edited by Wynne Benti ; with support from the Manzanar Committee friends of the Eastern California Museum, c2002, ISBN: 1893343057. Out of print but might be available at your university library: - Born free and equal, photographs of the loyal Japanese-Americans at Manzanar Relocation Center, Inyo County, California, by Ansel Adams, c1944. rt Adams and LangeBoth Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange made photos at the Manzanar War Relocation Center, though Lange was contracted from the beginning of the relocation. Two of the finest photographers in America thus documented this sad history in our nation's life, though there is some doubt that they understood that when their assignments began. Of course Manzanar was just one of the camps that were spread all over the western United States. Two camps, Rohwer and Jerome, were located next to the Mississippi River in Arkansas, though they are little known. And there is the irony: it sometimes depends on whose doing the photography (and how much) that determines popular memory. Today the almost deserted Rohwer site contains a small graveyard of Japanese Americans as well as a concrete sculpture in the form of a Sherman tank with the names of the dead Japanese American volunteers who served with the Nisei Regiment ("Go For Broke"). The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was the most highly decorated fighting force in US history, the recipient of 21 Medals of Honor. They volunteered to fight for the US even though their families were held in a relocation camp - under armed guard. (The Gallery, Ansel Adams, Relocation Camps, Sports)
The Matriarch: 1937
... Greene County, Georgia." Medium format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. The house is ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/06/2016 - 8:46pm -

July 1937. "Old Negress of Greene County, Georgia." Medium format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. The house is unusual. The house is definitely not a typical tenant farmer affair. The elaborate front door treatment and staircase say that this once once quite a house. The typical tenant farmers house would have been one story and 3 to 4 rooms. There would have been no ornamentation. Such a house might be recognizable to someone from that area. I hope we will learn more. Yes pdstark. . .My exact thoughts! Wonder what IS in those pockets? And I'll be she's planning to save the grain bag on the floor behind her to make another wonderful, sturdy apron with zigzag stitching on the pockets! RadiantA striking woman with clearly defined strength and beauty. I'd love to listen to her story. And see what she has in her pockets. A Person of SubstanceNot only is this a lady considerable dignity but, judging from the few architectural details visible, her home is far superior to the shacks and shanties that so predominate Lange's work during this period. I suspect that, within the confines of the Jim Crow laws and practices prevalent at the time, she was a person of some standing in her community. Typically LangePrime example of Lange's work. Quietly evocative of this lady's strength and beauty. (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange)
Halloween Party: 1938
... for migratory agricultural workers." Acetate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration, and Happy Halloween from Shorpy. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/31/2022 - 12:10pm -

October 1938. "Shafter, Kern County, California. Halloween party at FSA camp for migratory agricultural workers." Acetate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration, and Happy Halloween from Shorpy. View full size. Piercing MildredThe girl in second row looks -- scarily -- like Joan Crawford. Good to the last drop!So the kids back in the late '30s got a cup of coffee for Halloween. How novel! I bet they also slipped them a couple of smokes to go with their cup o' Joe. Fortune TellerThat costume would never fly today. Joan Crawford ComebackWell, at least lil' Joan sports enough makeup to match the role. The little girl in frontis absolutely precious. The expression on her face and those little hands make me hope she got a nice treat for Halloween. Not Many TreatsMaybe those cups were to hold whatever tiny treats they might have gotten, but most don't have cups. Maybe for party punch? Not many treats in sight. (The Gallery, Agriculture, Dorothea Lange, Halloween, Kids)
No Money at All: 1936
... a nuisance to anybody.'" Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. "What ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/13/2011 - 1:27pm -

August 1936. "Part of an impoverished family of nine on a New Mexico highway. Depression refugees from Iowa. Left Iowa in 1932 because of father's ill health. Father an auto mechanic laborer, painter by trade, tubercular. Family has been on relief in Arizona but refused entry on relief rolls in Iowa to which state they wish to return. Nine children including a sick four-month-old baby. No money at all. About to sell their belongings and trailer for money to buy food. 'We don't want to go where we'll be a nuisance to anybody.'" Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. "What happened?"These people are the same sorts of people who a few years later sucked it up and fought World War II or stayed at home working long hours in the factories and farm fields. They stuck with it, banded together, worked hard, sweated, sacrificed, and most lived their lives without any unnecessary government handouts because indeed "We don't want to go where we'll be a nuisance to anybody." I know this because my parents were people like that. My mom and her family came out to California in 1932 in a Ford Model T with a mattress on the top and the boys taking turns riding on the running boards. My dad's family was even poorer. They picked cotton, planted fields, worked in packing sheds, and wound up living the "American dream" because they would not let circumstances keep them down. They lived long and productive lives and made it into the middle class but they never forgot the poverty either. Proud?I have heard more privileged people alleging that poor people say "where is my free...?" than I have heard poor people actually saying it. Proud"We don't want to go where we'll be a nuisance to anybody." There's something you don't hear much these days. Instead we get "where's my free -- " If I had a time machine...The first thing I'd love to do is jump back into these Depression era photos and start handing out all the cash I could spare. Especially when I read things like that young mother's attitude that they didn't want to be a nuisance to anyone. But first I'd make sure that time machine could get me back. I may be sympathetic, but I'm also spoiled rotten with all we have these days. Impoverished families 2009We can moderize this story of an impoverished family: Father an auto mechanic, painter by trade, tubercular, no health insurance and the parents of a very sick four-month old baby also have no health insurance. The last thing they need is free socialized medicine! Some of these images are just hard to look at.I mean, what happened to these people? You see hundreds of pictures of them looking like they need immediate help, but did they always get it. Are there untold stories of entire families dying trying to drive out of the dust bowl? This family pictured here sure look like candidates. The Real DepressionDriving down I-93 from New Hampshire to Boston last Saturday morning, seeing the endless waves of northbound SUV's, RV's, boat trailers, and other shiny, generally very new vehicles headingup country for a week or two of summer vacation, I couldn't help but think, "What recession?" I know these have been hard times on a lot of people, but there are few (if any) scenes in America today similar to what is depicted in this photograph. And few (if any) contemporary Americans, with their cell phones and their flat screen TV's and their home PC's and their 3 or 4 nights a week eating out and their well-stocked mega-grocery stores and their air-conditioning, etc., etc., who have ANY IDEA what the people in the 1930's endured when we had a "real" depression. Tough as nailsDoes that attitude still exist in America at all anymore? No Money At All: 1936I believe that those who are not poor demand much more of poor people than poor people demand of them. There but for the grace of God....Thank God for modern "miracle drugs" that are used nowadays to treat TB! You notice that the family is sticking together AND that the couple is married! A far cry from today's "single" and unwed mothers....Not to mention irresponsible fathers...who use the female and then refuse to take responsibility for their own behavior..and it's consequences! Back then, if a person-fammily went on "relief" they were expected to pay the money back. That's probably one of the reasons (and shame) why they didn't want to seek help in Iowa. Truthfully, there wasn't much help to receive because the county-state resources were overstretched with the huge numbers of people who's farms had been destroyed by the drought and winds. I hope that things eventually worked out for this family. The children are adorable! For Pete's SakeLucy, having no health insurance is not the same as having no health care. This family today would be covered by the Medicaid and SHCIP, programs, etc., that we are already paying for. If this family could be transported to today I think they would have a hard time understanding why we think our health system is in crisis. And I'll be the first to sign up if you can actually provide medicine for free. No moneyThe Depression years were tough. My father died from TB in 1929 and left my mother with 10 children. It was the support that my older sisters gave to the family that saved us. They gave every penny they earned (one worked for Ford Motor Co., one at a dime store) to my mother. Food -- at supper I would say to my mother All I can have please. To this day I do not waste food. Money -- To this day I check to see if I have the money before I pump the gas. We were blessed. gain it would be nice to know how these two families did in the years since 1936. Most poor folks are proud.Most poor folks are proud. It's all some of them do have. Coming from western Oklahoma and knowing those people as my aunts and uncles and elders all I can say is these people may have had nothing, but they were flinty and determined. And they wanted to improve themselves. That attitude still lives all over this country. The poor (my poor anyway) don't want to be a nuisance to anyone; they just want a chance to work and improve their lives. The very essence of POORYou can't get any more rock bottom than this. If these folks survived the Depression it left a mark that would never go away. I remember a friend telling me about his father, wandering the streets of San Antonio in 1935. He stopped in front of an Army recruiting office, reached into his pocket, and all the money he had--all the money in the world--was one dime. Figuring the Army couldn't be any worse, he went in and joined up, serving one year and then getting recalled during WW2. From that time on, he always carried a dime in his pocket to remind himself that no matter how bad things got, things would never be as bad as 1935. How's that for a lasting impression? There Was No Birth ControlWomen had babies because they didn't know how to prevent them -- except to not have sex -- and what husband would put up with that! Until the '30s, it was illegal for even a doctor to discuss such things. Birth control is just one other thing we take for granted these days. Still, it's not always available to the very poor. [There certainly was birth control. Condoms were widely available in the 1930s. - Dave] During the DepressionMy father's mother died in 1931 leaving him age 10, and a brother age 4 with the father, an unskilled immigrant. The father with a temper could not hold employment, and moved the 2 children 15 hours to an inhospitable climate, and away from his deceased wife's huge extended family. Once there, he abandoned the children to fend for themselves. In the later years of his life my father told me this story and how he managed to keep himself and his little brother clothed and fed. He did whatever he had to including stealing food scraps from trash bins behind restraunts. He did not steal from other unfortunate people and no one gave him a hand-up. From time to time the old man would come back and take his frustration out on my father's back. Both my father and his brother survived to adulthood, neither graduating high school. Both boys joined the military as soon as they could. They both came back to the small survival town, married, and raised children. My father's father never did get his shit together. He raised a brood of children in squalor and it was always someone else's fault, and he injured several of them. Neither my father nor his brother ever had a credit card, or a checking account. They did not buy a vehicle until they had the cash and could afford the upkeep. They both bought homes they could afford, paid for them and improved them when they had cash. My uncle learned a skilled trade and was successful until the day he died in his 40s when an old man had a heart attack and hit his vehicle head on. My father died at 80 with a sizeable estate. This is how people survived. They did what they had to do, expecting nothing from noone and raised their children to do the same. None of the surviving childen of my father and his brother have ever been on the system in any way. None of us have debt. Our children, however, are a different story. iPhoneI had a patient at work that couldn't pay her hospital bill and was applying for public assistance.... but she had an iPhone! You wouldn't EVER catch anyone these days selling belongings to get something that the govn't will hand over for free. And things that are free have no value. And I was feeling sorry for myselfUntil I saw this picture and all because my 2nd computer needs a new hard drive. I have no idea of real hardship. Thanks for the wake up call. A NightmareReally, this is a total nightmare. Just imagine travelling in the desert heat with the dust and the sand getting into everthing, your clothes, your hair. Most likely you have no opportunity to wash yourself properly, maybe you have no soap and the water you have is for cooking only. (If you have something to cook) You get smelly and you clothes become soiled and stink. You have bugs and parasites all over the place and probably in the mattresses and sheets too. And probably worst of all: no toilet paper. It's a total nightmare. Most of us probably can't even imagine how it would be be if you can't give your children something to eat and you may have to steal to get them some food. Maybe these people are a bit lucky not to be Black Americans because for them it was probably even worse than for White Americans in the Depression. Why, why, whyDid this couple continue to bring children into the existence they were enduring--and the husband being tubercular? The photo caption states in one place that they were a family of nine, and in another place that there were nine children. Either way, that makes for a lot of mouths to feed. I know what causes babies, and the couple could at least have shown some responsibility along those lines. Too much generalizationThere's too much generalization going on here. There are plenty of poor people today who don't want handouts and don't want to be a strain on the system. Also, it's almost not possible to have a house and a family without having loans to pay off these days. I don't think debt is a bad thing if you can handle it. You can't directly compare now to then, because the world is a lot different. It should be enough to just say that this is a sad situation, and our hearts go out to these people. I wonder how selling everything will help them in the long run. Just sad. StrikingThis is a very striking picture. From an aesthetic point of view, I'm really taken by the huge contrast between the dire situation the young mother is facing, and the innocence and cheerful looks on the kids' faces. I know this might be a cliche, but this picture shows the truth on that saying, that the real wealth in life is not in material things but in the blessing of our loved ones. In spite of all their hardships, this looks to me like a closely-knit family, with the parents pulling together not for themselves, but for their kids. Definitely some people I'd be very glad, and honored, to meet. To me the kids look blissfully unaware of the difficulties faced by their family; speaks volumes for the will of their parents to carry on and get them through. I mean, just look at the faces of the kids in many other Shorpy photos. There's a huge difference between these smiling, happy lads and the "little grown-ups" working in the mills or the factories. Similar circumstances, but different ways to face them? Hats off to that hardy spirit, it is one of the main factors that make a country great. I really wish we could find out if they made it safely out of the depression; in my heart I really hope they did. People who blame poor people for being poorI always want to look back two or three generations and see how their families did during the Depression. When I was getting to know my college girlfriend (1989), I asked her what her grandparents' occupations had been. One grandfather was a geologist, and the other was a psychiatrist. I couldn't have been more surprised. After all, in my world, grandparents were truck drivers, farmers, carpenters, loggers. They did what they had to do, and did it proudly. Parents had been fortunate enough to go to college, due either to the GI bill, or the aggregate of New Deal programs that raised the entire country's level of affluence enough that people could afford college. Student loans were reasonable, state schools had subsidized tuition. "Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" used to be a tongue-in-cheek expression for doing the impossible. Now it's what you get blamed for not doing if you are down on your luck, and often, I dare say, with a tinge of racism. Always denied, of course. Every time I hear some young buck opine that today's poor should solve their own problems, I wonder if, oblivious to his own privilege, he is unwittingly insulting his own grandparents. (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Great Depression, On the Road)
On the Road: 1939
... South Dakota. Tulelake, Siskiyou County, Calif." Photo by Dorothea Lange. View full size. Are they drinking Coca-Cola? Are they ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/11/2018 - 1:13pm -

September 1939. "On the road with her family one month from South Dakota. Tulelake, Siskiyou County, Calif." Photo by Dorothea Lange. View full size. Are they drinking Coca-Cola?Are they drinking Coca-Cola? [It's a Coke bottle with a rubber nipple being used for baby formula. - Dave] Such a sad photoSuch a sad photo. It's almost as if you could sense their pain by looking at it. A good photograph!This is a powerful picture. I hope we never see these times again in this country. Is there something on Mom'sIs there something on Mom's ear? Yeah, they're wrap-aroundYeah, they're wrap-around aviator rim glasses. Ah. Makes sense. :)Ah. Makes sense. Generally they go behind the ear. ;) Really sadits a very powerful photo and I agree with the first post, you can sense the pain PowerfulSuch a powerful photo; such desperation in the eyes of the mother. Lange did have the knack of catching the telling moment. Genuinitythis picture doesn't look 75ish years old. [Well it is. It's pretty famous too. - Dave] DetailIt is a very moving image. Dave do you have a detail of the reflection in the mother's glasses? Looks like it may be interesting? [As a matter of fact, I do. - Dave] WowThis is an amazing picture... there is so much captured here, and the high quality gives makes it almost unreal - like it's a play rather than real life. A fly on the baby's fingerGreat photograph with amazing detail. Noticed the fly on the right hand pink and what looks like two more on and behind the left hand. What an expressionThis poor mother is exhausted! I have to wonder what ever became of the child. Powerful and sad! PictureThis is a very woebegone picture. Reveal pain with PaintI would like to obtain permission to use this photo as a reference to paint (watercolor) from. How can that happen? [Permission hereby granted to paint your painting. Not that you would really need it. - Dave] The MotherThe mother is so beautiful. Had this been 2007, she would have made a great model. The Great DepressionGrowing up in the 60's and 70's I'd often heard my parents talk about the Great Depression. Mom came from a fairly wealthy family in Warren, Ohio. Her father owned a coal business and by all accounts did very well. He allowed people to buy the coal they needed to heat their homes on credit during the Depression and very few were ever able to pay. The business went under like so many other of the era and Mom's family lost everything. My father was raised on a farm in rural Arkansas. He told stories of many traveling drifters and families coming to their door begging for food. His mom would give them food -- vegetables they raised on the farm and a few biscuits that she's put in a gunny sack for them to take. Dad always said they had no money but his family was much better off then most because they at least had enough to eat most of the time. The Depression had a very profound effect on my parents and most of their generation. Dad was a union plumber for years and opened his own plumbing business and did very well. As a kid I never remember a shortage of anything but not so the case with my parents. We had a huge garden and Mom would can and freeze everything the garden produced. My brothers and I hated that damn garden. We spent our whole summer tending it and always thought our parents were crazy for going to all the hard work and trouble of having such a large garden. We couldn't understand why because my father earned a very good living and we always had plenty. Mom always said if you've ever gone hungry, truly hungry, you never forget the experience and at some point in their lives during the depression they both indeed did go hungry so that huge garden was vital to them. To the rest of us it was just a big pain in the ass! After seeing Miss Lange's photographs of Depression era families and the terrible conditions that existed during the 30's I have a much greater understanding of my parents' attitude. I've concluded that what I see as modern day poverty doesn't begin to compare to what my parent's generation experienced! I guess I never really knew what poverty was. Miss Lange's photographs are haunting and heartbreaking yet very beautifully human. Through her photos I've learned there is a big difference in being penniless and being poor. Being flat broke is one thing but being poor is being without hope for anything to get any better. Her photos clearly show the hopeless look in the eyes of her subjects and to me that shows true poverty and what being poor is all about. During my adult life I've been as broke as you can get but I never felt poor because I always had hope for a better day ahead. Thank you Miss Lange for a greater understanding of my parents and what true poverty really is. I guess I never really knew what poverty was. When my wife and I served as Missionaries of the Episcopal Church in Honduras we saw what poverty truly is. Most folks in the US will never see it. We have so many safety nets in the US that are not available in the rest of the world. Still in the heart of bone-crushing poverty in Central America, I saw acts of filial and agape love that can only be classified as holy. No FormulaFormula for babies didn't exist in the '30's. That poor little baby was probably drinking water. The richer folks used Pet milk with Karo syrup mixed in. (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Kids)
Starting Over: 1935
... View full size. Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Resettlement Administration. Gorgeous One of the best so ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/30/2012 - 2:43pm -

December 1935. "Resettled farm child. From Taos Junction to Bosque Farms project, New Mexico." View full size. Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Resettlement Administration. GorgeousOne of the best so far, thank you for putting this up. So moving. Better times ahead? Heartbreaking. When I view what I believe to be photos of sad children I always hope that somewhere in the future that lies ahead them are happier moments. WowAmazing, what an emotional photo. Pulls you inStunning picture, really pulls you in. Makes you wonder why she is so sad? And is she actually sad or simply really bored? You'll notice the absence of any toys or furniture other than a hand made bench and a rickety old bed. Dried corn cobs by the window frame, and something that surprised me, books and a newspaper on the window frame which leads me to believe someone in her family can read. Could they be her schoolbooks? What has me curious is what was the function of the piece of corrugated steel with a hole in the middle hanging over the fireplace? [That's a hole for a stovepipe. As for the girl, she doesn't look especially sad to me. I see a kid looking at a fireplace waiting for Dorothea Lange to take her picture. - Dave] Bosque FarmsStunning composition in this one. Wow. Very touchingAnd my kid is whining because the Xbox is broken, I'm going to show him this to maybe give him a little perspective. Christina's WorldGreat photo. It reminds me of an Andrew Wyeth painting. Bosque FarmsWonderful photo! I will definitely use it in my upcoming Great Depression history project! Fireplace GirlShe doesn't look sad, to me. She looks like she is examining something about the fireplace - maybe noting the small details of how the wood cracked this time, how the ash crumbled. I imagine this young girl as someday being able to recall, in vivid detail, this fireplace - each crack, each imperfection - and treasuring its memory more than I treasure the memory of my favorite doll. I imagine her laughingly telling her children and grandchildren about how she new every scratch on her bed and every dent in the wall, she treasured those few things so much. My grandmother speaks this way of an orange dress that she once hated in the Depression, because it showed their poverty. But now she fondly remembers it. Bosque Farms TodayBosque Farms is just south of the Isleta Pueblo in Valencia County, New Mexico. Today it is part of the Albuquerque metro area, and has mostly upscale homes with enough room for folks to have horses if they choose. It had been part of early Spanish land grants, and a number of different owners had rancheros in the area. In 1935 the Federal Resettlement Administration bought a large tract there from the state and divided it into 42 parcels which were settled by Dust Bowl refugees from Taos and Harding counties in New Mexico. Small adobe homes were constructed for those resettled, and a number of those homes are still in use today. The original intent was for agricultural livelihoods for those resettled, and that held true for a number of years. However, today it is primarily a bedroom community for Albuquerque. I thought it would be nice to give some background to a wonderful photo FarmgirlThat is one of the remarkable things about photography -- we see what we see, provoking, pulling, pushing us into the scene, imagining what was going on. She may not be sad, but it made me sad, and I would like to give her a doll. (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Great Depression, Kids)
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