Our holdings include hundreds of glass and film negatives/transparencies that we've scanned ourselves; in addition, many other photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs) in the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) They are adjusted, restored and reworked by your webmaster in accordance with his aesthetic sensibilities before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here. All of these images (including "derivative works") are protected by copyright laws of the United States and other jurisdictions and may not be sold, reproduced or otherwise used for commercial purposes without permission.
[REV 25-NOV-2014]
Vintage photos of:
December 1941. Akron, Ohio. "Manufacture of self-sealing gas tanks, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co." A patriotic ensemble of red, white and blue. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer, Office of War Information. View full size.
December 1941. "Electronics technician, Goodyear Aircraft Corp., Akron, Ohio." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer, OWI. View full size.
June 1942. "Crewman of an M-3 tank, Fort Knox, Kentucky." Or could it be Fort Dix? Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the OWI. View full size.
October 1942. "Douglas Aircraft plant at Long Beach, California. An A-20 bomber being riveted by a woman worker." (With, yes, a power drill.) 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer, Office of War Information. View full size.
February 1942. "Conversion. Copper and brass processing. Weighing brass scrap. The war program calls for the use of such vast amounts of brass and copper, among other metals, that all available scrap must be utilized. Here a truckload of brass trimmings from a sheet mill is being weighed. From here it will go to the casting shop, where it will be remelted and cast again into billets. Chase Brass and Copper Company, Euclid, Ohio." 4x5 nitrate negative by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information. View full size.
October 1942. Inglewood, California. "Employees at North American Aviation, Incorporated, assembling the cowling on Allison motors for the P-51 'Mustang' fighter planes." 4x5 inch Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information. View full size.
October 1942. "Women become skilled shop technicians after careful training in the school at the Douglas Aircraft Company plant in Long Beach, California. Planes made here include the B-17F Flying Fortress heavy bomber, A-20 assault bomber and C-47 transport." Happy Labor Day from Shorpy! 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer, Office of War Information. View full size.
February 1942. Akron, Ohio. "Conversion. Beverage containers to aviation oxygen cylinders. Removal from solution tank at a rubber factory now producing metal essential for the Army. This bath, which follows the removal of the weld scale, gives the inside of the cylinder a further cleaning and removes all chemicals which may remain from the previous operation." 4x5 nitrate negative by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information. View full size.