August 1939. "Washington, Yakima Valley, near Wapato. One tenant purchase program (Farm Security Administration) client, Jacob N. Schrock. This family with eight children had lived for 25 years on a rocky, rented farm in this valley. They now own 48 acres of good land, this good house, price $6,770. They raise hay, grain, dairy and hogs. Mrs. Schrock says, 'Quite a lot of difference between that old rock pile, and around here'." Photo by Dorothea Lange. View full size.

1935. "Edgemont, Keene vicinity, Albemarle County, Virginia. Structure dates to 1806. Was the home of Col. James Powell Cocke. Designed by Thomas Jefferson after the Villa Rotonda design of Palladio." 8x10 negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston, Carnegie Survey of the Architecture of the South. View full size.

August 1940. "Farmer playing guitar on the porch in the evening. Near Natchitoches, Louisiana." Medium format nitrate negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Resettlement Administration. View full size.

Summer 1936. "Cat on porch of a sharecropper's cabin, Hale County, Alabama." Photo by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

From ca. 1915 we bring you the John Doe family and their cat. 5x7 glass negative from that dusty box in Grandma's attic to an estate sale to you. View full size.

Chicago circa 1958. "American Cancer Society -- Circus lion tamer." Would you take a check? 4x5 acetate negative from the Shorpy News Archive. View full size.

Los Angeles, 1948. "Actor Lex Barker and his family -- wife Constance Rhodes Thurlow, son Alexander Crichlow Barker III, and daughter Lynn Thurlow Barker with their dog and cat." From photos by Maurice Terrell for the Look magazine assignment "Princeton-Bred Tarzan." View full size.

"Cats at Elden's -- March 16, 1952." The latest installment of Minnesota Koda­chromes stars two frosty felines. Photo by Hubert Tuttle. View full size.

        On his eighth birthday, Shorpy wishes all a Happy Valentine's Day, and raises his paw in a toast you -- yes, YOU -- for the comments and contributions that have kept us going over the years.

Circa 1914. "Cats in costume at birthday party with cake." Photo by Harry W. Frees, whose oddball oeuvre both delights and appalls. View full size.

December 1957. "Family listening to radio." Mother sewing; Father reading; Sis petting; Junior tuning. 35mm negative by Warren K. Leffler. View full size.

December 1936. "William Helmke, wife, baby, and brother live in one-room shack on ninety-acre farm near Dickens, Iowa, owned by lawyer." Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the Resettlement Administration. View full size.

1916. "Dolly sister with Buzzer the cat, portrait photograph." One of the Dolly Sisters (Rose and Jenny), twin vaudeville stars from Budapest who made it big in America. 5x7 nitrate negative by Arnold Genthe. View full size.

1914. "Cat wearing apron, stirring pot on miniature stove." As seen on the classic cooking show Kitten Kitchen. Photo by Harry W. Frees. View full size.

Washington, D.C., circa 1930. "Timmons, Mrs. Bascom N." We'll let you fill in the blanks. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.

March 3, 1913. "Miss Marjorie Silvester and Buzzer the cat." Favored furry prop in the portrait studio of Arnold Genthe. 5x7 glass negative. View full size.