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:
Ann Arbor, Michigan, circa 1905. "Oyster Bay Cafe." Continuing the bivalve theme. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Lake George, New York, circa 1908. "The cafe, Fort William Henry Hotel." Welcome to the Purgatory Room, with cocktails and dancing nightly in the Limbo Lounge. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative. View full size.
Lake George, New York, circa 1908. "Main dining room, Fort William Henry Hotel." Two for dinner? Excellent. But there's a wait. View full size.
Lake George, New York, circa 1908. "The Grotto, Fort William Henry Hotel." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
October 1914. "Table boy in a Montgomery. Alabama, drug store. Many of these boys work until midnight, and some are very young." Hey kid -- one peppermint caramel venti latte to go. Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.
Located in Santa Monica Canyon, California. Good food and for some reason one of their specials was frog legs. View full size.
New York circa 1910. "Pell Street, Chinatown." Mon Lay Won, a restaurant that billed itself as the "Chinese Delmonico," figured in the Tong Wars of the early 20th century. 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
New Orleans circa 1906. "Old Absinthe House -- the bar." No obvious patrons except for a number of barflies. Detroit Publishing glass negative. View full size.