July 1923. Washington, D.C. "Miss Catherine Wo----, Wardman Park." Another tantalizingly sketchy caption. National Photo Co. glass negative. View full size.

Washington, D.C., circa 1922. "Lulu McGrath." It must have been either luck or amazing foresight that led this girl's parents to name their baby daughter Lulu -- it's hard to imagine her as a Betty or Nancy or anything else. Or it could be that when you're a Lulu, you just grow into the name. In any case, Miss McGrath's brief claim to fame was her appearance in an underwater documentary, "Wonders of the Sea." She was also a runner-up in the first Miss America pageant, in 1921. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

New York circa 1922. The second of five photos labeled with a notation that looks like "Farnham." 5x7 glass negative, Bain News Service. View full size.

New York circa 1924. The Brox sisters again, a year after getting out of bed. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size.

New York circa 1923. "Brox sisters." These singing siblings made it big in vaudeville and then on Broadway. From the left (or maybe the right): Bobbe, Lorayne and Patricia. George Grantham Bain glass negative. View full size.

Washington, D.C., circa 1927. "Thayer Studio." No further information on these lithe and lissome lovelies. Harris & Ewing glass negative. View full size.

1921. Inter-City Beauties Ethel Charles, Nellie Orr and Margaret Gorman at Union Station in Washington, D.C. Margaret would be crowned winner at the very first Miss America pageant. National Photo Company glass negative. View full size.

March 28, 1939. "Pretty Peggy Townsend, who will be crowned Cherry Blossom Queen at the festival to be held Friday, picked out a Cherry Tree to get her first glimpse of the beautiful blossoms in Potomac Park." View full size.

Washington, D.C., circa 1937. "Jane Grier." Pictured with a Packard near the old State, War and Navy building. Harris & Ewing Collection. View full size.

Lewinsville, Virginia, circa 1910. "Della Storm." A younger member of the Storm clan. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

August 4, 1938. Washington, D.C. "Miss Dorothy Parker has been selected as Miss Washington and will compete for the title of Miss America at the Atlantic City beauty pageant to be held during Labor Day week. 18 Years old, she weighs 112 pounds and is 5 feet, 4 inches in height. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. Albert Parker of Washington." Harris & Ewing glass negative. View full size.

Circa 1900. "Thisbe." Who was quite the Babylonian. View full size.

October 1942. "Two assembly line workers at the Long Beach, California, plant of Douglas Aircraft Company enjoy a well-earned lunch period. Nacelle parts of a heavy bomber form the background." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information. View full size.

April 1941. "Negro cabaret, South Side Chicago." The Boyd Atkins Band. Acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

Mid-Fifties Los Angeles. Medium format safety negative. View full size.