Technology Photos

Archive of historic color and black and white Technology photos. To buy a fine-art Technology print click the thumbnail and follow the "Buy Print" link.
 
 
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Photos submitted by Shorpy members.

 
Colorized Photos


Colorized photos submitted by members.

 

 
About the Photos

Most of the photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs, 20 to 200 megabytes in size) from the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) Many were digitized by LOC contractors using a Sinar studio back. They are adjusted by your webmaster for contrast and color in Photoshop before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here.

 
 
 
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Sun-Catcher: 1906

Sun-Catcher: 1906

Detroit circa 1906. "Detroit Publishing Co., northwest view." Note the greenhouse-style glass to the right employing sunlight for printing and perhaps enlargement, as well as the unusual windows to the left. In the early years of the 20th century, the company was one of the world's biggest producers of color postcards. Panorama made from two 8x10 inch glass negatives. View full size.

 

Suitcase Wireless: 1924

Suitcase Wireless: 1924

Washington, D.C., circa 1924. "Brent Daniel, formerly of the Radio Laboratory of the Bureau of Standards at Washington, with the first portable Super-Heterodyne, his own design. The seven vacuum tubes, batteries, loop antenna, loudspeaker and other necessary units are completely self-contained in the carrying case. He has been able to hear Pacific Coast stations from this outfit." View full size.

 

Hot Water: 1905

Hot Water: 1905

Detroit circa 1905. "Detroit City Gas Company office, heater." Note the photographer or his assistant holding the drape. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

 

News Flash: 1920

News Flash: 1920

Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "Democratic National Committee." The convention hall in the old Liberty Market. Harris & Ewing glass negative. View full size.

 

Canadian π: 1974

Canadian π: 1974

When I graduated from high school in 1974, I used a graduation award to buy a $395 (Canadian) Hewlett Packard HP-35 calculator. My mom had to order it from the Vancouver HP office (their pocket calculators - a new line of not-quite-consumer products from a company that had specialized in electrical measuring instruments and desktop electronic calculators for engineers - were not then available in Canadian stores). The first HP programmable (the HP-65) had been available for a year or two, but for the impossible price of $795. With the non-programmable HP-35, I could do trig, logarithms and powers, and my pocket slide-rule was put on the shelf forever. Yes, the family crowded around. 35mm photo by my dad. View full size.

ATM: 1918

ATM: 1918

Washington, D.C., circa 1918. "Bankers Automatic Receiving Teller Co." These machines (designed to look like little bank buildings) were used, among other places, in the D.C. schools into the 1930s to encourage thrifty habits. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

 

Radio School: 1920

Radio School: 1920

Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "National Radio School." Some of the equipment at the high-tech technical school seen here. National Photo Co. View full size.

 
 
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Shorpy.com | History in HD is a vintage photo blog featuring thousands of high-definition images from the 1850s to 1950s. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago.

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