Politics

        Back when Indiana was a Pink State.

September 1952. "Republican presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower campaigning in the Midwest. Includes Eisenhower on a whistle-stop tour, in motorcades and addressing large crowds at political rally in South Bend, Indiana." Large-format color transparency by Charlotte Brooks for the Look magazine assignment "The G.O.P.'s future will be up to Ike." View full size.

March 5, 1917. Washington, D.C. "Woodrow Wilson inaugural parade." Of peripheral interest on Pennsylvania Avenue: the three-act drama Just a Woman at Poli's Theater, and "modern 'Cadillac' automobiles" for rent at $3 an hour at the Willard Hotel. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.

October 1967. "Michigan Gov. George Romney in urban area." The Republican presidential aspirant during the "ghetto tour" that took him to more than a dozen inner cities following that year's race riots and civil unrest. From photos by James Karales for Look magazine. View full size.

April 1953. Washington, D.C. "Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin." Kodachrome by Frank Bauman for the Look magazine assignment "Joe McCarthy: The Man With the Power." Not to mention what looks like a pepper mill. View full size.

        Extra credit assignment: Identify the cars. (The answers: 1960 Ford Starliner on the left; 1960 Studebaker Lark on the right.)

Spring 1960. "Efforts of John F. Kennedy's campaign team, including members of his family, in West Virginia during Kennedy's quest for the 1960 Democratic presidential nomination. Includes brother Bob at a drive-in in Bluefield." From photos by Bob Lerner for the Look magazine article "The Kennedys: A Family Political Machine." 35mm negative. View full size.

Spring 1938. "Cambridge, Massachusetts. Historical marker with trash cans." Medium format negative by Paul Vanderbilt. View full size.

For your Halloween enjoyment we present "The Commercial Vampire," a Leon Barritt cartoon from the July 20, 1898, issue of Vim, a short-lived satirical weekly published in New York. Painting department stores as bloodthirsty predators of small independent businesses, the same argument made today in some quarters against giant retailers like Wal-Mart and Amazon. View full size.