In Spain such disposition it is common. Of course there are computers and phones today, but not cubicles.

Frankly, I'd hate having to work in a cube farm, and thankfully I only know them through movies.

I had a job in what was probably one of the last such work environments circa 1992. Yeah, it was noisier and all, but there was more human contact and everybody looked out for each other.

Today I walk into my cube farm and I think "cellblock".

Windows 1941 was actually real windows!

loud, dim, and hot or cold depending on the season.

As for the lack of cups and such, it was a rare and enlightened business that offered the help so much as a coffee break. The most you could hope for was a water cooler with cone cups, so you were sure not to put them down.

No sir, not one of these ladies.

I also noticed, no coffee cups, telephones or personal items on the desks. Quite different from today in many offices.

Is that the boss next to the fire extinguisher? The lone male . . . No, wait, I think I see one more: left side second row.

All the workers are black. It looks like the founder in the painting may be black also. I guess this is a black-owned, operated and even female-employing company serving the needs of their community.

I think this is a much more positive image of black life than the "Old-time negro" we saw a few pages ago!

These look like pretty good environs for 1941, for anyone. I like the blur on the hands of the woman in front. She's getting things done!

No Successories needed here: look at the rear wall and see the Founding Father of the company glowering at anyone daring to shirk her duties!

Uncomfortable wooden chairs, clacking typewriters, annoying coworkers...this photo makes me appreciate my cubicle a little more.

I once interviewed for a copywriter job at the now merged into something else Bank of Virginia in the VA sprawl abutting D.C. back in the early '90s and it looked like this but with about 10 times as many people in one big room (and with PCs instead of typewriters and adding machines). The expansive view on three sides from the glass office tower made the prospect that much more dismal and depressing to me.

Regarding of the sardonic comment below, have you seen the TV "Office" calendar? It's full of inspirational successories featuring the cast.

How could these people have gotten any work done? There's no "inspirational" Successories posters or even an uplifting mission statement. How primitive.