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Vintage photos of:
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]
From San Francisco circa 1940 comes this uncaptioned photo of Joe DiMaggio and friend and at least a dozen cups of coffee. Who can explain what's going on here? 5x7 inch nitrate negative, photographer unknown. View full size.
October 1890. "Mississippi cotton gin at Dahomey." Which way to the break room? 8x10 inch dry plate glass transparency by William Henry Jackson. View full size.
California circa 1911. "Rudy Unholz and brother." The German-born lightweight (right) died in 1916 at the age of 34. 5x7 inch glass negative. View full size.
Boston, 1906. "Copley Square and Museum of Fine Arts." Backdrop for a variety of conveyances. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative. View full size.
Volusia County, Florida, circa 1903. "Artesian well pumping water for irrigation at Ormond." 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
February 1923. Washington, D.C., or vicinity. "Puppies." Probably poky. Lovably little. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.
April 1, 1923. "Easter at White House." With a number of the Easter Bunny's cousins in attendance. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.
October 1942. "Manpower, junior size. Proud young fighters in Uncle Sam's junior army visit a scrap yard in Roanoke, Virginia, to see for themselves what happens to the scrap they collect for our war industries. One of the workers explains to the children how the acetylene torch he holds cuts heavy metal into the shapes required for melting by the steel mills." 4x5 inch nitrate negative by Valentino Sarra for the Office of War Information. View full size.
San Francisco circa 1918. "White 5-ton motor truck loaded with Sperry Flour bound for Los Angeles." Guarded by what looks to be a prototype version of the Cookie Monster. 5x7 glass negative by Christopher Helin. View full size.
New York circa 1905. "Fifth Avenue at 57th Street, looking toward Vanderbilt House, Plaza Hotel and entrance to Central Park." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
November 27, 1905. "Chicago -- State Street looking toward Adams." This dental nerve center of the Windy City advertises the services of Haycock Painless Dentistry, the Harvard Dental Parlors and, not to be outdone in branding, the Gideon Sibley Dental Depot. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative. View full size.
New York. February 21, 1912. "Matty Baldwin." The lightweight boxer from Boston, a.k.a. the Bunker Hill Bearcat, died at the age of 33 in 1918, a victim of the Spanish flu epidemic. 5x7 glass negative, Bain News Service. View full size.
Atlantic City circa 1906. "Boardwalk and big hotels (the Marlborough-Blenheim and Traymore) from Young's new pier." At left, the attraction "Creation of the World." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
July 1942. "Nyssa, Oregon. Farm Security Administration mobile camp. Soda pop is delivered at the camp for Japanese-Americans." Medium format nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Office of War Information. View full size.