June 1939. "Mother and child, agricultural day laborer family encamped near Spiro. Sequoyah County, Oklahoma." Photo by Russell Lee. View full size.

August 1952. "Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz with their daughter, Lucie, in swimming pool at their home in Palm Springs." Kodachrome by Charlotte Brooks for the Look magazine assignment "The Real Lucy." Happy Mother's Day from Shorpy! View full size.

October 1938. "Factory workers' homes in Camden, New Jersey." 35mm negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Resettlement Administration. View full size.

1938. "Lady of the Lake, St. Martinville vicinity, St. Martin Parish, Louisiana." 8x10 inch acetate negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size.

March 1943. Fort Madison, Iowa. "In the train control room at the Shopton shops of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. Testing pneumatic train control equipment. This rack is used for testing about eight different parts of the apparatus." Photo by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size.

May 17, 1940. "Phipps Garden Apartments, 5101 39th Avenue, Long Island City, New York. Clarence S. Stein, architect." Hanging with a big girl whose feet touch the ground. Large-format negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size.

Kodachrome taken by my dad in New Orleans in February 1956. View full size.

March 25, 1937. "Close-up of front elevation -- old William Henderson store (Miller's Ferry Post Office), State Road 28, Canton Bend near Camden, Wilcox County, Alabama. Built 1858." The perfect place to start your trip. Photo by Alex Bush for the Historic American Buildings Survey. View full size.

1923. Washington, D.C. "Marathon dancers." One contestant seen earlier here. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

Circa 1906. "State National Guard Armory, Worcester, Mass." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

"1932 or 1933. No caption -- dancers in ballroom." The Shorpy Research Department has determined this to be the Washington Arts Club's annual Bal Boheme, specifically the "Castles in the Air" costume ball held Feb. 6, 1933, at the Willard Hotel. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.

April 1961. "Sunbathing with the latest swimming pool equipment, including a lounge chair with floating beverage holders and game table attachments." From photos by Bob Sandberg for the Look magazine assignment "For Women Only -- Pool Life." Tell your kids about how back in the day people couldn't play cards or smoke in the pool, and all you're likely to get is a blank stare. View full size.

August 1942. "Vultee Aircraft Co., Nashville. Using an electric drill on a fuselage in a sub-assembly section." Another boy putting an airplane together during WW2. Photo by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size.

        Named for George Henry Thomas, Civil War general and, from his perch on the plinth, observer of countless traffic-circle fender-benders.

Thomas Circle and Luther Place Memorial Church in Washington, D.C., circa 1906. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

August 1942. "Nashville, Tennessee. Vultee Aircraft Company. Drilling holes for rivets in a fuselage on a sub-assembly line." In other words, doing prep work for Rosie. Photo by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size.