The southbound on-ramp to U.S. 101 in Corte Madera, California, in a Kodachrome slide I shot through the back window of our 1956 Rambler station wagon in January 1963. Corte Madera is the "twin city" of my home town, Idyllic™ Larkspur. Rising up in the distance is Marin County's iconic symbol, Mount Tamalpais. Closer and to the left, Corte Madera's "Christmas Tree Hill" is so-named from the practice, in days of yore, of homeowners banding together to illuminate their houses to produce an outline of a Christmas tree when viewed from the distance. To the right, Larkspur's Little and Big King Mountains. Yes, we call hills "mountains" in Marin County. Fortunately, they're protected from development by open-space regulations, and Mt. Tam by state park and Marin Municipal Water District ownership. View full size.

New Zealand circa 1905. "Unidentified group having a picnic outside tent in backyard of house, probably Christchurch district." Are New Zealanders the most picnicking people on the planet? Glass negative by Adam Maclay. View full size.

Circa 1908. "Hulett machine unloading ore at Buffalo, N.Y." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

New York. May 15, 1929. "Fernandez, Marcelino, Mr. and Mrs." Shy, not. Large format nitrate negative from the studio of Arnold Genthe. View full size.

Spring 1942. "Little girl on a farm in Maryland, learning to eat vitamins. 'Balanced meal' on the table of a Farm Security Administration client in Calvert County." Photo by John Collier for the Office of War Information. View full size.

        President Kennedy on that dark yet sunny day in Dallas 50 years ago, minutes before he was assassinated.

November 22, 1963. "Overview of crowds of people waving as President John F. Kennedy and his wife sit in back of limousine during procession through downtown Dallas, Texas; Texas Governor John Connally and his wife ride in the limousine's jump seats." New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, Library of Congress. View full size.

Circa 1921 in New York, the British pianist and conductor Ethel Leginska, who achieved a dubious renown for skipping out on her concert performances, including a memorable non-appearance at Carnegie Hall. Cooking-wise, we'd zap that another 30 seconds on High. 5x7 inch glass negative. View full size.

The Hudson River circa 1908. "Steamer landings, Poughkeepsie, New York." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

April 12, 1929. "King Tut, President Hoover's big German police dog, now makes the rounds of the sentry boxes in the White House grounds through the night. He is shown with W.S. Newton of the White House police." State, War & Navy building in the background. Harris & Ewing glass negative. View full size.

November 1942. "Nurses in training. Babies' Hospital, New York. A graduate nurse (right) watches student Susan Petty prepare a hypodermic for a patient. Strict adherence to doctors' orders is something every probationer must learn." Photo by Fritz Henle for the Office of War Information. View full size.

        The incorrigibly industrious Eugene Dalton 100 years ago -- we last saw him in 2007, in the second photo ever posted on Shorpy.

November 1913. Fort Worth, Texas. "Some results of messenger and newsboy work. For nine years this 16-year-old boy has been newsboy and messenger for drug stores and telegraph companies. He was recently brought before the Judge of the Juvenile Court for incorrigibility at home. Is now out on parole, and was working again for drug company when he got a job carrying grips in the Union Depot. He is on the job from 6 A.M. to 11 P.M. (seventeen hours a day) for seven days in the week. His mother and the Judge think he uses cocaine, and yet they let him put in these long hours every day. He told me 'There ain't a house in "The Acre" [Red Light] that I ain't been in. At the drug store, all my deliveries were down there.' Says he makes from $15 to $18 a week. Eugene Dalton." Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.

Sept. 12, 1953. Newport, Rhode Island. "Kennedy wedding -- Jacqueline Kennedy throwing the bouquet." Gelatin Silver print by Toni Frissell. View full size.

1939. Mobile, Alabama. "Collins store -- Royal Street near St. Louis Street." The Panama Cafe looks like our kind of place. Note the Dr Pepper truck in the alley. 8x10 inch acetate negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size.

February 1942. Detroit, Michigan. "Riot at the Sojourner Truth Homes, a new U.S. federal housing project, caused by white neighbors' attempt to prevent Negro tenants from moving in. Moving vans convoyed by police department moving Negroes' furniture." Photo by Arthur Siegel. View full size.

Circa 1900. "St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, Buffalo, New York." With the Guaranty (Prudential) Building and a bicycle repair shop as neighbors. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.