June 1943. Louisville, Kentucky. "Virginia Lively used to be a beauty operator. Today she works at a filling station." Sears gasoline -- who knew? Photo by Howard Hollem for the Office of War Information. View full size.

1917. "Langley, Samuel Pierpont. Secretary, Smithsonian Institute. Experimental tandem biplane on Potomac embodying Langley principles." Last seen here. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.

      Time for our weekly check-in with the girls of Apartment 3G. (Or is it 3X?) Another round of Cokes, and let's get comfortable!

The next entry in a curious set of photos from the Office of War Information archive, taken by Arthur Siegel in the summer of 1941 in Detroit. View full size.

1911. "Christ's College 1st XV rugby team." Glass plate negative from the Steffano Webb studio in Christchurch, New Zealand. View full size.

The Mississippi River circa 1906. "Kansas City & Memphis Railway bridge at Memphis, Tennessee." Where you'll find the Mary Bell. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

June 1943. Keysville, Virginia. "Randolph Henry High School. Cafeteria. Students don't have much money so they bring produce from farms for which they receive tickets. Lunches cost about 15 cents. Typical lunch: candied yams, macaroni and cheese, fruit salad, deviled eggs, dessert and milk. Milk is free and children can have as much as they want." Let's not forget beans, which seem to be in abundance. Photo by Philip Bonn, Office of War Information. View full size.

June 1943. "Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Women garage attendants at the Atlantic Refining Company." The hard part here was figuring out that crazy clamshell hood. Photo by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size.

Knoxville, Tennessee, circa 1905. "Looking north on Gay Street from near Clinch Avenue." A pulsing commercial artery where Hope Jewelers, The Man's Store and East Tennessee National Bank are among the businesses vying for your trade. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

August 23, 1951. "Indian Head Camp, Bushkill, Pennsylvania. Boys on basketball court." Large-format acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size.

Circa 1930. "Edgar Allan Poe's mother's house. Richmond, Henrico County, Virginia." Large-format negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size.

Circa 1910. "Maori woman with a catch of fish on the Northland coast." Glass negative by Arthur James Northwood. View full size.

January 1943. "Freight operations on the Indiana Harbor Belt railroad between Chicago and Hammond, Indiana. The engine crew, engineer and fireman report at the roundhouse office to be assigned their engine and given orders for the day. The cylinder at the left is the pool board; it lists the names of the men and the order and shift in which they will work." Photo by Jack Delano. View full size.

"St. John's Church and graveyard from street. Main eastern theater of war, fallen Richmond, April-June 1865." Wet plate glass negative. View full size.

Washington, D.C., 1914. "Wrisley Brown, attorney, riding." You'll note the Washington Monument showing a decided tilt to the left, although the reason is more optical than political. Harris & Ewing glass negative. View full size.

Bacon-flavored dog food! You sure can't say we didn't pamper our Missie. Here Mother appears to be supplementing it with some strips of leftover steak. Missie had been a foundling, rescued as a months-old pup by a friend's family as she scrounged for food on a beach along the Russian River. She never lost that knack, each day making her regular rounds of the neighbors who always had some treat waiting for her. She developed quite a gut. Nevertheless, she was a born tracker, and delighted in romping through the woods after deer for hours when we'd go on hikes, then following our scent to wherever we'd gotten to in the meantime. We were astonished one day early on when for the first time she actually pointed at some lurking critter. That hunting instinct didn't always end well; she tangled with a skunk once, and one day came home with a small gash in her side, we assumed from an encounter with a raccoon. Her orphan days didn't sour her on the Russian River, because she loved frolicking on the sand and in the water at the beach near our Guernewood summer place. She was with us for just another year after I took this 35mm Tri-X negative in the Salmon Kitchen of our Larkspur, California home. View full size.