April 1865. "Richmond, Va. Ruins of Richmond & Petersburg Railroad bridge." Span over the James River, burned by Confederate troops before the advancing Federal Army. Wet plate negative by Alexander Gardner. View full size.

Circa 1908. "West front, U.S. Capitol, Washington." Today only, a tricameral legislature. 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.

New York, 1920. "Graham shop." Store window display of the Graham Talking Machine Co. at 75 Graham Avenue in Brooklyn. Among the titles you could take for a spin: "Ever of Thee I'm Fondly Dreaming," "Drowsy Baby" and "My Little Bimbo Down on the Bamboo Isle." Who'll be the first brave soul to attempt a Nipper count? 5x7 glass negative, Bain News Service. View full size.

December 1921. Washington, D.C. "Machinists Association." And what could be an exhibit for the Museum of Antique Office Equipment. Experts please weigh in. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "551-53-55 Randolph St. N.W." We'll take the one next to the castle. National Photo Company glass negative. View full size.

The International Sweethearts of Rhythm, the pioneering all-girl jazz-swing group, with bandleader Anna Mae Winburn in the 1940s. Guitarist Carline Ray, who died in New York earlier this month at age 88, is third from left. View full size.

July 1936. "Many fruit tramps live in tents like these. Yakima, Washington." Slang for the itinerant agricultural workers, many of them Dust Bowl refugees, who picked apples, pears and cherries in the Pacific Northwest. Photo by Arthur Rothstein for the Resettlement Administration. View full size.

March 9, 1923. Washington, D.C. "Miss L.M. Alexander," possibly of the Department of Agriculture. National Photo glass negative. View full size.

Circa 1906. "Y.W.C.A. building, Detroit." Once again the interesting stuff is at the periphery -- note signage at right advertising Cracker Jack and the services of a "bell hanger." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.

Copper production circa 1906. "12,000 horsepower compound pump, Calumet and Hecla stamp mill, Lake Linden, Michigan." Note the faint double exposure in this 8x10 inch glass plate. Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

1965. "Entertainer Johnny Carson working on the Tonight Show. Includes Carson standing backstage." From photos taken for the Look magazine article "Johnny Carson, the Prince of Chitchat, Is a Loner." View full size.

August 1938. "Refreshment stand at county fair, central Ohio." Photo by Ben Shahn for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

Sept. 1935. "Daughter of farmer who will be resettled. Wolf Creek Farms, Ga." Photo by Arthur Rothstein for the Resettlement Administration. View full size.

Looks like Western Day at a school in Phoenix, Arizona with the Bill Williams Mountain Men. On the back is stamped "Earl's Camera Shop, 1616 E. Camelback, Phoenix, Ariz. 85016, 3/13/64." 8x10 from an estate sale in an older neighborhood in Phoenix. Any Shorpyites recognize the record album the girl in the upper left is holding? I can make out Sammy Davis Jr. and Ray Charles. Check out the outfit the boy (4th from left, front row) is wearing. View full size.

Boots the cat, last seen here, with my brother, age 11 and me, age 2, on our lawn in Larkspur, California. Even if the print hadn't been dated, we'd know it was August because the amaryllis are in bloom; we had them in various places all around our yard. The other horticultural item worth noting is, in the upper right corner, what we'd always called just "the citrus tree" until, twenty years or so later, it finally revealed itself to be a grapefruit. This shot, taken by my sister with her Kodak Duaflex, is on the very first roll of color film we ever used, and the last until my brother started taking color slides seven years later. I restored it from a badly-yellowed print - a fate which befell every Kodacolor print from that period. I still have the negative, but it - as again is typical - has become almost completely dense. View full size.