Spring 1942. New Bedford, Massachusetts. "Portuguese mother with pictures of her sons, who are all in service." Photo by John Collier, OWI. View full size.

California circa 1904. "Our baggage is coming on ahead." These novelty scenes were a relative rarity in the Detroit Publishing catalog. View full size.

New York. June 3, 1920. "Columbia U. Class of 1910." A Shorpy tip of the mortarboard to our recent college grads! Bain News Service. View full size.

Coney Island, New York, circa 1905. "Picnicing on the beach -- a hasty lunch." 8½ x 6½ inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

Cleveland, Ohio, circa 1901. "Armory of the Ohio National Guard." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

May 1940. "Cairo, Illinois -- Big Four Cafe." 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

A vertiginous view of New York circa 1910. "Broadway from Chambers Street -- City Hall Park, Post Office, Park Row, City Investing and Singer buildings." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

April 1943. "Chicago & North Western R.R. -- Mrs. Dorothy Lucke, employed as a wiper at the roundhouse in Clinton, Iowa." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size.

July 1938. "Slums in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." 35mm nitrate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

Circa 1897. "Aboard the U.S.S. Brooklyn -- good night." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative by Edward H. Hart, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

Toledo, Ohio, circa 1905. "Post Office on St. Clair Street." 6½ x 8½ inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

May 1940. "Wiping off windshield at service station in Cairo, Illinois." 35mm negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

August 1938. "Quick lunch stand in Plain City, Ohio." 35mm nitrate negative by Ben Shahn for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

Circa 1925. "Whistle Bottling Works." A peek behind the scenes at the Washington, D.C., bottling plant for Whistle orange soda. View full size.

Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "John D. Hayes" is the caption here, perhaps indicating a connection to the Fanny Farmer chain of candy stores. Economics majors have probably heard of Adam Smith's "invisible hand" of the market; here we see evidence of its phantom foot. National Photo Co. View full size.