Circa 1905. "Old church at Jamestown, Virginia." Please, no pilfering. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

St. Paul, Minnesota, circa 1905. "Ryan Hotel." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

August 29, 1922. Washington, D.C. "Catherine May Byram, Plaza baby show." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

Aboard the U.S.S. New York circa 1896. "Ship's tailor." The dog is Nick. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

New Jersey circa 1900. "West end of tunnel, Manunka Chunk." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "People's Drug Store, 14th and U." Your Hypo-Cod headquarters. National Photo Co. Collection glass negative. View full size.

Warren County, New Jersey, circa 1900. "Manunka Chunk, east end of tunnel." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

August 29, 1922. Washington, D.C. "Plaza baby show." Happy Mother's Day from Shorpy! National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

February 1939. "Gas station. Edcouch, Texas." One-stop shopping for petroleum and petunias. Medium-format nitrate negative by Russell Lee. View full size.

Kansas City, Missouri, circa 1906. "Walnut Street." Home of the $2 hat. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

"The Hippodrome, New York. A Yankee Circus on Mars." Which was the production that opened this 5,200-seat theater, the world's largest, in April 1905. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

October 6, 1922. Washington, D.C. "Emily Dial, daughter of Senator Dial." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "Hoover & Denham." Which is which, the caption doesn't say. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "Wamsley billboard." While pondering the postworthiness of this moldy old glass negative, I noticed the small sign appended to the big one: "On this site will be the new home of the Methodist Board of Temperance, Prohibition and Public Morals." And therein lies a tale, having to do with the Chesterfield ad at the far end of the billboard. Which seems to have caused some embarrassment for the temperance board, who owned this property and was profiting from the advertisement for the "weed," despite tobacco being one of the vices it aimed to stamp out. After all that research I still don't know who Wamsley was. National Photo Company glass negative. View full size.

New Orleans circa 1906. "Royal Street from Canal Street." Where the ice man goeth. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.