Summer 1972, Lake Tahoe. You'd think, after hearing me rhapsodize about my lifelong obsession with cars, that a) I'd have learned to drive before I was 26, and b) my first car would have been something a bit more spectacular than a 1972 Datsun 1200. That's Nissan to you. Well, I had nice pants, anyway. Not bad for a Polaroid, though scuffed as usual. View full size.

Vince's Electric appliance promotion circa 1948. View full size.

Washington, D.C. "Texas Company. Payne & Twomey, 1925." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. Who wants tobacco cakes?

1865. "Savannah, Georgia (vicinity). Interior of Fort McAllister." Wet-plate glass negative, left half of stereo pair, by Sam A. Cooley. View full size.

August 1966. Our brand-new Rambler Cross Country wagon on its first road trip, parked at the corner of Taylor and H Streets in Virginia City, Nevada. My mother swills Kool-Aid, my father picks his teeth, my brother occupies the back seat, and I click off this Kodachrome slide. View full size.

My father piloting our 1949 1948 Hudson. Looks like he's in the midst of shifting. Dig that cool steering wheel and faux-woodgrain dash. Removing the slide from the mount for scanning revealed the appendages on the backs of the front seats, which I'd forgotten about. In fact, I'm still hazy about what they were; the one on the left looks like it's holding something. My brother's Ektachrome slide. View full size.

October 1964. U.S. 101 above Sausalito, Calif., the Waldo Grade approach to the Golden Gate Bridge. Similarities after 44 years: same number of traffic lanes. Differences after 44 years: many more cars, but none of them have fins. My color slide with Montgomery Ward brand film. View full size.

Summer 1967. Just think how much more exciting this shot of my mother, father and brother enjoying a Kodachrome vista of the Sierra Nevada would be if, instead of our sedate 1966 Rambler, we had a red 1960 Chevy wagon. View full size.

January 1964. Just up ahead around the bend this roadway, then part of US 99, the major northern highway access to Los Angeles, is today submerged under Pyramid Lake. Traffic was rerouted to Interstate 5 in 1968 when construction of the dam was begun. My color slide on Montgomery Ward film. View full size.

May 1865. "Another artillery unit passing on Pennsylvania Avenue near the Treasury." Wet plate glass negative by Mathew Brady. View full size.

Washington, D.C., circa 1923. "Victor Building, Ninth Street N.W." National Photo Company Collection glass negative, Library of Congress. View full size.

"James L. Owens & Sons." A sidecar of Klim at the Pan American Union in Washington circa 1921. View full size. National Photo Company glass negative.

Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "Shrine Temple, Third and E streets N.W." National Photo Company Collection glass negative, Library of Congress. View full size.

"Pennsylvania Avenue at night." A wintry Washington, D.C., scene circa 1926. View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative.

"Bureau of Identification, Department of Justice." LOC date: "1916 or 1917." Wall calendar: June 1926. View full size. National Photo Company glass negative.