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Reading Circle: 1942
... came to Southington in late May, 1942, for the Farm Security Administration, to photograph life in a typical American town, which, other ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/15/2015 - 4:41pm -

May 1942. "Southington, Conn. Class of young children." Reading David's Friends at School. Photo by Fenno Jacobs, Office of War Information. View full size.
A Trip to the ParkLooking over the shoulder of the boy in the striped shirt, it appears that David and his friends are boarding a PCC streamlined streetcar for their field trip. My grade 2 reader in Windsor, Ontario in 1953 was "Friends and Neighbours", and there was a story about two boys who took the streetcar across town to visit an amusement park. Unaccompanied. And they ran out of money for their return trip. But they had a nickel left, and used that to telephone Jim's uncle to come and rescue them. Another life lesson in the 1950s.
How Do You Look Today?Love the reflection of the reading boy in the mirror.
Chairs and tablesThose chairs - as well as the tables and shelves - are just like the ones from my elementary school days more than ten years later. In fact, the room could almost be my first grade classroom. Things were made to last in those days. Even the clothing the kids are wearing wouldn't look out of place in the early 1950s.
Let's read together!Clang, clang! Clang, clang!
"Here comes the street car", said Tom
David's Friends at SchoolPublished in 1936 by Paul Robert Hanna (1902-1988), a professor in education at Stanford, author of 16 books and over 80 educational essays.  He lived in a house designed for him and his wife by Frank Lloyd Wright (Wright's first in the San Francisco region).
The Reading Circle. Not Dead yetBelieve it our not, my wife (a teacher for 36 years, retiring nine years ago, and then going back to substitute teach), was still doing the reading circle before she retired and as a Substitute.
She still had some of the best readers in the school.
Pretty Up to DateConsidering the first PCC streetcars were being introduced the year this book was published - someone certainly cared.
This reading groupdoesn't look much different from Miss Jacobs' first-grade class in 1960 in Southern California.  We were working on the classic "Dick and Jane" series: "Jump, Jane.  Jump up!"
 Fenno Jacobs:  Keep him comin'!Fenno Jacobs, known as a major-magazine photographer, came to Southington in late May, 1942, for the Farm Security Administration, to photograph life in a typical American town, which, other than being more industrialized than most small towns, it was.
Among the nearly 300 photos he took, there, are scenes of school children raising the flag, and giving the "Bellamy" salute, as seen here: https://www.shorpy.com/node/17278, which others photos in the set reveal to have been taken at the Milldale School, 1924-1990's, in the south-central part of town.
Many interior schoolroom shots, like this one, can look very much like Milldale School did, but subtleties of brickwork, window spacing details, and outside-the-windows views, indicate that THIS picture was taken at the Holcomb School, near downtown, built 1926.
There is another Jacobs picture of this exact scene, wherein the fellow reading, who seems to need his finger to help him follow the words, is standing proud and forthright, and delivering the message as if he had been born to preach.
Southington was a truly great town to grow up in, in the 1950s and '60s, when there were yet some farms remaining, and much undeveloped land.  Sprawl has won the war, however, it's just too central a location.
(The Gallery, Education, Schools, Fenno Jacobs, Kids)

Cajun Girls' Night Out: 1938
... Raceland, Louisiana." 35mm negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Horses and Mules Love the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/10/2008 - 9:31pm -

October 1938. "Girls from the Cajun country at Raceland, Louisiana." 35mm negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Horses and MulesLove the calendar in the background. Horses and Mules ... "The usual guarantee."
(The Gallery, Eateries & Bars, Russell Lee)

Sandwich Shop: 1940
... Medium format negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Still hanging on ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/18/2019 - 1:49pm -

March 1940. "Post office and general store in Sandwich, New Hampshire." Medium format negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Still hanging on
STRAY CAT FOUND IN SANDWICHFrom a headline in the local paper. 
Eveready battery ad -- Nine LivesThe black cat heading in for lunch and some potbelly stove warmth.
I remember this place. I had a beef with the owner and he came at me with a club.  He was a real meatball.  I'm not one to put up with that baloney, so I cheesed it and never went back.
(Don't stop me, I'm on a roll).
Round up the usual suspectsThe area around Sandwich is quite beautiful. The movie "On Golden Pond" was filmed at nearby Squam Lake. 
Claude Rains chose to spend the last ten years of his life in Sandwich. Perhaps he was there for the waters.
(The Gallery, Cats, Gas Stations, M.P. Wolcott, Small Towns, Stores & Markets)

Blades, Combs, Laces: 1939
... full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. Razors Looks like he is selling a couple of Gem ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/05/2009 - 1:58am -

November 1939. "Street vendor's goods. Waco, Texas." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration.
RazorsLooks like he is selling a couple of Gem Razors. I can tell by zooming in a bit that the G-P Blades are single edge (for the Gem Razors he is selling) but he's also got several brands of double edge blades...the Fan blades, the Smith Blades...which would go in a Gillette Tech or Aristocrat (which he doesn't seem to stock in his little box). I'm a razor nerd...I wish I could run across some kid selling these on the street today. I'd buy him out.
Josh
PS- Those Gem razors are kind of hard to use these days. The blades you can get for them are not always the best quality. If you've ever seen Treet razor blades in the drugstore (you might have bought them to use as a scraper, or to put in a utility knife maybe or for a crafts project) that is what you can get today and that's about it. They tend to be a bit rough. Double edge blades are still easy to find though and high quality blades are relatively easy to source on the internet, allowing these great old razors to still perform today just like they did way back then. One of my favorite razors is a Gillette Tech from a little later than this (1940s) that shaves like a dream and looks brand new 60 years later. They don't make them like this anymore.
[Click below to enlarge. - Dave]

John RuskinWas the John Ruskin box from razors, or cigars (it looks a bit like a cigar box), or from something else entirely? How odd to contemplate an America in which John Ruskin's name could be used to sell anything!
I imagine his name was associated with sophistication in an era before everything went lowbrow.
[Cigar box. - Dave]
SharpI'm a razor nerd also. Interesting picture.
(The Gallery, Great Depression, Russell Lee)

Back to the Garden: 1941
... Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Wait, what day is this? ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/20/2020 - 1:31pm -

August 1941. "Town square. Woodstock, Illinois." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Wait, what day is this?Phil and Ned meet at the square where Groundhog day was filmed!
Looks very similar todayThis is facing Van Buren Street. The two buildings on the right still exist and look remarkably similar, though the businesses have changed. The ones on the left appear to have been replaced or have had extensive remodeling of the facade. The benches are still in the same place.
A bookstoreThat’s all that’s missing.  Otherwise, I could live happily with the products and services of the shops visible across the park: furniture, haircut, candy, popcorn, ice cream, sewing machines, groceries, hardware, A/C and heating, metalwork, pottery, and more groceries.  (I’m assuming I could find beer and such in Shinner’s Market and the IGA.)
Retro RuminationsIn spite of society's vast material progress since the time of this bucolic photo, it is difficult not to wonder whether the quality of our lives has been even remotely enhanced thereby.
Odd combinationAmong businesses in background are ones devoted to HVAC, sheet metal work, and ... pottery.
Getting a Good SeatThe first two of a half-a-million strong!
(The Gallery, John Vachon, Small Towns)

Springtime in Chicago: 1941
... size. 35mm nitrate negative by Edwin Rosskam for the Farm Security Administration. (The Gallery, Chicago, Edwin Rosskam, Kids) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/06/2011 - 1:44pm -

April 1941. Street scene in the Black Belt, South Side Chicago. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Edwin Rosskam for the Farm Security Administration.
(The Gallery, Chicago, Edwin Rosskam, Kids)

Genoa Jalopy: 1940
... Nevada." Medium format negative by Arthur Rothstein, Farm Security Administration. View full size. Jalopy? It might be a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/12/2017 - 8:39am -

March 1940. "High school students in jalopy. Genoa, Nevada." Medium format negative by Arthur Rothstein, Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Jalopy? It might be a jalopy but it is only ten years old. A 1930 Ford Model A Deluxe sedan.
The Bard lives onShylock; "How now, Tubal? What news from Genoa? Hast thou found my daughter?"  Tubal; "yes, she has been joy riding with friends in a jalopy and spending all your money!" 
Center of townHere's the spot. The stone monuments just to the right of the hood are still there:

NOT Italian!People need to know that is is jen-OH-a, not GEN-oa,  emphasis on the oh.
Oldest town in Nevada, I believe. I have friends from there.
http://www.genoanevada.org/visitgenoa.htm
http://www.genoanevada.org/history.htm
Lovely little town.
Tires from Sears, and a brush with fameThe tires on the Ford are Allstates, sold by Sears.  Genoa was also the filming location for the bank robbery scene at the beginning of the 1973 Walter Matthau film "Charley Varrick", as the fictional Tres Cruces, New Mexico.  The exterior of the Genoa Courthouse Museum (just down the street from our merrymakers) played the "Tres Cruces Western Fidelity Bank of New Mexico".
And yes, Genoa is the oldest permanent settlement in Nevada.
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, John Vachon, Small Towns)

The Merry Fiddler: 1937
... Alabama." 35mm nitrate negative by Ben Shahn for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Your basic violin No chin ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/07/2014 - 1:20pm -

1937. "Mrs. Mary McLean, Skyline Farms, Alabama." 35mm nitrate negative by Ben Shahn for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Your basic violinNo chin rest, no fine tuner on the E-string, probably no shoulder rest, either, and who knows what the poor soul uses for rosin?
Beyond folkThe bridge is not standard and all the tuning pegs are different like they were hand whittled.  I wonder if the lower strings are wound gut?
Chin RestThis photo is one of a series: 
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/related/?&pk=fsa1997017193/PP&st=gallery&sb=...
Some of the photos make me wonder whether she might be blind, which was a common motivation to take up music as a source of income or to relieve boredom. It's unfortunate that Ben Shahn's field notes don't appear to be with the photos.
This photo: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa1997017197/PP/resource/ ...shows why she doesn't need a chin rest. This is one of several non-chin positions used by traditional fiddlers. It is less tiring when playing lengthy square dances or play parties, which typically lasted many hours. The position is more relaxed, and allows changing strings by rocking the fiddle instead of the bow. It normally doesn't allow fingering higher positions, which aren't usually played in these styles. 
Also note the unconventional bow hold, which you see with many traditional fiddlers: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa1997017199/PP/resource/
Even more from Skyline Farms: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/related/?va=exact&sp=3&q=Skyline+Farms--Alab...
Another source:
http://www.harvardartmuseums.org/art/156149
I messed with the fiddle many years ago, including similar relaxed holds, but life got in the way.
Ben Shahn's workFans of Ben Shahn's photography and fine art might consider a visit to the Facebook page dedicated to his work:
www.facebook.com/BenShahn
I will share this Shorpy post with fans there.
A Wonderful SmileWhile many superficial people would pass her by but that smile would have me captivated. I would make myself known to her and ask her for a spirited rendition of Alabama Jubilee on her fiddle and a dance later on. 
(The Gallery, Ben Shahn, Music)

Nebrewska: 1938
... the right. Medium format negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Alternative View The same, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/20/2018 - 11:45am -

November 1938. "Saloon and liquor store near Cudahy packing plant. South Omaha, Nebraska." Metz on the left, Blatz on the right. Medium format negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Alternative ViewThe same, but less sunny, view was previously featured here https://www.shorpy.com/node/2369
Vodkas “R” Us?Peoples Liquor Store: an early experiment in USSR-USA cultural exchange?
GoneThe address of Peoples Liquor Store, 2524 Q Street, has been completely erased. It is now Highway 75.
VodkaSouth Omaha, where this picture was taken, was in a significantly Eastern European region of the city.  That, along with growing a lot of grain in Nebraska and the fact that vodka doesn't generally need to be aged (big deal a few years after Prohibition ended), explains its prevalence.
Edit: and I am responding to an earlier comment rather than actually seeing any vodka mentioned in the picture.  Oopsie!  (though I'd bet a nickel they sold a fair amount of it there)
Babied PickupThat Model A truck around the comer looks to be in pretty good shape for 8 or 9 years old.
Metz Beer is Backhttps://www.omaha.com/columnists/grace/grace-metz-beer-flows-again-in-om...
(The Gallery, John Vachon, Omaha, Stores & Markets)

Walla Walla Wheat: 1941
... Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. A place so nice they named ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/11/2020 - 11:38am -

July 1941. "Port Kelley, where wheat belonging to members of the Walla Walla Grain Growers is stored and shipped by barge to Portland. Walla Walla County, Washington." Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
A place so nicethey named it twice, that's what the sign said in 1958.
79 years laterNewer facilities, but most everything else is the same.

Cool sweet waterIt looks like the driver has a desert water bag hanging off the front bumper of the truck. To me it looks vulnerable there but that may be the only place to get enough airflow. There is still a grain terminal at the same location.
https://www.moonrandolphhomestead.org/homestead-journals/2018/7/16/the-d...
Left turn reverse.If the driver is backing into the open bay, turning the steering to the right will cause the trailer to turn left. That long wheelbase tractor combined with a short trailer would make a rig that was quick to react to steering inputs in reverse and difficult to follow to stop the turn. I know when I started driving reverse moves where much easier with a long trailer as opposed to a short one.
My father, who had been a truck driver since 1945, would often tease me that he "had more miles backing up than I had going forward." He was probably right.
Photograph of photographer's equipmentIt looks to me like photographer Lee has left a tripod in the photo, at the left.
(The Gallery, Agriculture, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Russell Lee)

Home, Work: 1938
... Medium format acetate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. As we all can see The ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2020 - 10:59am -

July 1938. "Slums near steel mill. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." Medium format acetate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
As we all can seeThe outhouse bottom right and the lack of indoor facilities. Upper right window with basin and the water and soap streak on the roof. Look out below. Mop on the roof is a nice touch.
[And yet, a vent stack running up to the roof.  - Dave]
A lackingStrange that not a single smokestack is emitting the infamous heavy smoke known to be a signature of that region in those years.  
Be it ever so humbleYou're never too fancy to have a broom on the roof.
DindowsDoors that are windows.
Zonk!I'll take whatever's behind door No. 2
(The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Factories, Pittsburgh)

Red Ryder: 1940
... Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Same old Christmas Story ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/19/2018 - 12:31pm -

December 1940. Corpus Christi, Texas. "Small boy, son of carpenter from Hobbs, New Mexico, reading funny papers in corner of room in tourist court. Lack of adequate closet space is evident." Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Same old Christmas Story"No, Ralphie. You'll shoot your eye out."
Like Christmas StoryHe'll shoot his eye out!
Red Ryder Cowboy Carbine
As Seen in "A Christmas Story"You'll shoot your eye out, kid.
Shooting your eye outI have a sad shoot-your-eye-out story.  The son of a guy I know shot his eye out with a BB gun and, as though that wasn’t bad enough, he received an insurance settlement which his parents gave to him, which made him rich in the short term, but messed up his ability to know the value of work and money, so really set him back in terms of being an employable adult.
Fake NewsI still have my Red Ryder Carbine and haven't put my eye out yet.
(The Gallery, Kids, Russell Lee)

Left Hanging: 1939
... County, Illinois." Photo by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Clean coal Naturally, the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/03/2018 - 1:16pm -

January 1939. "Clean clothes. Carrier Mills, Saline County, Illinois." Photo by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Clean coalNaturally, the proximity of all that anthracite had no effect on the ultimate appearance of that wet laundry.
Dual Purpose outhouse and clothesline holderI like the path worn in the dust to necessary room. Used frequently, I see. Cold quick trip in the Illinois winter I imagine. Brrr!
Hung out to dryIn spite of obvious hard times, someone is working hard to provide clean clothes for the family. Hope things got better for them.
Dual purposeAlso handy for folks who are shy about using the facilities.
"I'll just hang some wash out on the line."
"At ten o'clock at night??"
VirgilIgnoble labor produces a purification of the neighborhood.
Eclectic collection of rusty ol NYC hopper carsA CCC&STL "Big Four" lettered hopper car along with NYC 134671, an offset side hopper with early style shallow "clamshell" center doors.  An eclectic collection of workaday New York Central Railroad coal haulers. 
Neat stuff from the days of yore when even rusty old train cars had character. 
(The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Mining, Railroads)

DRUGS SODA: 1939
... Grundy Center, Iowa." Photo by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. That Corner Tower Would ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/10/2018 - 10:39pm -

October 1939. "Stores on main street (G Avenue). Grundy Center, Iowa." Photo by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
That Corner TowerWould love to see the structural details for that wonderful corner tower.
Agree: probably structural steel behind that masonry, but just how. Nifty what engineers and arkies were able to conjure up before computers came along, just using a K&E slide rule. 
Roof blown off?That must have been some party... 

MaintenanceRegarding the demise of not only the dunce cap on the corner feature, but the false fronts on two sides of the building, I'm guessing that those features needed roofing and tuckpointing, and perhaps also a bit of carpentry work when the wood underneath rooted.  Presented with a quote for repairs, and a quote for removal, the owner made a simple choice.
I'm guessing that round tower is also tied in with the same structural steel that allows the building to have those wide store windows.
Vehicle ID pleaseWhat model of car is the one parked right out front, with the Grundy National Bank awning right above it?
Love it.
[1939 Ford Tudor Sedan. -tterrace]
Thanks! And thank you to Dave and tterrace for posting all these great images!
Happy New Year to all of ShorpyLand!
OrielThe name for the corner tower / feature.  Specifically, a corner oriel.  An oriel window is a bay window that does not extend all the way to the ground.
The Pusher ManA cobbled-together wooden bike rack in the prime parking location to lure innocent kids in for their daily DRUG and SODA fixes? ... Probably sold candy cigarettes too! 
(The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Small Towns, Stores & Markets)

Virginia City: 1940
... Medium format negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Visiting Virginia City before ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/09/2018 - 6:02pm -

March 1940. "Main street in Virginia City, Nevada." Medium format negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Visiting Virginia City before it was touristyThat auto facing us on the left has New York license plates (bottom reads "New York World's Fair 1940"). What a trip that was on the roads of the 40s! Virginia City retains much of its historical architecture and today is heavily visited. Back then it was a working town, but it already had been discovered by at least one tourist.
Stormy weatherI count five extra tall rods on the rooftops, each w/ a sphere on top, all on one city block. I'm assuming these are lightning rods. I wonder what's up with that? Is Virginia City known for it's ferocious thunderstorms?
That auto on the leftis a 1939 DeSoto.  It probably would have had no trouble making the trip from New York. Very nice riding cars, even today.
Tourist or photographer?Maybe the car with New York plates is the photographer's car?
Car on the far rightIs what, please?  (Beautiful rear end!)
Old Washoe ClubJudging by the eight window openings and the cornice, I'd say we're looking at the Old Washoe Club on the left, just beyond the Tahoe Beer arrow.

(The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Cars, Trucks, Buses)

Our Humble Abode: 1937
... size. 35mm nitrate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. Unreal 1936 was when I was born and don't ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 11:37am -

January 1937. "Two children of a migrant fruit worker from Tennessee, standing before their temporary home. This family of eight is camped in a field near the packinghouse at Winter Haven, Florida." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration.
Unreal1936 was when I was born and don't remember much about the Depression but what would the kids today feel and do if they had to live like that just for one month instead of going through it for years like these poor folks had to?
(The Gallery, Agriculture, Arthur Rothstein, Great Depression, Kids)

On the Stump: 1939
August 1939. "Western Washington subsistence farm, whittled out of the stumps." Photo by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Mixed products Looking at ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/05/2017 - 4:03am -

August 1939. "Western Washington subsistence farm, whittled out of the stumps." Photo by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Mixed productsLooking at all those flowers they obviously planted "for pretty". 
Trunks for the MemoryMy grandmother's family were loggers in the Pacific Northwest.  When my dad was a kid, he would visit his grandparents, aunts, and uncles and sometimes go out to their worksites.  He said back then, one tree would take up an entire truck -- they were huge.  Now, he watches those logging shows on tv and sees the trucks carrying away the thin "new" growth, he remarks about how all of the old "big" trees are long gone.
(The Gallery, Agriculture, Dorothea Lange, Kids, Landscapes)

Life With Father: 1941
... Aircraft." Acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. I married Mom? Maybe it's ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/19/2019 - 12:36pm -

May 1941. San Diego. "Family living at Kearney Mesa defense housing project. This man came to California from Oklahoma 10 years ago. He has been an agricultural worker living in various FSA camps. Now employed as a painter at Consolidated Aircraft." Acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
I married Mom?Maybe it's the hairstyle, but does anyone else think the woman looks to be much older than her husband?
What Comes Next?The photo and description begs so many questions. Did he fight in the war? Did he earn enough at Consolidated to buy her a wedding ring? Was he ever injured in an Oakland car accident? Whatever the answers, I hope they lived with few regrets and pride in their children.  
ON Kearny MesaThe Kearny Mesa section of San Diego is at higher elevation than much of the city itself. Many valleys and hills in the area, thus the term 'mesa'. Picky oldtimers who know best refer to it as ON Kearny Mesa as opposed to IN. BTW, I have much family still in nearby Linda Vista (yet another common SHORPY topography reference) and my mother was in the first graduating class at Kearny High (on Kearny Mesa). Go Komets!
[You might live "on" Kearney Mesa, but you live AT the Kearney Mesa Defense Housing Project. - Dave]
Mom?If there’s one thing I’ve learned from Shorpy (amongst many, actually), it’s that women in the 1930s and 40s look a helluva lot older than they actually are.  (And is it just me, or do her eyes seem to float in two entirely different planes?)
Military? Perhaps not.As Dave has pointed out, many men did not serve in the military in WW II. As a father with two children, working in what likely became a defense plant, he may have been kept stateside.  My father was a supervisor at a GM factory in Michigan and while his brothers served, he stayed home.
WW2My father was a coal miner in WV and did not serve.
As we later learned, mining was almost as dangerous as the war.
(The Gallery, Kids, Russell Lee)

Robstown Slugger: 1942
January 1942. "Saturday morning baseball game. Farm Security Administration camp in Robstown, Texas." Photo by Arthur Rothstein. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/08/2017 - 10:59am -

January 1942. "Saturday morning baseball game. Farm Security Administration camp in Robstown, Texas." Photo by Arthur Rothstein. View full size.
Swing and a MIss - but not for Rothstein!Excellent use of tilt/shift with the lensboard to isolate the subject, and perfect timing!
Sandlot BallSandlot baseball at its best! Lots of action in this one.
I am always impressed at the action shots taken with film cameras of that era. Especially think that the photographer is really lucky that the ball is not headed directly at his lens.  What a pic that would be! 
No tricks necessaryI think it's a very good picture, but I think that it's pretty straightfoward technically. I think people tend to underestimate what sort of capabilities people had in this era. This is early 1942, at the time there were many highly capable 35mm cameras that could do anything just about as easily as you could now, as long as you are willing to focus and set the exposure yourself. The film was reasonably fast (Kodak Super XX was around and it was about ASA 160-200 depending on the era and developer). This picture requires nothing like view or field camera movements, it looks like perfectly conventional parallel planes with very thin depth of field. 
  I have no idea what equipment was used, but I am sure I could reproduce the technical aspects with a 35mm camera, a 90-135 mm lens, and Panatomic X out of my freezer. Figure 135 mm F4.5 Elmar on a Leica, at f5.6, maybe 1/200 of second. That would give about the right exposure, grain, depth of field, and motion blur Many other combinations would give similar results. If I had a guess I would say a press camera like a Speed or Crown Graphic with some medium/low speed film of the day, but it could be a 2 1/2x 3 1.2 or a lot of other things, even cropped 2 1/4.
[Negative is 3-1/4 x 4-1/4 inch sheet film. -tterrace]
   Yes, I dug it out from the LOC and found that. I tried to find the notch code, but all the lists I have for that notch configuration show some color separation film, which this isn't. Have you run across a late 30's -40's era notch code list so the film can be identified?
[Going by this document it's likely Panchro Press Super-X. See pages 54 & 63. -tterrace]
     Very useful reference!  If I read correctly, Panchro Press Super-X was introduced in 1942 (not discontinued in 1942) so it is more likely Super Panchro Press. One was the replacement for the other, so very similar otherwise and the same code. The negative in question was definitely acetate (since it says Eastman Safety Film) and is definitely panchromatic (since the sky is not blank as it would be with ortho). It came in the usual press camera sizes like 2 1/4 x 3 1/4. The LOC entry says "3 1/4 x 4 1/4 inches or smaller". Just looking at the relative size of the notches, it *might* have been 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 but I would guess it really is 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 - the notches look to large otherwise. Too large for 4x5 for sure, I compared the long V notch on a negative I had in 4x5 to the scaled negative and it was much smaller. The Graflex is a very good possibility and the 15" Optar is also a good guess and would explain the very shallow DOF, but you could get something similar with half that focal length. That is all equipment that would be available and common to Rothstein at the time, sort of an advanced press photography setup. There might be less grain that I would expect, its certainly not Super-XX where you can almost see the grain just looking at the negative (and it has a double-small-V code instead of double-long-V xx = VV, Tri-X is xxx=VVV...)
   BTW, this particular negative and the cropping don't show it, but the full negative and the others taken the same day definitely do show distortion of the moving parts (like the bat) characteristic of a focal plane shutter, which is also consistent with a Graflex and definitely not leaf-shutter camera like the Crown Graphic, Rolleiflex, etc. 
    Back to the original point - almost anything you could do in 1985, you could do in 1940, as long as you were willing to work at it. People tend to *grossly* underestimate the state of the art at the time. Film speed, in particular, only increased by a stop or two since 1940, exceptions like TMAX 3200 notwithstanding. Super Panchro Press had an equivalent speed of about 200-250. This type of quasi-action photo (camera pre-focused/zone focused and set on the ground aimed at the home plate area and fired when it looked about right) was no problem at the time.
Ouch!That is one tough kid as it seems to me that his bare feet would get pretty cut up from the rugged Texas terrain.  Great photography though.
The CameraThis was most likely shot with a Graflex RB , and probably a 15-inch tele optar.  That was the go-to combo for action shots with that negative size. I shoot with a Graflex RB 3x4 (converted to 4x5), and it is a great camera for that type of thing. Also good for portraits.
(The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Kids, Sports)

Arkansas Pickers: 1940
... in company shacks, cabins, tents, trucks, abandoned farm buildings, small children in fields with parents. Migrant mother from ... to new work location." Photo by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. OUCH! "Fruit tramps"? ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/09/2019 - 10:43am -

July 1940. Berrien County, Michigan. "Migrant agricultural workers -- 'fruit tramps' harvesting cherries and strawberries. Miserable housing in company shacks, cabins, tents, trucks, abandoned farm buildings, small children in fields with parents. Migrant mother from Arkansas taking a picture of the family before moving on to new work location." Photo by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
OUCH!"Fruit tramps"?
Harsh!  
Somewhere ...Somewhere, in some hope chest, closet, thrift store, or landfill - is an 80 year old image from a Kodak Brownie of John Vachon sitting on the roof of a shed taking this image.
Big Sis?Far be it from me to question Mr. Vachon who was obviously there on the spot in 1940, but... the young lady holding the camera hardly looks old enough to be a mom. Could it be that 'mom' is whose legs are visible off to the left holding the baby while big sister tries to snap a photo of her brothers and their dog?
[Once upon a time it was not uncommon to see women in their twenties with little kids who were their actual children! - Dave]
(The Gallery, Agriculture, Dogs, John Vachon, Kids)

Chew on This: 1938
... cooperative, Indiana." Photo by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Bessie... Even the cows ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/11/2014 - 10:23pm -

May 1938. "Cow at Wabash Farms cooperative, Indiana." Photo by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Bessie...Even the cows from the thirties are homely looking...
Atom Heart MotherA poor man's Pink Floyd Album cover?
Definitely not CarnationNo contented cows here.
Got Milk?Yes.
Incredulous"What are you lookin' at?"
Demonym BovineA Hoosier Moosier for sure!
(The Gallery, Agriculture, Arthur Rothstein)

Twenty Questions: 1940
February 1940. "Farm boys at 'play party' in McIntosh County, Oklahoma." Photo by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Child's play Everyone, children ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/23/2018 - 5:45pm -

February 1940. "Farm boys at 'play party' in McIntosh County, Oklahoma." Photo by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Child's playEveryone, children to adults, sang and did the movements to children's games (Skip to My Loo, Pop Goes the Weasel) at a play party:
The churches disapproved of dancing and of the fiddle, but the play parties didn’t seem so worldly. “Some family would let the children all come in and play games. And you had to call it games because dancing was sinful,” Ritchie explains. “It was called ‘going to the plays,’ and so it got to be called a ‘play party’—a party where people played. - PBS
Captive kittenThe boy on the left appears to be explaining how Harry Frees posed his animals.
One Of 20 QuestionsWhat color is the guys leather jacket?  Doesn't seem dark enough to be black, and too shiny to be brown.  I want it to be red, like Dean's Rebel Without A Cause jacket.
Two hard workersThe boys on the right look to be hard workers by the condition for their hands.  
(The Gallery, Cats, Kids, Russell Lee)

Comparing Cobs: 1939
... Iowa." Medium format negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. "There are thousands and ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/08/2020 - 3:55pm -

October 1939. "George and Hugh Clarke with hybrid seed corn. Grundy County, Iowa." Medium format negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
"There are thousands and thousands of uses for Corn"" --- all of which I'm going to tell you about right now"
CapsLooks like George, the guy on the left, is wearing a "Stormy Kromer" wool cap. Wool, nice visor and ear flaps, the best cap in the upper Midwest then and now.
Thankful for SoybeansSeveral times I’ve had the pleasure of driving across Iowa. It didn’t seem possible that there could be so much corn in the whole world. I was indeed thankful for the occasional field of soybeans to break up the monotony. 
According to "Find a Grave"George was born Oct. 20, 1916, entered the U.S. armed forces, attaining the rank of Lieutenant, and was lost over Greenland along with six other men when their Army Air Forces transport, on which he was serving as navigator, crashed on Nov. 28, 1943.
Hugh was born Aug. 11, 1918, and died in September 1981, with both brothers buried in Grundy County.
George was as good as they make 'em.Building on Katella’s sleuthing, I can add that George and Hugh were the first of John Ruth Hauser Clarke’s four children. Father John died in 1944 at the age of 52 of bladder cancer, but mother Ruth lived to the age of 90.
It’s curious that “What Church Are You Affiliated With” is a question in the 1925 Iowa State Census.
And here is an item about Lt. George Clarke.
(The Gallery, Agriculture, Arthur Rothstein, Rural America)

The Four Muskrateers: 1941
... Acetate negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Price inversely related to demand for ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2019 - 6:30pm -

January 1941. "Spanish trappers putting muskrat skins on wire stretchers before hanging them up to dry in back of their marsh camp. Delacroix Island, Saint Bernard Parish, Louisiana." Acetate negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Price inversely related to demand for Mink"Muskrat can be dyed and used to make coats that resemble mink,” Mott said.
Muskrat finery can run $1,300 to $4,000. In general, back fur is used for coats and hats, and belly fur for trim.
From
https://www.dispatch.com/article/20120115/SPORTS/301159783
You really need to click on the link. Economics, foreign trade, substitution effects, and Baptist ministers picking up a little cash.
I just don't know ...What makes a trapper a "Spanish" trapper? Did ethnicity categorize trappers in the Mississippi delta?
In 1940, what was the commercial use of muskrat skins?
Fur coatsAccording to Wikipedia, making fur coats out of muskrat fur was a thing back then.
Muskrat loveLike captivated, I was surprised that people were trapping muskrats for their pelts. It turns out, they made distinctive fur coats on their own, or could be dyed to match (or fake) mink.

The Muskrat as Fur Bearer with Notes on Its Use as Foodimitation mink, gloves, hats, collars, coat linings, etc
https://books.google.com/books?id=G8mBIE_sPnAC&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&dq=muskr...
IslenosThe Islenos came from the Spanish Canary Islands to Louisiana in the 1770’s and settled in the St. Bernard parish area (south of Orleans parish).  This area was heavily damaged in Hurricane Katrina but a lot of their descendants are still there.  The were fabulous hunters, trappers, oystermen and fishermen.
I remember in the late 50’s still seeing muskrat skin drying in the winter sun.  It was an excellent way to get rid of this invasive species but, alas, people did not desire muskrat fur coats.  Louisiana currently has a bounty of $3-5 for each muskrat tail brought in.  Muskrats are notorious for burrowing into levees and weakening or destroying them, hence the bounty.
(The Gallery, Kids, M.P. Wolcott, Small Towns)

Or Else: 1938
... Imperatives." 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Eat rice, drink Coke I ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/22/2012 - 11:07am -

October 1938. "Sign at Rice Festival in Crowley, Louisiana." Alternate title: "The Ballad of Competing (and Possibly Complementary) Imperatives." 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Eat rice, drink CokeI don't think the potential for humor escaped Russell Lee. 
I see a lawsuit coming!I can hear Chick-fil-A's lawyers salivating over this.
Three verbsSeveral "calls to action" here, eat and drink being my favorites!
Minimum Daily Noise RequirementImagine the racket if you poured Coke over a bowlful of Rice Krispies.
White rice & Coke ???I can only hope they locked the bell towers and kept an eye on the hypoglycemics.
(The Gallery, Russell Lee)

The Home Team: 1941
... Georgia." Medium format negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Red Headed League A whole ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/10/2019 - 6:35pm -

April 1941. "Schoolchildren in Franklin, Heard County, Georgia." Medium format negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Red Headed LeagueA whole passel of freckle-faced redheaded boys on the left! I wonder if they're all brothers or cousins?
UnshodNary a shoe to be seen!
No Doubt All CousinsEveryone in that county is related to everyone else, and that was probably the entire male population under 15 years old for the whole county in 1941.  Heard County has always been one of the least populated counties in Georgia and is still desolate.  Heard County and Greene County (which we have seen in earlier photos) are also two of the least prosperous counties in the state.
Rolled Pant legOn the boy in front. When I went to school in the 1950s, that was the sign of someone who rode his bike to school. Rolling your pant leg up made it less likely to get caught in the chain, if you were missing the chainguard.
What's in a Name?Overalls, coveralls, dungarees -- regardless of the what they were called in this neck of the woods, there is a charming uniqueness to each boys' "make and model."  The different styles remind me of a comment about Norman Rockwell observing and painting what was called "the expressive vocabulary of shoes." I'll call this the expressive vocabulary of bib overalls as well as a study in practical pencil placement.
Two (?) bicycle riders?The youngster nearest to the front (4th in from the left) is an obvious bike rider with his pant leg turned up to lessen the chance of catching it in the chain.  However, the youngster to the far right also has a pant leg turned up, but the wrong side.  Bicycles, to the best of my knowledge, all had their chain drive on the right side of the frame, not the left.  Curious!  
(The Gallery, Jack Delano, Kids, Rural America)

Small-Mart: 1938
... might have come from Southeast Missouri Farms , a Farm Security Administration project that provided housing and land for 100 ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/31/2015 - 11:28am -

May 1938. "Store, La Forge, Missouri." Your source for Benz Baby Bowel Corrective. 35mm negative by the peripatetic Russell Lee. View full size.
Sheesh!For a moment my initial thought about what the man was doing was that he was checking for text messages!!!
The gas pump rulesToday that glass top gas pump would be worth all the goodies in the store (probably including the building as well).
Talk about perceptionBecause of what I see every day now, it took me a few seconds to dismiss the idea that the boy in the overalls was checking his text messages. 
Home to a sharecropper housing projectOriginal, 11 June 2015: Some of this store's customers might have come from Southeast Missouri Farms, a Farm Security Administration project that provided housing and land for 100 sharecropper families.  The houses looked like this when they were built in 1937.
At one time there were apparently photographs from 2005-2006 of what remains of this project in La Forge, but Southern Illinois University doesn't know how to website.  (Blocking even archive.org is a nice touch, guys.)
Edit, 17 June 2018: My complaint above about SIU is partly rescinded; either SIU or archive.org has changed enough that archive.org has parts of the orignal SIU pages available. Googling those SIU URLs led me to the mirror linked below.
Jane Adams, a professor at SIU, and her husband D. Gorton, took photos of some of the remaining houses in 2005-2006. I found a mirror of Adams' original pages at SIU, including the pictures of a few houses and the cotton gin at Southeast Missouri Farms.
See also the interior of one of these houses in a newer Shorpy post, Lard of the Flies.
(The Gallery, Gas Stations, Russell Lee, Stores & Markets)

Pop Shop: 1940
... California." Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Colas Big Coca-Cola sign, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/12/2019 - 3:15pm -

November 1940. "Shopping centers are springing up at the small towns near Shasta Dam site. This one was at Central Valley, California." Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
ColasBig Coca-Cola sign, but dam it, Shasta is the Cola that Hasta.
Pain!Watch out folks! Dr. Sparrow is NOT a Painless Dentist.
Strip mallsWow, I had no idea strip malls had origins extending all the way back to 1940.  Imagine, a shower for 25 cents!
It may not be a motel, but it still made me think "No phone, no pool, no pets."
Expensive ShowerToday, that shower at Welch's barber shop would set you back $4.48. 
Demolished in 2004Was located on Shasta Dam Boulevard at Red Bluff Street.
A Row Of Uglier Cars I Have Never SeenThey lived a hard life.
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Russell Lee, Stores & Markets)

Hialeah: 1939
... 35mm nitrate negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. Either everybody bet on the wrong horse ... ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/08/2011 - 10:24pm -

February 1939. "Horse races, Hialeah Park, Miami." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration.
Either everybody bet on the wrong horse ... ... or the Sourpuss convention was in town.
Miami 1939I guess Florida has always been for fogies. 
HialeahI lived right by there about 5 years ago. The Park is still there, and at one time, some years back, people thought about making it into the new Marlins Stadium, but unimaginative politicians decided to just build a ballpark elsewhere....
Some Like it HotCompare this pic with the scene in "Some Like it Hot", where the band arrives in Florida, with all the old millionaires lined up in their rocking chairs.  I think Billy Wilder got it right!
(The Gallery, Florida, Miami, Sports)

A Bumper Crop: 1938
... County." Medium format negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Fashion Forward Dad's ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/24/2017 - 1:53pm -

April 1938. "North Carolina farmer and family. Guilford County." Medium format negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Fashion ForwardDad's outfit is very edgy:  White shirt and tie under overalls topped with a suit jacket.  The rake and hat are great accessories.
Spiffy PictureThe lone geranium sure brightens up the scene.
Home Sweet HomageWas this a tip of the hat to Grant Wood?
25%That is the estimated number of kids in a picture that will have their finger in their nose when the picture is snapped.  
Grant Wood?Yes, but my second impression was Eddie Albert!
(The Gallery, Agriculture, John Vachon, Kids)
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