MAY CONTAIN NUTS
HOME
Home

Search Shorpy

SEARCH TIP: Click the tags above a photo to find more of same:
Mandatory field.

Search results -- 30 results per page

The Bun Also Rises: 1939
... on riverfront." 35mm negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Elevated prose Alternate title: ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/09/2012 - 3:35am -

January 1939. St. Louis, Missouri. "Grain elevator on riverfront." 35mm negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Elevated proseAlternate title: "Raising in the Sun." Railroad CrossingAm I missing something, are the tracks open here? How would you ever get a car across those tracks? Earlier photoAn earlier Shorpy photo of Arthur Rothstein and two young scamps is described as being "somewhere in St. Louis." This kind of looks as if it may be the very place. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, St. Louis)
Twin Falls: 1941
... for potatoes and onions." Photo by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. License plate county codes ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/22/2018 - 7:28pm -

May 1941. "Main street of Twin Falls, Idaho. Among industries in this town are a sugar beet factory, cannery and it is a shipping center for potatoes and onions." Photo by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. License plate county codesMany states have dropped the system of sorting license plate numbers by county, as growth in the number of registered vehicles made it unworkable in the more populous states, and computer databases made it unnecessary. Idaho, however, still uses the system, and 6R was Twin Falls County until 1944. My earliest memory of knowing the year was when I watched my dad put on new license plates in 1971. He let me keep the old ones, kicking off an obsession that has waxed and waned over the years. I'm glad that I'm too young to have experienced the ordeal of waiting in line at the courthouse with every single other vehicle owner in the county, when records were all paper, and everyone had to renew them at the first of the year. That doesn't sound like fun at all. It's about the countyK. McCool, in the years of annual license plate replacement, all the plates would be issued in sequence to the counties; "6R" would have been the prefix for auto plates issued in Twin Falls County. Other states did the same; I remember that in 1975 my Texas county was assigned car plates beginning with CDW through CDZ. Truck plates would have a different sequence that identified them as belonging to a truck, trailers similarly, and so on. This changed with the gradual adoption of multi-year valid plates, so when a car moved from one county to another it wouldn't automatically be issued a new plate from its new county in the next year. Today, it's virtually impossible to identify closely where a car is from based on its license plate number. ShadowsThe shadow line created by those cars parked along the curb is a neat aspect of this picture. Hope someone comes along and helps identify them. A Parking Meter Bonanza is in the makingAnd I also like the neon signs and all the little restaurants. Blue Plate special today: Liver and onions. Move on to the next joint. Chop Suey and 6RIt appears that the City Cafe's specialty was Chop Suey. Is it odd that the owner would include that on what looks like a fairly expensive sign out front. Also, I find it interesting that the three license plate numbers in front all begin with "6R." Perhaps something to do with Idaho's license plate numbering convention at that time? (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Russell Lee, Stores & Markets)
Okie Tater Tots: 1937
... Medium format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. 78 Years Later Not a one of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/10/2016 - 10:35am -

May 1937. "Children from Chickasaw, Oklahoma, in a potato pickers' camp near Shafter, California." Medium format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. 78 Years LaterNot a one of these children could guess that 78 years later, yuppies would be buying trailers like they live in, (with fancy house-like windows and wood siding, instead of sheet metal) and calling that "The Small House Movement" lifestyle. (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Great Depression, Kids)
Favorite Daughter: 1940
... FSA client near Venton, Maryland." Photo by Jack Delano, Farm Security Administration. View full size. No electricity All of the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/16/2018 - 11:47am -

May 1940. "One of the seven children of Burdell White, FSA client near Venton, Maryland." Photo by Jack Delano, Farm Security Administration. View full size. No electricityAll of the lights in the picture are kerosene lamps; this was not a home with electricity in 1940. Caught!The person holding the lights can be seen in the mirror. Stairway to HeavenFrom the looks of that treacherously steep stairway behind the young lady, they are making use of every inch of space in the house for seven kids. ReflectionsLooks like Jack Delano gave himself a cold shoulder. Down the Up StaircaseThat pitch is precarious. Building codes: they do a body good. Alveda at 13Based on 1930 and 1940 census records, this is most likely Alveda White, age 13 in 1940. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Kitchens etc., Pretty Girls)
Texas Topper: 1939
... market." View full size. 35mm negative by Russell Lee, Farm Security Administration. Top material Surface-coated fabrics were used ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 2:58pm -

March 1939. San Antonio, Texas. "Man painting automobile top near market." View full size. 35mm negative by Russell Lee, Farm Security Administration. Top materialSurface-coated fabrics were used for lower priced soft tops and for covering the center deck of closed body tops. The latter application vanished with the advent of all-steel tops in the mid-1930s. For traditional black top-decking, a rubber-faced 4 ply fabric was specified by many car makers. If the top deck was to be painted (matching the car body), pyroxylin was used. Ford, and perhaps a few other makers, offered deck material featuring a print pattern on pyroxylin. PaintingThe gent painting his auto top reminded me of my uncle Frank Tucker. About the end of WWII, a company sold automobile paint and advertised that you could paint your own car. Uncle Frank bought one of the kits which included a special mitten for applying the paint. He did a fairly nice job of it too, but ran out of paint before he could cover the metal roof. Possibly he could have done the entire car had he worked faster so he could have gotten through before he ran out of paint. Backround CarLooks like a brand new '39 Mercury behind the man. This was the year Mercury began production in Fords mid-priced range. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Russell Lee, Small Towns)
Cajun Kids: 1940
... Medium format negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Spitting Image That old ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/13/2019 - 1:28pm -

June 1940. Schriever, Louisiana. "Cajun children on Terrebonne Farms Project." Medium format negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Spitting ImageThat old guy, oh, I mean youngster, on the right, is the spitting image of a 15-year-old I know. Sent the link to his grandparents. Grandma says it's him! As Clean as the Upper CrustUndoubtedly others noticed this photo, and that there is something slightly different about it. At first I noticed the striking use of depth of field to separate the boys from the background in this double portrait by Ms Wolcott. I'm not familiar enough with film stocks from the 1940s to know the likely speed of the emulsion she would have used to achieve this look. When I first noticed film boxes (the ones that held the mysterious rolls of film that my dad would load into his 120 format Brownie) a lot of them were rated ASA 25. I'm pretty sure at least some faster film emulsions were available, even in 1940. The sun is near the horizon either just after dawn or just before dusk (in my estimation). With lower light and a resulting wide-open iris, I doubt a neutral density filter would have been necessary with the film speeds of the day. It is likely a masterful use of film stock and lighting to achieve the effect. Perhaps a lot of Shorpy.com photos display similar depth of field and I just haven't noticed. The International Center of Photography website has a page about Wolcott and her work, and of all the exterior examples shown on that site, none has this kind of artistic use of depth of field. Even though the background is never quite as sharp as the main subject, it is never this soft compared to the foreground in those examples. Her exteriors usually boast much greater depth of field, often approaching "deep focus." But, then there seems to be something else different about the shot. It finally struck me that these two farm lads have been caught when they were washed up and wearing fresh, clean duds. Even though that probably wasn't so unusual in real life for 1940's rural American children, it seems to be unusual for the selection of photos offered on Shorpy. So it caught my attention. There are always layers of interest in the Shorpy offerings. The Depth of WolcottThe negative is a 3¼ x 4¼ sheet, so she was using one of her Speed Graphics; shooting with a normal or slightly-longer focal length lens and a high enough shutter speed (Speed Graphics went up to 1/1000th sec., hence the "Speed") to permit exposure with the lens wide open would probably achieve this shallow depth of field. (The Gallery, Kids, M.P. Wolcott, Rural America)
Montrose Newsies: 1940
... Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Essential A bicycle for a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/13/2018 - 12:55pm -

September 1940. "Distributing newspapers off the morning train to newsboys at the railroad station. Montrose, Colorado." Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. EssentialA bicycle for a paperboy. I made more money per paper on non-subscription sales, hawking them in public, but the bulk of my papers were delivered to houses on my route, and I couldn’t have done it without a bike. Breaking news: Still there! In the bagThe newsie about to depart doesn't use a strapped shoulder bag to hold his papers. Must have a flat route or be really gifted riding with one hand. Also, I seem to remember seeing grocery delivery trucks using those insulated canvas bags (against the wall) to transport frozen food, especially ice cream. They must have done okay at melt prevention. Small TownWith Montrose's population at fewer than 5,000 in 1940, we may be looking at that town's entire cadre of newsies here. The bikesremind me of the ex-service Parachute bikes, Model BSA 'Airborne folding para troops bicycle,' that were left by the Canadian troops in southern Netherlands (Zeeland) after the liberattion of our country in 1945. People could buy them. Heavy-Framed Bicycles with Balloon TiresNote that these bicycles have a heavy-duty frame with the top horizontal member doubled ! Not two thin tubes side-by-side, but rather two full-size tubes, one above the other. They weigh perhaps twice what a modern bicycle weighs! I learned to ride in the 1960’s on a hand-me-down Elgin Four-Star from the 1930’s which was very much like the bicycles depicted here. While I cannot positively identify these newsboy’s bikes as Elgin’s, the resemblance is very strong, including the two curved bars extending front the top of the steering tube to the axle ends. (These were purely decorative, as far as I know.) The scene seems like a bit of Americana that happened every morning in many towns for many decades: The morning train from the nearest large city unloaded bundles of papers etc. from the baggage/express car onto a high-bed, high-wheeled Railway Express Agency pull cart. The REA Agent then brought the cart to the street side of the depot and the bicycles and small local delivery trucks converged on it. The performance might be repeated again if there were evening papers. (Remember them?) (The Gallery, Bicycles, Kids, Railroads, Russell Lee, Small Towns)
Green Pastures: 1940
... Maryland." Medium format negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Nanny service I don't think ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/22/2019 - 11:47am -

June 1940. "Colored tourist cabins along U.S. Highway No. 1, between Washington and Baltimore. Near Waterloo, Maryland." Medium format negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Nanny serviceI don't think many tourist cabins today come complete with goat. Encoded MessageI wonder if the name Green Pastures was a thinly veiled reference to the Green Book, a popular travel guide to accommodations that served African Americans during the years of segregation. Groundskeeper on dutyNotice the goat asleep on the steps. I just can'twith the goat on the steps. It is a goat, right? Now 5 centsThey're mild! Bibles and Broadway (and Hollywood)"Green Pastures" seems pretty obviously to be a reference to the 23rd Psalm ("He maketh me to lie down in green pastures"). However, it may also suggest "The Green Pastures", a very popular Pulitzer Prize winning play featuring an all African-American cast in a modernized reframing of stories from the Old Testament. It ran on Broadway in 1930-31 and was performed all over the country in the following years. In 1936 "The Green Pastures" was made into a successful Hollywood movie. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Jack Delano)
Silverton Jail: 1940
... Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Bars I’ll have a room on ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/30/2020 - 2:19pm -

September 1940. "Jail. Silverton, San Juan County, Colorado." Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. BarsI’ll have a room on the first floor, please. Hard to Dig a Tunnel to EscapeI'm making an assumption here...The first floor with windows without bars is probably administrative while the upper floors containing the bars on the windows would have the cell blocks. Digging a tunnel out of there from the upper floors would be difficult to accomplish. Still standing The Rock(ies)According to their local history website, there was an escape from the prior jail building used right before this one made its debut in 1902. Maybe it's because of the simple yet ingenious upper floors cellblock, but the site claims there were no more escapes from Silverton during the tenure of this jail building. Up Close and PersonalIf I had to guess, I would say that the first floor was probably the residence of the sheriff. That arrangement was pretty common in the mid-20th century. (The Gallery, Frontier Life, Russell Lee, Small Towns)
Hunter's Drug Store: 1939
... Medium format negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Lost the Coke ad, sadly ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/05/2019 - 9:58am -

Spring 1939. "General scene, main street. Greensboro, Greene County, Georgia." Medium format negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Lost the Coke ad, sadlyLost the benches, too, but it did gain a window. Cover your face, This little boy is the wrong raceI certainly wonder why they covered their faces when they saw a cameraman. I can't help but think that someone would be really upset in the white kids family to see him hanging out with a/this black family, and they were worried about possible violence against themselves for being friends? I'm not sure at all, but this has me pondering the photo for sure. Not often in Shorpy images do "I" see people covering their faces, much less B&W mingling in 1939 Georgia. I would also guess that if this photo happened to circulate thru town at this time... They would be discovered, For sure. Sad times indeed, in Many ways during this period in history, for some families Others, not so much. [You are laboring under a number of misconceptions, not the least of which is that people with cameras are "cameramen" -- they are photographers. And Miss Wolcott is not a man. And ... - Dave] I have a bit of a crush... on the lovely Miss Wolcott. What Catches My EyeIs not the beautiful and gaudy Coca-Cola sign, but the old-fashioned (for 1939) sign for "postal telegraph and commercial cables". That's probably from 1910 or so, judging by the font and the slightly dated language. Candidate for the "Pretty Girls" GenreDave, with your addition of the image of Marion Post Wolcott to the comment in this thread I think you should add any images of her that you have to your "Pretty Girls" category. (The Gallery, M.P. Wolcott, Small Towns, Stores & Markets)
Box Elder County: 1940
August 1940. Box Elder County, Utah. "Farm Security Administration cooperative tractor." Medium format negative by Russell Lee for ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/13/2018 - 4:36am -

August 1940. Box Elder County, Utah. "Farm Security Administration cooperative tractor." Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the FSA. View full size. Is a puzzlementI never have been able to understand what the putative advantages of a crawler tractor over a wheel tractor were supposed to be. [Crawlers don't get stuck in muck. - Dave] Dust and Dirt.You don't get the sense that the fellow at the controls has operated the tractor; not in those clothes. Tale of the nosesThis looks to me like three generations of one farming family. Putative PuzzlementTracks offer immensely greater traction and pulling power with much less soil compaction than wheels. I once had a Caterpillar D4 track ride over my foot (just missing the grouser) and suffered more anxiety from it than pain. I was not injured. TracTracTorThat slick little crawler is a kerosene-fueled 4 cylinder McCormick-Deering T20, one of about 15,000 produced between 1932 and 1939. The guy with the banged-up thumb, sitting on the fuel tank, is hiding the "TracTracTor" logo. Read more here: http://tractors.wikia.com/wiki/McCormick-Deering_T-20 No wildfires hereThat's an interesting spark arrester on the exhaust stack. I wonder where he got the mesh cloth? (The Gallery, Agriculture, Rural America, Russell Lee)
Blind Curve: 1941
... format acetate negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Lucy and Desi may have ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/18/2020 - 3:42pm -

September 1941. "Road leading out of Carlton Tunnel along bed of old narrow gauge railroad on the west side of the Rocky Mountains from Leadville, Colorado." Medium format acetate negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Lucy and Desi may have made this drive in "The Long, Long Trailer." Driver BewareThe views are to die for. Hell Gate!The Carlton Tunnel was formerly the Busk-Ivanhoe Tunnel of the late lamented Colorado Midland Railway, maintained for many years as a toll tunnel business by the last owner of the railroad, A.E Carlton, a Cripple Creek banker. The tunnel itself would have been a couple of miles in the rear; this vista was known in railroad days as Hell Gate, although I have never seen what it looked like without rails. It was a very popular scene for advertising photos, and L.C. McClure and W.H. Jackson both photographed it. MPW must have been on her way to Aspen (still a mining town in those days). I never knew she passed this way. The river to the left is the Frying Pan. You can still drive this route, although the Carlton Tunnel is sealed, and the road diverges from the railbed and crosses the divide via an adjacent saddle. The Busk-Ivanhoe Tunnel replaces a much higher bore, which is still open, and the roadbed up to the east portal is now a nice hiking trail. Leadville memoryI was in Leadville a few years ago and saw an old photo in an antique shop of a buggy with two local women in it going up a steep road with only a foot or so of dirt separating them from a fall to eternity. This reminded me of that and made me shiver all over again. Look whereThis is one of those roads where my wife would be yelling "Look where you're driving, don't drive where you're looking" at me. (The Gallery, Landscapes, M.P. Wolcott, Railroads)
The Matriarchs: 1937
... Chesnee, South Carolina." Photo by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Chesnee I live near Chesnee ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/30/2017 - 1:46pm -

July 1937. "Sharecropper's wife, mother of seven. Woman in doorway is mother of fourteen, ten living; fifty-six grandchildren. Near Chesnee, South Carolina." Photo by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. ChesneeI live near Chesnee and am always fascinated by the numerous Depression photos from the area. I bet this lady is a Scruggs, since it seems at least 25 percent of the longtime residents, even back to the Revolutionary War era, are named Scruggs. A good second guess would be Martin or Cash. Graveyards in the area are chock full of those names. Hope she made itto "mother of eight." 56?This was obviously before the "I have a headache" Era Family PlanningWhat a wonderful thing birth control turned out to be for the women born after these two. (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Kids)
Coming Down: 1940
... size. 35mm nitrate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. Drops and droops Snow's not the only thing ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 12:21pm -

February 1940. "Snowstorm in Parkersburg, West Virginia." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. Drops and droopsSnow's not the only thing coming down. Mr. Lockwood's poor old signage is in serious need of some attention. And that roof has a severe droop going on. Les neiges d'antan"Oh, where are the snows of yesteryear?" The Snows of Yesteryear"Oh, where are the snows of yesteryear?" Seems they are now in the Middle East. Six inches in Amman, Jordan in just one storm. Global Cooling, you know. Remember the frozen 1970's dire predictions of an ice bound globe? Panic and hysteria are the real recyclables. And pop science is there to accommodate. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Small Towns, Stores & Markets)
Cat Patrol: 1940
... Utah." Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Tale of Two Taylor Tots In ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/02/2019 - 1:25pm -

November 1940. "Son of Mormon farmer. Santa Clara, Utah." Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Tale of Two Taylor TotsIn August 1940, Marion Post Wolcott took a photograph of two black women and a white child on a tree-lined sidewalk in Port Gibson, MS that was used on the UK cover of "The Help" (the 2009 novel by Kathryn Stockett) and also posted on Shorpy in 2010. https://www.shorpy.com/node/7849 I had been looking at it this afternoon as I had seen a thumbnail of it on a page of MPW's photos and recognized it from the book. Clicking straight from that photo to this photo was rather amazing. Taylor Tot stroller/walkers seem to have been quite popular in the 1940s. Certainly there are many on eBay now in various states of rust or restoration. Wheels of TimeThat little cart sure brings back memories and must have been sold for years. I was born nine years after this photo was taken, and mine was powder blue (for a boy) and white. In those years, the design was not changed a bit. I found Charlie Brown!!!But may I say that it's been over 4 decades since I was capable of straddling a bar that uncomfortable looking? Happy CatsWhat a happy pair they make. That baby smile and the smiling eyes, oh my! He did not concern himself with the day to day, only the here and now. And the kitten? He just wants the laces on the boy's shoes. Only it needs to find a different way to get to them. That walker/strollerI was born in 1948 and also had one of those walkers that were converted to strollers. They were made of metal and wood and very sturdy. Ours survived in the basement for years. If I remember rightly, it was pink and white or maybe red and white originally. The stroller handle was long gone, but as an older kid, I used to play with the walker part. Well, I never.Search Google Images for 'customized taylor-tot'. Had no idea. (The Gallery, Cats, Kids, Russell Lee)
En Famille: 1941
... Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Made Cents That the coin in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/05/2018 - 11:23am -

June 1941. "Family of Marine in their living room. They live in one of the units of the Navy defense housing project which is designed for Naval people, Marines and some civilian defense workers. San Diego, California." Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Made CentsThat the coin in Mom's shoe was a wheat penny So fa ... so goodMy very first apartment in Chicago had that very same sofa bed, complete with the same upholstery. Didn't have the matching chair though. April 12 issue of Collier's"Defense on Ice" by Walter Davenport, Collier's, April 12, 1941. Sitting on top of the Life magazine. The Instagram of its DayLooks like the Life magazine at the bottom of the stack under the coffee table is the April 14 issue, which you can read here. It covered everything from the war to a Hollywood Production Code edict banning shots of "sweater girls" (with pictures of course). Long goneThe recruit training center for Marines is still in San Diego but the adjacent Navy RTC/NTC has been relegated to civilian use. Many of the old buildings are converted yet some have been removed for new homes. USS Reversal remains. Quite the trendy area now. I boot camped/schooled there for several months in 1977/78 and recently went back to find the place familiarly differentised. What is it?That object in the box on the table. The round thing with holes of different sizes. Perhaps a cigarette holder ? I don't smoke so how would I know! (The Gallery, Russell Lee)
Spook Hill: 1940
... Medium format negative by Arthur Frankenstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. The Savage Mansion And ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/28/2018 - 6:35pm -

March 1940. "Old mine office. Virginia City, Nevada." Medium format negative by Arthur Frankenstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. The Savage MansionAnd looking a bit better, though I suspect the Basketball Hoop/Bicycle Rim is gone. https://noehill.com/nv_storey/nev0087.asp Mansard Family MemoriesThat mansard roof is so reminiscent of a house in Connecticut where I lived in college, sharing the second floor with three paying housemates, and a seemingly endless procession of couch-dwellers and hangers-on. In 1990, I didn't know how old the house was. All I could say was that it was late Victorian. Each room had a capped gas pipe, five feet off the floor, where once there was a sconce. At some point, one adventurous soul figured out how to scale the cornice and find an unlatched sash on the vacant third floor, where we found multiple layers of 19th century wallpaper. Then came Zillow, and I learned the house dated to 1875. Presumably its mansard roof once sported this capricious arrangement of hand-cut cedar shakes. I count myself lucky to have dwelt there before the novelty board siding was covered with vinyl, even though the uninsulated balloon frame cost us $400 per winter month to heat. On one level, I know I shouldn't find such a structure incongruous as a mining company office. But I do. A radio ham inside?Very interesting the wire antenna stretched between the tree on the right and the dormer. There is the insulator which decouples the copper wire from the cotton thread attached to the tree. Probably someone inside was using a radio. Massimo IZLPE. And open for toursWe toured the house on a 2015 visit. It's very interesting. There are a lot of artifacts from the time inside, as well as pictures. In fact, Virginia City is well worth a visit. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Halloween, Mining)
Grain to Go: 1936
... Texas." Medium format negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Sharp Wow! The entire ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/24/2018 - 2:47pm -

August 1936. "Grain elevators at Dumas, Texas." Medium format negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. SharpWow! The entire field of view is in focus. Texas WPA Guide Says ..."The route is through wind-swept region of seemingly endless prairies to Dumas (Alt. 3,868, Pop. 700), a town born on cattle, developed on agriculture, and thriving on recent oil developments. Two large carbon black plants utilize sour gas and pour from their retorts a constant cloud of heavy black smoke, low hanging, soot laden and ugly; a dominating feature of the landscape in the vicinity." Before spray paintLook at the pristine sides of those boxcars! Texas sunWith the bright Texas sun, Arthur could do f/16 no problem and still have a reasonable shutter speed to handhold. The classic "sunny 16" rule says that in bright sunlight, use f/16 and an inverse of the film speed (50 asa would be 1/50) The only trouble is, back then there were Kodak speeds, Weston film speeds, and GE speeds, none of which corresponded directly to today's film speeds. Prairie SkyscrapersThat's what we called them when I was growing up -- many, many years ago. All the Way from PhiladelphiayOn the Atchison Topeka and the Santa Fe (The Gallery, Agriculture, Arthur Rothstein, Railroads)
Alabama Fried: 1941
... Alabama." Medium format negative by John Collier for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Hey, guys, the wethead is ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/17/2016 - 12:53pm -

August 1941. "Chickens raised by FSA borrowers is good right down to the bone. Sunday dinner for flying cadets at Craig Field, Selma, Alabama." Medium format negative by John Collier for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Hey, guys, the wethead is dead!Long live the dry look! This TooJust like cornbread here I got my first taste of fried chicken in my Mother-in-law's kitchen and, you guessed it, done in the correct manner, in a Skillet. Laughter's smileI love how our subject's face is so animated. Judging by his smile and that of his neighbor, he is laughing when the photo is taken. I was just reading in Daniel Goleman's 1995 book, Emotional Intelligence, about how our impulse to laughter is controlled by the amygdala. When we're overcome by humor it is similar - though in a way totally opposite - to the amygdala's fight or flight response. We can't help ourselves. The laughing smile on the soldier's face is so genuine. Professional actors will tell you that a genuine sounding/looking laugh is one of the hardest things to pull off. See the World and Get a Decent MealThe military might have provided the best meals some of those guys had ever eaten. While obesity is today's top reason for military recruits to be deemed unfit for service, during WWII the primary reason for disqualification was malnutrition. Chicken à la KingCould have been the title. (The Gallery, Eateries & Bars, John Collier)
Winona Flour: 1940
... community." Acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. You Needa Beard-net No ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/10/2019 - 10:39am -

July 1940. Benton Harbor, Michigan. "Baker at the House of David religious community." Acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. You Needa Beard-netNo facial hair allowed in the batter!! Fingernails It looks like the baker might have done a shift over at the Garage of David prior to his shift at the bakery. Safety netSomewhere between this extreme of long scraggly beard hairs hanging over the batter and the current rage for nets of all kinds on even the shortest stubble of your serving person (including plastic gloves on all food handlers) must lie a happy, reasonable median where common-sense standards for food handling ought to exist. Myself, I have no problem with clean hands kneading dough or otherwise preparing food. I feel very sorry for all those forced to wear gloves for every aspect of food prep. That's a Wino-noThis picture taps into my deepest phobias regarding food prepared by anyone other than myself, in my own kitchen, or by select few others (like for example my own mother) in their kitchens. (I handily suspend this when I have an opportunity to grab a pecan waffle at Waffle House. At least there, everything's out in the open.). Aside from this baker's far-from-pristine hands, the flowing beard could contain ... well. I don't even want to say what could be hiding in it, that could end up in the bread. Just no. Hiding placeI’m 62 now and I’ve had a beard since age 16, so that’s 46 years of facial hair, and I’ve never had anything hide in it. Nothing has ever crawled in, nor has anything ever crawled out. Granted, the longest I’ve gone without trimming it is a year, so I’ve never reached House of David magnitude like our baker friend here, but I am certain he is not transporting any snails or rodents or larvae of which he is unaware. (The Gallery, John Vachon, Kitchens etc.)
Tenant Farmer: 1939
... in Chatham County, North Carolina. View full size. Farm Security Administration photograph by Dorothea Lange. Tenant Farmer He ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/30/2012 - 2:40pm -

July 1939. Tenant farmer in Chatham County, North Carolina. View full size. Farm Security Administration photograph by Dorothea Lange. Tenant FarmerHe could evidently use a hand from the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union. (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Great Depression, Portraits)
Swamp Dwellers: 1939
... at 14th Street N.W." Photo by David Moffat Myers for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. To kill for today. That ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/29/2018 - 3:03pm -

July 1939. Washington, D.C. "Pennsylvania Avenue at 14th Street N.W." Photo by David Moffat Myers for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. To kill for today.That 1937 Chevrolet 5 window coupe at the lower left is a favorite among antique auto buffs today. Civil EngineeringThe rule for sidewalks in grassy areas is leave them out and put them in later where the grass shows people are taking shortcuts. I count 9 WindowsCan someone please explain how that term came to be? I see the windshield is cut in 2, you have 2 smokers glass, 2 roll ups, 2 deco-views, and the 1 rear glass panel = 5? I love the car, but maybe I don't understand the criteria. [Windshield isn't counted; side windows are the full openings separated by body pillars, whether or not there are vents in addition to the roll-ups. So this car has 4 side windows and one rear window (aka “backlight”). -tterrace] I once was lost, but now am foundIt took me a while to figure out exactly where this picture was taken but finally got it. The grassy area in the foreground is now Pershing Park. Across the street is the corner of the Willard Hotel . Looking further up 14th Street and on the right hand side is the National Press Building. The street entering from the right, in front of Whelans Drugs, is E Street. Freedom Plaza is now located between E and Pennsylvania. Wish I knew what the stone fronted building was on the right side of the picture. Last I knew there was a multi-story parking garage there. [That's the old Washington Post building at 1339 E Street. Also seen here. - Dave] Thank you Dave. You and tterrace never fail to amaze me with the scope of your information. Remembrance, indeedWe've seen this corner before. The low building at center here occupies the former home of the National Remembrance Shop ("Ask Mr. Foster"), seen in this 1924 photo. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., David Myers, Streetcars)
Porch Mechanic: 1941
October 1941. "Radford, Virginia. Sunset Village, Farm Security Administration housing project. Fred B. Williams from Savannah, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/24/2012 - 8:31am -

October 1941. "Radford, Virginia. Sunset Village, Farm Security Administration housing project. Fred B. Williams from Savannah, Georgia, cleaning car distributor on the porch of his home, 803 9th Street." Medium format nitrate negative by Marion Post Wolcott. View full size. Autolite DistributorProbably Mr. Williams has removed his distributor to make it easier to install new points and condenser. This was a tough job with the distributor still installed in the car on flathead six or eight cylinder engines with an Autolite distributor. His car might have been a Chrysler product, a Hudson or a car from a number of other independent car makers, all of which used Autolite electricals. Shadetree mechanicI've heard the moniker "shadetree mechanic" is an amateur who works under a tree for shade, not in a stall or building. This "porch mechanic" looks uncomfortable, bending over to work on the distributor. We used to pull the distributor to replace the points and condenser, then clamp it to a Sun distributor machine and spin it up to and see if the points bounced. The points and condenser can be replaced with the distributor in the vehicle, but setting it up on a distributor machine was the professional way. I doubt this fellow had access to such a high tech piece of equipment back then, so he must be replacing the bushings or breaker plate which does require distributor removal and disassembly. Yet, he doesn't have the tools to take it apart. I'm stumped. Obvious captionTAKE THAT DAMN THING OUTSIDE! Love the pedal carIt's tucked under the porch on the left-hand side. I'll take a stab at itHe's not changing the points, he's filing them to remove the pits and burrs. Looks like he is holding the points open with the screwdriver and I believe his right hand is holding a points file. We all know that the job's not finished until the points are polished a little with a piece of crocus cloth or a match book. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, M.P. Wolcott)
Southern Style: 1940
... is wearing her best clothes." Photo by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Charming young woman She ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/03/2014 - 12:21pm -

July 1940. "Migratory agricultural worker from Florida waiting to leave Belcross, N.C., to another job at Onley, Va. It is Sunday and she is wearing her best clothes." Photo by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Charming young womanShe probably was born too soon to take advantage of her natural beauty and inborn style! Sharp!That is a really sharp outfit she has on. She is absolutely beautiful with that look in her eyes. Props to the photographer too. Charming Lady.Beautiful, dignified and with such a sense of style. I hope she found a good life with a man that could appreciate the wonderful treasure he had with her. To be able to manage such fashion on the very meager wages she had to be making is amazing. Mona Lisa smile Not only are her eyes so engrossing, her smile leaves little indication to her thoughts. A southern beauty who would not reveal her secrets to the photographer. An all time Shorpy favorite of mine. Thanks for finding and posting this one! (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Pretty Girls)
Chi-Town Urchin: 1941
... Also seen here . 35mm negative by Edwin Rosskam for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Very touching Looking at ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 2:52pm -

April 1941. "Street urchin, Black Belt, Chicago." Also seen here. 35mm negative by Edwin Rosskam for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Very touchingLooking at his eyes I just felt a chill, and it made me want to cry. I never have that kind of reaction. What an amazing photo. Welcome to Shorpy.comI've noticed, many who visit here have had a similar reaction to one photo or another - I know I have. How special to go online and find an image that touches you so deeply. Many, many thanks Dave! SadThis kid makes me wanna cry. And I'm a guy. Wow!I can understand why you would want to cry, but this is the first picture that brought an immediate smile to my face. I would love to scoop up this little doll and snuggle him. He seems to be a survivor. I am sure he had a prosperous life...well, I hope he did. (The Gallery, Chicago, Edwin Rosskam, Kids)
A Reminder: 1939
... Texas." 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Let the flames begin ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/13/2010 - 10:01am -

February 1939. "Sign, Harlingen, Texas." 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Let the flames beginThanks for the red meat, Dave. I'll be in here, making popcorn and waiting for the show to begin. (Oops, sorry, meant to post that on FARK.) No names mentioned butapparently about 50% of American politicians from BOTH parties never seem to get this message. ThanksFor being timely, Dave! You've got a picture for every situation. Thank goodness. SheeshMust you remind us? (The Gallery, Russell Lee)
New in Town: 1940
... Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. New Car & College Degree ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/03/2020 - 4:56pm -

December 1940. Radford, Virginia. "Influx of construction workers in small town to build Hercules Powder Plant. Man just arrived to report for work." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. New Car & College Degree Looks like a graduate of the West Virginia Business College arriving with his new 1939 Chevrolet. Looking for a management position? EternalI hope he made it. Appears that he has all the right attributes with a business degree, smart outfit, and confident look. With no name supplied, we'll never know. [Unless you have a copy of the West Virginia Business College yearbook handy. - Dave] In the aftermath of tragedyJust a few months after a fire and explosion that killed 51 at Hercules. Overconfident?I see the confidence, but I also see something that looks like a chip on his shoulder. Or maybe he’s just tired. A long decadeMr. Spiffy Guy looks like he could be in management, but his face is weary, his eyes tired and a bit wary. A decade of unemployment and poverty is a long time to keep up hopes and dreams. As probably everyone else does, who visits Shorpy.com, I hope his life from here on out was a good one. It's a strange sort of mind travel, isn't it, to wish people well who lived years before we came along? We do it anyway, and gladly. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, John Vachon, Small Towns)
Sleet Street: 1940
... size. 35mm nitrate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. Wrong Full Size View Link Hi Dave. You can ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/26/2007 - 8:06am -

February 1940. A snowy street in Parkersburg, West Virginia. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. Wrong Full Size View LinkHi Dave. You can delete this comment once you've seen it , but you're linking the Sleet Street 1940 full size view to the full size view of Stillwater County Montana 1942. still broke.still broke. [Fixed - Ken] (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Cars, Trucks, Buses)
All Hat: 1939
... slot machine." Medium format negative by Arthur Rothstein, Farm Security Administration. View full size. 31x34 Same as me! But ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/17/2017 - 10:35pm -

June 1939. Birney, Montana. "Dude playing a slot machine." Medium format negative by Arthur Rothstein, Farm Security Administration. View full size. 31x34Same as me! But they're almost always just even sizes, so it's usually 32 and a belt. No cattle?Maybe the livestock are gathered around the baccarat table? Lebowski-esqueI thought the LoC was being very casual. It took a while to realize the caption meant dude as in a dude ranch, not as in "duuude." Montana SlimOur photo subject has a 31-inch waist. Levi's 501s I bought my first pair of Levi's button fly jeans at the Union Men's Shop in Windsor, Ontario, in 1965. They cost $5.15 in Canadian dollars then. The day this Shorpy picture was posted I bought a new pair near Seattle, as shown in this photograph, on sale for US $ 39.95. With the inflation calculator and current exchange rate, it works out to CDN $50.00. I have been fortunate to wear the same size 30 inch waist for fifty years. The "shrink-to-fit" 501s still use a heavy rigid denim. Slot machineThis one, with a different handle unfortunately. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein)
The Worriator: 1938
... Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. My granny My granny pronounced it "subm teet" ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 6:17pm -

July 1938. Sorting tobacco on the porch near Near Douglas, Georgia. The program to eliminate the risk and uncertainty of a one-crop system meets the approval of this sharecropper: "You don't have to worriate so much and you've got time to raise somp'n to eat." View full size. Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. My grannyMy granny pronounced it "subm teet" (something to eat) (The Gallery, Agriculture, Dorothea Lange, Rural America)
« first‹ prev…35 [36]37…next ›last »
Syndicate content  Shorpy.com is a vintage photography site featuring thousands of high-definition images. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago. Contact us | Privacy policy | Accessibility Statement | Site © 2024 Shorpy Inc.