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Buffalo Slept Here: 1942
... Original Buffalo Bill Cody Camp. Acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. The Office ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/22/2022 - 3:54pm -

May 1942. "North Platte, Nebraska. Tourist cabins." Yes, it's the Original Buffalo Bill Cody Camp. Acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
The OfficeI have seen bigger ticket booths at a county fair. Other than taking your cash, what business could be transacted in that tight space, especially during a very hot NB summer or icy cold winter? 
Hard pass.
Eponymous not anonymousIt's the official portrait of said Old West American hero, posted prominently at the point of ingress, that lends the whole place that irreplaceable air of ... ahem ... authenticity.
Do what now?Oh. Misread as "VAGRANCY"
Not Green RiverEvidently the original, as opposed to Ol' Cody Junior's camp that was in Winters, CA, described in John Fogerty's song Green River:
Up at Cody's camp I spent my days, Lord
With flat car riders and cross-tie walkers
Old Cody Junior took me over
Said, "You're gonna find the world is smoldering
And if you get lost, come on home to Green River"
According to John Fogerty in this interview, Cody Junior was a descendent of Buffalo Bill Cody.
*The* Original (BEWARE of imitations)You just might end up with a group shower (or maybe a hose and bucket). Formerly at 1301 W. 12th (U.S.30) but now a vacant lot. Which admittedly isn't much of a comedown. One notes - unlike later versions - there is no provision for modifying the "Vacancy" sign: did they have a separate one with both words or just take it down when they were full, and leave you to wonder??  Or maybe there were always vacancies ... We'll ever be wondering.
Cabin #4 had Wild Bill's personal throne!This was one of those places the kids went nuts over because of the look.  Not so much the parents.  I reckon being in the office after dark got a little lonely and a bit creepy ... but you did have the phone!  "Private Shower" (water is extra).  
BIRGing can be a good thing"So what's wrong with profiting from a bit of reflected glory?"
William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody considered North Platte, Nebraska, his hometown. North Platte residents basked in Cody's reflected glory during his lengthy career as a showman.
https://history.nebraska.gov/publications/buffalo-bill-north-platte#:~:t....
(The Gallery, Frontier Life, John Vachon, Small Towns)

Bumper to Bumper: 1941
... you call being in a tight spot! 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Why no ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/20/2020 - 1:03pm -

July 1941. "Parking lot. Chicago, Illinois." This is what you call being in a tight spot! 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Why no older models?There are usually some from the early '30s in the mix, but the oldest cars here seem to be from 1936 or so. Someone who knows more about antique autos than I do will be along shortly to educate me, and that's OK, too.
[After around 1935, when cars began to be made with steel roofs and all-steel bodies, the number of older vehicles in these photos drops off sharply. - Dave]
Do believe it is a normal parking lotThese cars seem to have come from some transport or are waiting to go on one, a ship or maybe a train since they look like they are all the same manufacturer. You can see photos like it of arriving Japanese verhicles that came off a ship.
["The same manufacturer"? I see a Pontiac, a Plymouth, an Oldsmobile ...  - Dave]
The one in the middle!"Yeah, here's my tag - it's the two tone coupe, the one in the middle. And make it snappy, fella, I got a hot date!" I'd actually assume this is a dealer or distributor lot. Can't be a downtown parking lot!
[It is downtown, one of several such scenes photographed by John Vachon. Note that the cars have license plates, a smattering of windshield stickers, and various parcels visible through their windows, some of which are open. I would imagine this is the kind of lot where you have to wait till the end of the day to get your car. - Dave]
Been there, waited for thatAs late as the early-70s (and maybe beyond) there were large parking lots at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore that packed cars in just like that. You had better have been prepared to stay for the whole game because unless you were lucky there was no way out 'till it was over. 
Fake ViewsDear Dave,
Something's wrong with this picture. All these cars are like, really old.
Not even that black Dodgein dead center trapped between a Chevrolet and Pontiac could ram its way out of that crowded lot!
The old saying when backing up"Keep going till you hear the crash" must have been employed here.
As for older vehicles, I'm fairly sure that of the 40 or so in the parking lot at work, my 2008 Ford pickup is the oldest. 
The root of the term "bumper"It seems to me from images such as these, and old movies, that bumpers were once meant to be literally bumped. What happened?
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Chicago, John Vachon)

Parked Tight: 1940
... Moines, Iowa. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. ZOR The Mark of Zorro w/ ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/03/2008 - 1:45am -

May 1940. Parked cars in Des Moines, Iowa. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration.
ZORThe Mark of Zorro w/ Tyrone Power came out in 1940, but it wasn't released until November.
Besides, I would expect a slashing Z rather than the boxy typeface they used here. And, of course, no apparent room for 'The Mark of'....
Isn't the Internet a wondrous thing?
And for all you film buffs out there, there is some extant gag footage (there's a phrase you don't hear every day) of Ty Power doing his trademark Z, but it's referred to on the soundtrack as 'gasp', the Mark of Zanuck! 
but, I digress....
Reading MaterialIn the white car second from the left, looks like there's a newspaper in the back. Wonder what the headline was.
[ZOR - Dave]

ParkedI wonder how the driver got out of the cars after he parked them, or how is he planning to get in. Maybe they put first the car on the right, then the next one to his left and so on. Kind of a Tetris game!
SpaceIt looks like they still had about 1meter of space to open the door and go. But the way they were planning to get out of this parking must be interesting.
On the other hand it looks like a parking for office or small factory workers, so probably, as they ended work at the same hour, there was no problems with driving away.
[I think this was the view from John Vachon's hotel window. - Dave]
Running BoardsAll these cars have running boards, which means that although tightly packed, a driver could step on the adjoining car's running board as he got into his own car. It is odd that they would be parked so closely, though.
[These would have been parked by an attendant, not the owner. - Dave]
Bumper CarsA couple of these are brand-new cars.  The second from the left in upper row with the one chevron-shaped taillight is a 1940 Ford standard coupe (the Deluxe had two taillights). Apparently in those days the bumper was there to bump. They must have backed the cars up 'till they heard or felt contact.
Parking lot?I read all the theories about the parking methods used in this "parking lot", but I think it more likely to be the parking lot of a car seller. That is the place where you, also nowadays, will find cars parked like "herrings in a barrel" (like is said in Dutch).
[You don't leave hats and packages in cars for sale. It's a typical urban pay lot, familiar to anyone who lives next to a vacant patch of land in a big-city American downtown. They still park them like this today. - Dave]
Washington D.C. parkingI worked in Washington during the early 70's and commuted to work in my personal car.  The parking lot was behind the Old Post Office off of Pennsylvania Avenue. The attendants would start in the center and pack the other cars around it until the lot was filled. You can imagine what would happen if a person wanted to leave work early!
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, John Vachon)

Zines & Beans: 1938
... storefronts, Omaha, Nebraska." Medium format negative by John Vachon for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. Oyster ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/12/2017 - 4:07pm -

November 1938. "Capitol Avenue storefronts, Omaha, Nebraska." Medium format negative by John Vachon for the Resettlement Administration. View full size.
Oyster stew!It's been forty years since I've made oyster stew!  I'll bet mine was better, because I used oysters we picked up off the beach, at Dabob Bay, on Washington's Hood Canal the night before, and opened that day.  In Nebraska, I'll bet they had to use canned!  I'd even settle for canned right now, though!
Hurry up!I don't know what that third car from the left is, with the 1-1813 license plate, but I want it and I want it now. I also want 45 cents worth of oyster stew, with some of them teeny little saltines and some Tabasco.
And make sure that the oysters are the kind that grow in the ocean and not around Omaha, Nebraska, if you please.
Top to BottomSam in 1616 and 1616½ has you covered from one end to the other.
Spotted car1-1813 is a 1935 Oldsmobile top of the line sedan .
Spotted Car1-1813 is a 1935 Oldsmobile L-35 touring car as seen here.
No longer thereThe buildings have since been torn down.  A Doubletree hotel sits in its place.  Don't know if the restaurant serves oyster stew or not.
FlawedThe adulation for that Oldsmobile would vanish quickly when one of its pistons blew --- - common problem for the 35s and 36s. Mine failed leaving Jackon Hole, Wyoming in 1948. Had to limp over the mountains and down into Salt Lake City where the second piston failed necessitating an engine tear-down in a parking lot.
Before Parking LinesHave the feeling the 2nd car from the right, is going to be a little upset when it's time to back out. 1-1990 must have squeezed into that parking spot. Even after parking lines, he's probably still parking like that.
Precursor?I favor the funky one fifth from the left, with the interesting back door. Anybody know what it is? Maybe it is my fondness for VW buses in my youth, but it looks intriguing.
Travel Rule #1Don't order the seafood when the nearest ocean is 1000 miles away. Or do, but eat it with a side of Imodium. 
What Kind Of Oysters?As a son of The Land Of Pleasant Living I have always been leery when traveling of restaurants advertising oysters. If a restaurant isn't within 50 miles of a major oyster producing body of water I won't order them since my preference in oysters run to the Chincoteague style and not the Bull Durham variety.
Precursor?The Funkymobile is a 28/29 Ford Model A Sedan Delivery. Very rare and desirable to the restorers and hot rodders alike. I'd choose it over all the cars in the lineup
Rear door1929 Ford Sedan Delivery
Current prices begin around $30,000
Oysters in Omaha? You betcha!Just a few blocks south of 1610 Capitol Ave (Now the Doubletree Hotel and First National Bank) lies a great seafood joint called appropriately 'Shucks' with a great oyster stew and all sorts of the succulent bivalves on the half shell - from both coasts, and even occasionally from the Choctawhatchee Bay in the Gulf. I've lived in Omaha for 31 years and vouch for the freshness of the seafood offerings here in our fair city. (Also has pretty good beefsteaks, as well!!!!)
Can't say I've ever seen that 1935 Olds still around, though we like our classic cars here as well. Salty roads in the winter have been the ruin of many a fair classic, including my old '71 VW Westphaia.
Shorpy and history.My son hooked me up to the Shorpy site years ago. Have just recently gotten the nerve to register and leave a comment. I really enjoy all the photos, the depression era by Dorothea Lange, And the photos of the old cars. Keep up the excellent work Dave.
Shop to right?What is the shop between New Capitol Bar and Dean Lunch? I can only make out the word "Falstaff", and the objects in the window give few clues as to what they sell.
[It's part of the New Capitol Bar; Falstaff is a brand of beer. -tterrace]
Half-Seen Zine StoreA big bunch of people on FictionMags, an invitational Yahoo group I'm in, have been fascinated by the "zine" shop on the far left, and what the kid visible in the window is reading.
Other images of magazines and especially newsstands here on Shorpy, for instance the recent 1938 Omaha newsstand, have been widely dissected.
Falstaff BeerThe Falstaff brewery was south of downtown Omaha near 25th and Vinton Streets. Another Omaha local beer (also defunct) was Storz. Of course, there are numerous craft beers now brewed locally - and those have much more flavor than the old locals! Try 'Lucky Bucket' if you can find it.
TrunkThe second car from the left is a 1932 Ford sedan with an aftermarket trunk mounted on an aftermarket support made by Kari-Keen or possibly Potter. 
Queued CarsFrom left to right:
1. 1937 Ford Tudor or Fordor (slant back)
2. 1932 Ford V8 with non-standard bumper
3. 1935 Oldsmobile L-35
4. 1936 Studebaker, likely a Dictator
5. 1929 Ford Model A Deluxe Delivery
6. 1936 Ford Deluxe Tudor Touring Sedan
7. 1933 Plymouth coupe (Business Coupe?)
8. 1937 DeSoto S3 Touring Sedan
Note the partial reflections of the cars in the store windows.
Bygone 'Zines DealersShortly before this photo was taken, the "Zines" store had been one of two news dealer stores of Charles C. Savage.  This one, at 1618 Capitol Avenue, was being run by his daughter Hazel Lydia Savage.  Two of her brothers both worked at the main family store at 1260 S. 16th in 1938.
Hazel married Paul Colgrove on November 6, 1938, moved to Bandon, Oregon where she spent the rest of her life, and had a daughter, Colleen.  The couple divorced in 1966.  Hazel was born on September 12, 1917 in Omaha, and died January 15, 2011 in Bandon.
After Hazel Savage, the store on Capitol Avenue became the business of Paul William Lehn.  His last name can be partially seen in the window.  He was born in Nebraska to George and Madeline Lehn in 1920.  Less than a year after the photo was taken he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps on June 19, 1941.  After WWII he became an accountant, and he remained in Omaha at least through the late 1950s.  He died on Chrismas Day, 1971 in Los Angeles, California, but he was buried back in Omaha.
Re: Error in descriptionThe information that I provided in regard to the store is easily found in the Omaha city directories from 1936, 1938, and 1940. I have attached extracts that verify the information that was provided. 
Perhaps Hazel's daughter was simply just never told how her mother ran a news store prior to being married, and that her uncles also were clerks in their grandfather's store.
Not a traceThe street was redone sometime in the 1950s. The Edward Zorinsky Federal Building was originally completed in 1958 as a home to the US Army Corps of Engineers. It's been modified a couple of times, most recently completed as a post-9/11 security and environmental retrofit in 2008. It is an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly and sustainable building.
But I'd do anything to sit in Sam's Barber Shop shown in the original image and listen to the stories drift in and out with each customer.

(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Eateries & Bars, John Vachon, Omaha)

Fast Food: 1943
... buddy, pass the salt? Medium-format nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size. Speaking of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 5:54pm -

March 1943. "Pearlington, Mississippi (vicinity). Truck driver eating at a trucker's stop along U.S. Highway 90." Hey buddy, pass the salt? Medium-format nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Speaking of salt...The first thing I noticed was the timeless salt shaker. How long has that design been around? (Would anyone care to take on that research assignment?) I grew up with that salt shaker. I have one now.
A classicWhat is it about that style of salt (and pepper) shaker? You still see it in many of the restaurants. We have a set we use once in a while when I grill outside. We had them on our table when I was a boy in the 50's. You had to put a few grains of rice in the salt shaker to keep it from plugging up.
What's in...the bottle at his left elbow. It looks like some sort of ketchup or maybe hot sauce?
[Ketchup or mustard would be my guess. - Dave]
Anchor HockingMy dad had that kind of salt shaker (Anchor Hocking) in his drive-in restaurant. And that same sugar pourer.
Classy JointThe shutters screening the entrance to the "Ladies Lounge" are a nice touch.
The salt shakerThat particular salt shaker has been used by eating establishments for eons. most likely because its a utilitarian design that has no aesthetic value. in other words, its like the bad paintings on the motel walls. no one will steal them and they are readily available at the local dollar store.
["No aestehtic value"? Hmph. I have a pair in my very own kitchen. They've been following me around probably since my college days. - Dave]

Whats with his hat?I notice an emblem with #14 on the front, and then a badge (or two) on the side of that well worn cap. Anyone have any insight as to the nature of the bonnet-bling this feller's sportin?  Almost looks like a motorcycle cop hat. 
That HatAs a truck driver, I think I've been cheated.  Where can I get a snappy hat like that?  And I've got to have the badges with it.
Decorous DecorationEven though this restaurant isn't much more than a shanty, the "Ladies' Lounge" is carefully screened off.
Contrast this with a chain restaurant I was in the other day - when the door opened, my table got a full view of every urinal on the wall - occupied and unoccupied.
America, how did you get to be so crass?
Chauffeur's BadgeNote the chauffeur's badge on the side of his hat. Very collectible today. They were issued every year to those who drove commercial vehicles for a living. Some years are more valuable & scarce than others.

Pretty amazing resolutionIndividual grains of salt on the counter are just as visible as if it were real life.
Diner ClassicSometimes I poke around a local restaurant supply store.  All the dishes & cups with the two green bands around the top, the sugar pourer and the salt shaker are still available for sale.  Sometimes you can't help despairing when you go in a place and find they're using that china -- the coffee is usually terrible, but still, there's something nice realizing that the same style has been around for 65 years or more.
John Steinbeck  Along 66 the hamburger stands--Al & Susy’s Place--Carl’s Lunch--Joe & Minnie--Will’s Eats.  Board-and-bat shacks.  Two gasoline pumps in front, a screen door, a long bar, stools, and a foot rail.  Near the door three slot machines, showing through glass the wealth in nickels three bars will bring.  And beside them, the nickel phonograph with records piled up like pies, ready to swing out to the turntable and play dance music, “Ti-pi-ti-pi-tin,” “Thanks for the Memory,” Bing Crosby, Benny Goodman.  At one end of the counter a covered case;  candy cough drops, caffeine sulphate called Sleepless, No-Doze;  candy, cigarettes, razor blades, aspirin, Bromo-Seltzer, Alka-Seltzer.  The walls decorated with posters, bathing girls, blondes with big breasts and slender hips and waxen faces, in white bathing suits, and holding a bottle of Coca-Cola and smiling—see what you get with a Coca-Cola.  Long bar, and salts, peppers, mustard pots, and paper napkins.  Beer taps behind the counter, and in back the coffee urns, shiny and steaming with glass gauges showing the coffee level.  And pies in wire cages and oranges in pyramids of four.  And little piles of Post Toasties, corn flakes, stacked up in designs.
  The signs on cards, picked out with shining mica:  Pies Like Mother Used to Make.  Credit Makes Enemies, Let’s Be Friends.  Ladies May Smoke But Be Careful Where You Lay Your Butts.  Eat Here and Keep Your Wife for a Pet.  IITYWYBAD?
I'll see your pairI have two sets of these salt & pepper shakers, inherited from my parents.  We had several other sets of shakers available, but my father and mother would never use any others, if at all possible.  Apparently, these style shakers were the only ones to put out the quantity of salt (per shake) that satisfied my parent's sodium chloride addiction.
I'll check with my mother to see where she may have gotten these.  I think they may have come from the local grocery store, as part of a promotion where you could get free kitchen items if you purchased a specific dollar amount of grocery items.
By the way, my mother will be 83 years old this Friday (1/28/11) and still has the "addiction".  If you don't hear the salt crunching while you eat, there isn't enough on the food.
Is this copyright free?I poked around a bit and it appears this wonderful image is part of the Library of Congress. I am a colored pencil portrait artist and would love to do a rending of this in sepia. I would love your permission to do so if it is yours to give. Thank you for this wonderful site.
[See the section "Rights Advisory" in the LOC listing for this photo here. - tterrace]
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Eateries & Bars, John Vachon)

Union Stockyards: 1941
... Chicago, Illinois." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. View from ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/06/2020 - 12:23pm -

July 1941. "Union Stockyards. Chicago, Illinois." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
View from the El platformAt the very bottom of Vachon's image is the Exchange station platform of the Chicago Elevated rail transit line that served the Stockyards. You can see a  billboard for Clorox bleach, among others. Here's how it looked if you were standing on the Exchange station platform. It is interesting to note that men were riding horses among the pens. 
The View Is Fine Depending on the WindIn one of his radio shows, penurious comedian Jack Benny bragged he was staying at the Stockyards Plaza hotel while his cohorts wasted money staying up town in the Ambassador East or the Drake.
Requiem for some heavyweightsI thoroughly enjoy John Vachon's work. There are aspects of this photograph that are immensely pleasing from an aesthetic standpoint. But probably not if you're a cow.
"How sad, to leave Chicago. I have had such a wonderful week."John Vachon's letters to his pregnant wife Penny sent during his week in Chicago at the end of June 1941 reflect a combination of emotional peaks and valleys. Expected by FSA to spend his time photographing cattle and produce, he experienced and photographed intriguing Chicagoans in many settings, and loved wandering through the Institute of Arts and seeing nightly movies (including, on this trip, Citizen Kane). Yet he was practically broke, wearing through his clothing, and neglected by a seemingly uncaring boss back in DC (Roy Stryker) who was slow to pay him, communicate to him, or to even like the negatives he was sending back to the office. This particular series of his letters to Penny appears, in full, in "John Vachon's America" (on Google Books).
Stockyard InnIn the late '40s and early '50s, a day at the annual Chicago Boat Show with my parents was always followed up by dinner at the Stockyard Inn.  I was just a kid, so I don't remember what I had, but it must have been good because I still remember how I looked forward to eating there. What I remember most was that I always wondered if it was going to smell as bad inside the restaurant as it did outside, but apparently it didn't, because my most two vivid memories from over 60 years ago are how bad the neighborhood smelled, and how much I looked forward to dinner at the Stockyard Inn!
(The Gallery, Agriculture, Animals, Chicago, John Vachon, Railroads)

We Fix Flats: 1942
... You want Coke with that? Medium format negative by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size. That oil ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/27/2021 - 2:13pm -

April 1942. "Service station. Hamilton, Ravalli County, Montana." You want Coke with that? Medium format negative by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size.
That oil stove/furnace in MontanaI imagine got a good workout in the winter months. Looks like a great place to hang out and have a game of checkers and catch up on the local news. 
This is a service stationI notice John Vachon called this a service station, not a gas station.  I remember the days when you pulled your car up next to a gas pump and told the attendant who came out to greet you how much you wanted of which grade.  While you sat in your car or did whatever you needed to do the attendant put gas in your tank, cleaned your front and rear windshields, checked your oil and told you the results, maybe put water in your radiator or windshield wiper tank, and checked the pressure in all four of your tires.  As a norm attendants were not given tips; it was just part of going to a service station.  
The Plymouth was getting tiredOn March 18 Roy Stryker had written to Vachon that he was trying to get new tires for his old car. Even being a government employee was apparently not a free ticket during war rationing. I wonder if Vachon had eyed the tires in this station, but the approval wasn't expected until near the end of April.
What a Great Looking Gas StationThe only thing missing is the rubber hose to ring the bell to indicate that someone is waiting at the pumps. In reality it is probably hidden by the bushes and the car.
Open QuestionDo the garage doors slide or fold?  I think they slide.  Any ideas?
[Perhaps they pivot. - Dave]
Open Question - slide or fold?From the handle placement and orientation plus the state of the right hand door, my guess is that they are hinged vertical panels that slide sideways and bend at the side to travel back into the bay. Sort of like the modern vertical garage doors mounted sideways.
(The Gallery, Gas Stations, John Vachon, Small Towns)

Sunday Skoal: 1941
... Finnish community of Bruce Crossing, Michigan." Photo by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Raising ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/29/2022 - 5:29pm -

August 1941. "Farm boys in beer parlor on Sunday afternoon. Finnish community of Bruce Crossing, Michigan." Photo by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Raising HelsinkiYou knew somebody was gonna say it ...
Gottleib Grip TesterThe coin-operated machine at the far left of the counter is a Gottleib Grip Tester. Drop a penny and either pull the two halves of the grip together, or push them apart. See how strong you are -- compete with your friends. Easy money for the bar owner. (Photo lifted off the web -- my grip tester is long gone.)
Belt, no capI believe we have a handsome rake in this Finnish community beer parlor on a Sunday afternoon. 
Sisu with a little uff da too, eh?At first glance I thought that this might be a Michigan bar, maybe tipped by the antlers & Stroh's Beer sign.  All of the men look at least a little like my late Uncle Otto, hence Finnish.  Therefore, a Yooper bar. 
Raised canesIt seems like an odd habit to store canes on the antlers.
I that some tradition that I don't know about?
RepeaterOne of those Yoopers has been here before.
https://www.shorpy.com/node/25973
First step to becoming hepI remember the belt buckles being worn like the fellow on the right.  One of my cousins wore his that way too and he also had taps on his shoes (we always called them cleats ... a Baltimore thing??).   I bet the guy in the picture also has taps.  
Blue Law Sunday?What is hidden behind that cloth on the back of the bar?   Did the blue laws state that hard liquor couldn't be sold and had to be hidden on Sundays? 
Familiar faceAt first glance I thought that was a young Johnny Carson. I remember those Gripmasters.   I'd do well to be able to put the penny in it now.
(The Gallery, Agriculture, Eateries & Bars, John Vachon, Small Towns)

Newport News: 1941
... going home at 4 p.m." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Huntington ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/07/2020 - 3:53pm -

March 1941. Newport News, Virginia. "Shipyard workers going home at 4 p.m." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Huntington Cafe The street appears to be Washington Avenue. According to an ad in a 1940 edition of the local newspaper, the Huntington Cafe was located at 3600½ Washington Ave. In the ad, the restaurant was looking to hire a waitress.
Nary a woman to be seen!I don't see any women yard workers in this pre-WWII scene. That would change during the war.
https://www.marinersmuseum.org/sites/micro/women/wartime/ww2.htm
N.N.S.& D.D.Co. The Shipyard - Newport News Shipyard & Dry Dock Co.- has been a definitive workplace of generations of local (and not quite local) families since the end of the 19th century. 
My stepfather began working there as a full time employee just after WWII, when he graduated from 4 years at the Apprentice School in 1950, through the auspices of the GI Bill, and became a Piping Designer in the Submarine Division. He was a part of the development of the nuclear submarines from day one. Hyman G. Rickover was a seemingly permanent fixture of that section, ruling with an iron will. Stories about him were regular parts of every day's dinner table conversation! Dad worked there until his Union went on strike in the late 70's/early 80's and never went OFF strike. He continued working for another company who was a contractor for the shipyard for a long time, until he retired. He passed away this past spring. Asbestosis was a major player in his passing, after spending decades in that shipbuilding environment, making frequent journeys from his office space to the outside buildings where "mock ups" were located, and actual construction in the dry docks took place, where there was little to no breathing protection provided or even acknowledged in those many early years. He recieved legal asbestosis "benefits" from various class action law suits, but in the end, no amount of money could repair the damage inflicted by those incredibly tiny, dangerous fibers that permanently scarred his lungs.
His father - my paternal grandfather - had worked there, beginning in the Sail Shop, in the late 1920's, which was actually after sails were no longer part of ships, but handled all the textile components of ships, and the yard itself. He fabricated upholstery on ships and subs, awnings on buildings, and other items. He retired in 1968. 
He has three sisters, two of whom married men who would become permanent employees of the shipyard through their retirement. The other one was associated through shipyard contractors. I have numerous cousins, brothers, nephews, and many school friends who either have worked for the Yard in all its incarnations, ownership, changes, etc., and still do, or have done. One uncle gave his all, who was an official photographer for the Yard, when he had a sudden heart attack during lunch with coworkers in a little cafe across the street from the yard, and didn't go home again. 
In the 1960's, taking Dad to work across town from as far as Denbigh so Mom could have the one car on Fridays so she could do all her shopping is something I will always remember. Being part of all that craziness of early morning traffic and back again for the madness of afternoon shift change, with the thousands of cars from everywhere, and what seemed like hundreds of charter busses from as far as North Carolina transporting the employees on their way in and on their way home again seemed to be just another normal day. 
The shipyard has been a permanent fixture of most of my early life, from the age of 6, until I married at 19, and moved away to the Midwest at 20, in 1977. It still continues to move on as it provides submarines and aircraft carriers for the U.S. Navy, as well as numerous other projects that keep "the yard" humming.
(Original 7/2/2020)
Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.In the 1940s A&P was at the height of its success - so much so that it was charged with antitrust violations.  Because of management mistakes, it started sliding in the 1950s and disappeared in 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Atlantic_%26_Pacific_Tea_Company
Eight O'ClockThe A&P is gone, but I still drink Eight O'Clock coffee.
"No Pedestrian Traffic"A 1940 newspaper want-ad for a waitress position at the Huntington Cafe (lower left) gives an address of 3600½ Washington Avenue, which means Vachon was standing near the intersection of Washington and 37th Street, facing south. There is still a gate to the shipyard at that corner, but "no pedestrian traffic" signs in place of crowds of workers headed south at shift change. Today, there are acres of surface parking lots behind Vachon's location.
Many women - just not in sight here!(EDITED to remove typo. ORIGINALLY posted a few years ago.)
This photo just doesn't show the right building or gate for all the women employees to be making their way out of the buildings to go home. There were/are different buildings where the white collar workers - management, secretaries, administrative assistants/private secretaries, file clerks, the typing pools, other clerical workers, etc. - had the offices where they did their vital work, and design divisions had their facilities, working in large open office spaces where their drafting desks and other equipment was kept, and where they did their work everyday, Monday through Friday. 
Not a computer to be found, or even a pocket calculator. Yet. I'm sure there were all the IBM, other bookkeeping and office machines were being used to the utmost, keeping up with the work of production, repair, refitting, calculating contracts, payrolls for all the thousands of workers, and so forth though! 
My dad's "tools of the trade" were drafting pens and pencils and slide rules, and all the other drafting tools needed for his work, calculating and drawing to the nth degree the placement and bend of every pipe and conduit for his assignment at the time, on submarines. There were plenty of ladies working in those office spaces too. 
And, not every category of worker worked the same shift everyday. Production workers down in the yard, such as these men shown, worked one of three standard shifts, days, evenings, graveyards, and a five day shift out of any given seven days. My uncle worked in the welding shops, five evenings a week, always getting home about 11:45PM. My aunt always had his "dinner" waiting for him when he got home. I used to spend weekends there with my cousins as a kid when I could, and he was usually not home at least one evening until quite late. "QUIET" while he was sleeping during the early part of the day was an unbreakable house rule!  
The office workers worked the standard 9-5, Monday through Friday's, where the production personnel worked 7-3, 3-11, or 11-7, part of seven days a week. And there were also the Apprentice School students, who worked their time in the school proper for their four or more years, just like any other college program, but also worked in the yard itself, or in the design divisions, or whatever other division coincided with their area of interest or focus, as part of their training as well. Their schedules were always a mystery! And there were also the predictable city bus routes which included the shipyard stops as part of their daily routes. 
Staggering shifts like that was the only way they could get a handle on the amazing traffic tidalwaves that were part of getting people to work and back home again everyday. There are (or at least there were) specific parking areas near the buildings down in the yard where they were working, and surface lots for the use of specific classes of workers close by the buildings where they worked. 
(The Gallery, John Vachon, WW2)

Trick or Treat: 1940
... in Fargo, North Dakota." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon (with color by Shorpy) for the Farm Security Administration. View full ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/31/2022 - 12:21pm -

        Heeeere's Jack -- Happy Halloween from Shorpy!
October 1940. "Grocery store in Fargo, North Dakota." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon (with color by Shorpy) for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Excellent jobGreat PhotoShop work.
OutstandingNice picture without color.  Much better with the way you did it.
Thanks Dave.
SISIAcross the street, the Isis Theatre -- destroyed by fire Nov. 19, 1955.
Fargo's Most Popular TheatreI came to the same conclusion as about Fargo's Most Popular Theatre at 218 Broadway.
Better late than never.As the title suggests, though it's nearly two weeks removed from Halloween now, I just wanted to throw my $0.02 in to send some appreciation your way not only for this website being such a necessary distraction (at least for me) this year, but for choosing such a great picture, with added exceptional Photoshop, to mark the day. You can almost see the flickering flames inside Mr. Jack O'Lantern's head.
Happy Halloween, ya'llGreat photoshop, Dave.
Every year in Dallas there's a Halloween block party.  It was yesterday (Sunday) night.  A friend of mine used to go every year and video the event.  Here is his 2014 video.  Check out the costume at 12 minutes, 18 seconds -- simple, but effective.
My friend doesn't go anymore; the block party has become a victim of its own success.  It is so crowded now he can't move around and get enough room to video.
For those interested in seeing me -- do a search for Jellyroll under his name.  I'm the guy wearing the mask in the park and dentist chair.
(The Gallery, Halloween, John Vachon, Stores & Markets)

Pittsburgh Posts: 1941
... Pennsylvania." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Is the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/06/2020 - 12:53pm -

June 1941. "Rain. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Is the circus in town?What is that large tent filling the street a block ahead?
Ah, I see nowIt's an awning on the next porch.
A thousand words?This is a picture you can hear.
DepthConsidering the light level, Vachon has achieved great depth of field without resorting to a slow shutter speed (man and umbrella in motion not blurred). I view in awe. Camera? Rollieflex?
Great Cars!Facing us across the street is a 1935 Chevrolet. The third car, facing us, is a 1940 Chevrolet. The first car facing us on the right is a 1936 Ford.
Bonus lovelinessThe abacus motif of the transom grill directly above the porch rail is just plain beautiful.
Posts and balusters still there!Astute Shorpy followers will notice that the fragment of column on the far left is the same column as the one seen in a different view posted in June 2008:
https://www.shorpy.com/node/3793
The location was identified in a comment as being on the corner of Madison and Lockhart. Here's the same view from the same location today:
https://goo.gl/maps/J1xaf8nmE5AJNUQ87
Posts and balusters are still present at this location. The lack of spindlework causes it to lose some of its old charm, in my opinion.
Ticket TimeParking left wheels to curb brings a parking ticket nearly everywhere.  Well, except in England, of course.
Depth of FieldI had the same reaction that ManyBuicks did. I shoot with several twin lens reflex cameras from the 1930s, so I experimented a bit. I fastened a piece of frosted mylar at the film plane of my 1937 Ikoflex (identical to one used by Jack Delano) and sighted across the facade of my row of townhouses. At f/8 the depth of field was barely adequate, and not nearly as good as in Vachon’s rain shot. Considering that the original photo was probably shot at about 1/50 second (common on cameras of that era) to almost stop the walker, and the day was quite dark, I think that would have required film with an unrealistically high ASA speed, especially for those years.
Then I found the original scan at the Library of Congress. The film was medium format, alright, but it was sheet film. (The notch codes are visible.) That means that Vachon could have used a 2x3 Speed Graphic camera. They don’t have a front swing movement for the lens, but by dropping the bed and holding the camera sidewise, you can achieve the same result.
However he did it, John Vachon knew what he was doing.
[The film size is 4¼ x 3¼ inches. --Dave]
Singing In The RainJust, singing in the rain. What a glorious feeling.
Thanks to the keen eye of davidk I am also mesmerized by the abacus motif. 
A distinction without a differenceSagebrushCity might have missed the format size of the camera, but everything else he posited Vachon doing could have been done just as well with a 4¼ x 3¼ Graphic, which also existed at the time (I used to have one).
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, John Vachon, Pittsburgh)

In My Room: 1941
... Milwaukee, Wisconsin)." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. The ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/26/2020 - 8:01pm -

June 1941. "Untitled (Hotel room, Milwaukee, Wisconsin)." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
The everyday worldI like some of these photos by Vachon - no drama. no pathos, no unusual point to be made, just a document showing how things were and what they were. The "stick" telephone, the sink, the style of furniture, all these give a feeling of the time and place.
The Hotel WisconsinA July 5, 1941 letter to Vachon from FSA's Roy Stryker indicates Vachon was staying in the Hotel Wisconsin on this visit. That 500-room hotel, constructed in downtown Milwaukee in 1913, survives today as a renovated apartment building. 
Chicken wireIs that what was used for a screen? Can't imagine it would keep too many insects out!
[Zero chickens here, so it must work. - Dave]
That ashtrayDAMN that's a big ashtray.  I assume that's what the flat glass object on the dresser is.
High-capacity, perhaps, as a safety measure, to reduce the frequency with which it would be dumped into the trash, with the attendant fire risk?
Signs of the TimesI love the placement of the faucet spout. So high up the wall. It would be great for washing your hair. Although the splashing from so high up could be messy.
With his wallet out and so close to the pillow, do you think this could have been for police evidence? Taken just after his room was broken into?
And a soon to be a vanishing relic from the past. The telephone book. It was such a basic necessity back in the day. Now you can hardly find one.
Dang I love this site. Thanks guys.
Welcome to the Hotel WisconsinLooks like John Vachon is staying at the Hotel Wisconsin, which is now the Grand Wisconsin Apartments. The view is looking east toward Waldheim's Furniture, and that building also still exists. 
ChickenwireThe chickenwire was embedded in the glass to prevent it from shattering. Used to be quite common.
Re: Chicken wireI think that is that kind of glass they used to have in old schools that had wire embedded in it to keep it from shattering.
re: Chicken WireLooks like a kind of safety glass.  It had 'chicken wire' embedded in it.  My grade school had this in all the ground floor windows and doors. 
Nothing missingSteam heat, operable window with shade and drapes, dresser with mirror, ashtray the size of a wading pool, comfy bed, Ameche with directory, nightstand with lamp, sink for morning wash & brush-up, mystery ellipse on floor under sink, wallpaper that won't keep you up at night.  Wisconsin was a home game for the Gideons, so that is certainly covered also.
All you could expect of a downtown hotel room in 1941.  I'm guessing that it's about a $5 room.
700 Block of North Plankinton AvenueI don't think the hotel is still there, but the building across the street still is. It is the old Waldheim's Furniture Building. Now loft condos.
https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM47664
https://www.corleyrealestate.com/idx/listings/river-front-lofts/

Where's the Beer?I guess some things are best kept out of sight.
re: Chicken WireThe wire mesh glass is more fire-resistant than regular glass (but less tough). And Shorpyites know all about hotels and fires...
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, John Vachon, Milwaukee)

House & Hose: 1942
... of eight enigmatic, uncaptioned exposures credited to John Vachon. View full size. Got milk? I believe that the box at the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/26/2022 - 8:56pm -

May 1942. It's that crap-shooting gent from Grand Island, Nebraska, in the second of eight enigmatic, uncaptioned exposures credited to John Vachon. View full size.
Got milk?I believe that the box at the right side of the door is a milk delivery box.
Slender ManThe name of Dave’s new category, above, along with John Vachon and Small Towns.  Enigmatic, indeed!  I am so intrigued to figure out what’s going on with this second in a series of eight poses (I do acknowledge he is sort of watering the lawn or a sapling), which means I hope we get to see the other six.  I assume he’ll be as nattily attired in every one.  So what will Slender Man do next?  Pretend to garden?  Peruse envelopes from the mailbox on some other porch?  By the end, will he have taken off his jacket and placed it folded over a rail and loosened his tie and rolled up his sleeves?  Probably not.  He and John Vachon will continue to think up poses for this bizarre enterprise.
His Other HoseHe's wearing classy Argyle pattern socks that complement his jacket and slacks. 
Nebraska O'NeillThe Diceman Hoseth.
My kind of yard work!Though I would not dress quite so nattily for it. He even has a towel handy! Maybe he's waiting for the wife, to go out or her to get home.
Asbestos ShinglesUsed often in the 40's and 50's. We had them in the house I grew up in. Which could explain a lot.
Formal lawncarePeople sure used to get all dressed up to perform tasks that, nowadays, are considered mundane.  Sort of like Mrs. Cleaver wearing pearls while doing housekeeping.
Yardwork the old-fashioned wayThis guy is better dressed than anyone I've seen in church in twenty years. 
Headin' for the Rhubarb?Hope our Dapper Dan doesn't forget to aim the nozzle towards that pie plant to give it a gentle shower.  I'm salivating just thinking about rhubarb pie made from stalks collected from my back garden.  Spring can't come soon enough for me, you wouldn't believe the Winter my region has undergone so far!...EEEEK
(49th Parallel @ the Canada–United States border: Manitoba, CA- North Dakota, USA)
Coincidence - June's PearlsI just read the other day that Barbara Billingsley (June Cleaver) wore pearls on the show to cover a hollow at the bottom of her throat that production people had a hard time with when filming. The article said the hollow caught the studio lights and was very pronounced. The pearls alleviated the problem. Learning this leads me to ask if Marge Simpson has the same problem, she wears pearls in every episode too.
HopperesqueI am reminded, for example, of this couple in "Nighthawks."
(The Gallery, John Vachon, Slender Man, Small Towns)

Dakota: 1940
... landscape. McHenry County." Medium-format negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Vast, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 4:59am -

October 1940. "North Dakota landscape. McHenry County." Medium-format negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Vast, lonely, beautiful.No one did this better than Vachon, especially when he used the larger camera.  Eat your heart out, David Plowden.  Better get inside!
Incredible!What an amazing shot! The setting is just so peaceful. You can almost smell the air. I am so glad this picture is on here.
Dakota: 1940This photo is another example of why John Vachon is the greatest photographer of the American landscape and streetscape, and of our country's vernacular architecture. He is an amazingly under-appreciated artist.
How flat is it?So flat that on a clear day, they can see the Gulf of Mexico.
McHenry county isn't flat. McHenry county isn't flat.  Not compared to some other parts of the state. The Red River Valley is flat, this bit of land has a hint of undulation to it. You have to really look to see it, but it is there.
One lone cowJust wonderful. I almost skipped viewing this full size. A wealth of small details leapt out when I did.
Paging Cary GrantIt looks like the setting for the crop duster scene in "North By Northwest."
I knew a guy in the Air Force from North Dakota. When he heard the average size farm in Missouri was 220 acres, he laughed and said, "In North Dakota, we call those gardens."
And people wonderwhy it was called "The Great Plains"! Another thousand-word gem.
I never realizedjust how flat "flat" could be.
Zion Lutheran in TownerThis looks like the Zion Lutheran Church in Towner, ND. It appears to be about the correct distance from the railroad.
View Larger Map
On the levelNorth Dakota is where they take all of the "levels" for calibration.
How Flat?So flat that this piece of river (SW of Towner) can't even flow downhill.
Not the Rockies, is itGeez, and I thought Florida was flat.
Storm comin'Having been raised in the rolling hills and valleys of Connecticut where one was almost always either going uphill or downhill, moving out west came as quite a change of scenery.  There is a spot less than a mile from my current home in Oklahoma where every direction in which one looks is tabletop flat and hill-less as far as the eye can see.  You can see the weather coming that is still an hour or more away.  Tornado chasers revel in observing the sky, taking twister photographs and seeing actual coming weather events in advance.  This picture looks very much like the spot mentioned.  Can't say I'm crazy about it but I just bloom where I'm planted and make the best of it and so far I've been lucky.   Gets a little scary though during snow blizzards and crippling ice storms when the power goes out for ten days.
Great photo, thanks Team ShorpyI took a photo about 20 years ago in southern Illinois that  in some ways resembles this.
North Dakota state treeMy father was born In North Dakota in the early 1930s. This wonderful picture reminds me of something he told me when I was a child. He would say jokingly that the state tree of North Dakota was the telephone pole.
And you can seeYour dog run away for three days.
Towner Church?It looks more like a rural school house than a church.  No steeple is visible in the original photo.  The tall object which appears to be somewhat behind the white building is more than likely a possible windmill, other than part of the structure itself.  Plus, by 1940, there certainly would have been many more houses near the church.  The larger building farther back looks to be a barn with the top of the silo shining.  A bit to the left appears to be a farmhouse and outbuildings.  The photo was taken in McHenry county, but I don't think it shows the town of Towner.
Dynamic SkyI'm from rural Nebraska, from a part of the state that is about as flat as this section of North Dakota appears to be. Now that I live in New York, I've spent years hearing (in response to discovering where I'm from) complaints about wretchedly "boring" car trips through the Great Plains from those accustomed to hills, trees, and buildings. I've always asserted that the Great Plains has a very stark beauty, and that you just have to look up to appreciate it. There is something very beautiful about feeling so dwarfed by the sky and being able to see an entire celestial drama played out on as much canvas as is earthly possible.
John Vachon got it too. A wonderful, wonderful photo.
(The Gallery, John Vachon, Landscapes, Railroads)

Joan of Gym: 1956
... of Joseph Pilates." Color transparency from photos by John Vachon for Look magazine. View full size. Gym Poster-Child Elaine a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/16/2022 - 3:24pm -

February 1956. "Singer-actress Elaine Malbin, who performs in television production as Joan of Arc, in a gym vocalizing while using exercise equipment under the instruction of Joseph Pilates." Color transparency from photos by John Vachon for Look magazine. View full size.
Gym Poster-ChildElaine a few years later...
(Kodachromes, John Vachon, Pretty Girls)

Andy's Cafe: 1941
... Interstate 75. Interestingly, Shorpy favorite John Vachon seems to have taken a picture of this place in November 1938 . ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/11/2023 - 4:31pm -

September 1941. "Stockmen's and farmers' and truckers' hotel near Union Stockyards. South Omaha, Nebraska." Acetate negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the FSA. View full size.
Where our customers must be satisfiedAndy's Cafe makes quite a promise.  I assume he was trying to draw customers out of the Stockman's Hotel and Restaurant across the street.  The Stockman's neon blade sign says, 26 & N Street.  The 1940 Omaha directory lists Andy's cafe at 2524 N Street, and Gross Lumber & Wrecking at 2522 (you can see the numbers in the photo) N Street.  Here is an Earth view of that intersection today.  The heart is where I believe Andy's was, since the trolly tracks turn to the right (towards downtown). 
Click to embiggen

All gone now ...This appears to be the intersection of South 26th Street and N Street, in an area that seems to have been demolished to make way for the JFK Expressway, Interstate 75.

Interestingly, Shorpy favorite John Vachon seems to have taken a picture of this place in November 1938.
Czech influenceFrank Pivonka -  the name on the very top of the building in the center-back, had a saloon on Seventh and Jones street. He was the first Czech to settle there. He was born January 19, 1840, and built the Pivonka Block. He’s maybe this guy https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/61824231/frank-frederick-pivonka. 
The Last RoundupSurviving for a surprisingly long time, the area received some sympathetic coverage at the end.

(The Gallery, Eateries & Bars, M.P. Wolcott, Omaha)

The Flying Bruin: 1942
... cooperative sawmill." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size. Going up the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/20/2021 - 8:30pm -

March 1942. "Flathead Valley special area project, Montana. Mrs. Lawrence Thompson, wife of the manager of the Farm Security Administration cooperative sawmill." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Going up the stairs?Bear right.
Danger lurksWhy oh why would you build stairs without a rail?
[Because they're not a bunch of woke sissies? - Dave]
Women's workGuidance from Roy Stryker to John Vachon, March 18, 1942:
"We need more pictures of 'Mrs. America.' Mrs. America is all over and often hard to find. To be specific, let us have more pictures of woman in the home, women in the kitchen, women gardening, women working. I think you have some feeling already for the type of pictures these should be."
No banister or hand railNot very safe for a pregnant lady whose husband I'm sure is serving his country on foreign soil!
[Um, no. He's the manager of the local sawmill. Just like it says in the caption. - Dave]
Safety First? Doesn't appear that way. Those wooden stairs could benefit from a handrail.
Falling BruinDid the bear die falling down the stairs that don't have a handrail?
That last step could be a luluI wonder how much higher that staircase goes.  Without a baluster or handrail it could be a recipe for disaster.  I don't recall ever living in a home without some way to steady oneself or to keep one from falling over the edge, but perhaps it was more common in some places.  
Safety schmafetyI have been in a number of turn of the century houses with stairs like that
From bear to beadspreadFrom apex predator to beadspread in three easy steps:
1. Get shot.
2. Get skinned.
3. Get preserved. 
It's not just the hills"I tell you, Larry, every time I'm in this room, I feel like someone's watching me."
Stockings WWIIA woman's bane - runs in those rayon stockings!
Norman Bates, DecoratorI can't help thinking of cinema's iconic taxidermist and mother's boy. 
Double DutyLooks like that table does double duty as the entertainment center. Radio, papers, nearby rocking chair available for your relaxation pleasure.  One can assume she's listening to a morning's radio show while sewing.
Stocking shortage.When stockings are scarce, you get the most out of your old ones.
No accounting for tasteI find the decorating scheme -- from the bear to the birds (why is there one practically on the ceiling?) and even the frog-with-lily whatever that is -- truly terrifying. I hope Mrs. Thompson's wee bairn has a strong stomach and I hope she gets some new hosiery, and I wish she would sit in the comfortable upholstered rocking chair to do her embroidery.
Partial Safety?There may be a handrail on the side of the stairs closest to the wall (which we can't see in the picture). Hopefully, that's the case. If not, poor Mrs. Thompson may have replaced the bear on the wall in March of 1944. 
Wonder what radio program she could be listening to while doing needlework?
Neat old photograph!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!
Tire AshtrayThe object under the frog/flower on the right side of the table near the ink and flashlight looks like the old BF Goodrich tire ashtray Dad used when I was growing up in the early '50s.  I wonder if it held VanDyck cigar ashes from the two boxes also on the table!
(The Gallery, Animals, Frontier Life, John Vachon)

Next Beer 50 Miles
... Mobilgas, Standard or Hamm's? Medium format negative by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size. Power to the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/28/2021 - 4:33pm -

February 1942. "Faulk County, South Dakota. Crossroads." Mobilgas, Standard or Hamm's? Medium format negative by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Power to the peopleIt is interesting to see those power lines in South Dakota in 1942. I know people who grew up in that general area at the time who tell me that most farms did not have electricity then.
Lady at Rest?Is that a lady I see trying to catch 40 winks just behind the flivver?
I hate raking leaves, so...South Dakota may be the place for me. 
Next beer 50 miles, next gas 50 feetPretty amazing that -two- gas stations could stay in business at this desolate spot.  
No Beer, No GasPretty sure this is the corner of US-212 and Broadway just outside of Rockham. The Google street view, while not of good resolution (2009), shows a good match on the old Mobil station single door, triple window building at the current NW corner. Pumps are gone, and sadly the bar/station across the road as well. Maybe in the next town we can fill 'er up, in more ways than one.
This photograph has a landmark in itWally's comment about scarce rural electricity in the 1940s caused me to conclude this crossroads is not far out in the country but at the edge of the county seat, Faulkton.  Much as visiting the Alamo or Great Pyramids, you get a very different photo if you do a 180 because there's a city right behind you.
Faulk county is roughly 1,000 square miles of mostly flat terrain.  In 2010 the county seat of Faulkton comprised 31 percent of the county's population of 2,364.  From what I can tell, Faulkton has always been the only town of any size in a sparsely populated county.  The power lines support this photo was taken near there.
John Vachon put a county landmark in this photo, no doubt on purpose.  Look into the distance to the right of the Hamm's building shadow and you'll see a hill.  That is either Sugar Loaf Hill or Waters Hill, both about 430 feet high and both within 11 miles of Faulkton, easy to see across flat terrain.  Sugar Loaf is closer but Waters is taller.  I can't get Vachon's angle now because of construction and trees and the buildings are gone.  The attached photograph shows the relationship between the three.
I change my vote - DaveA is correct. John Vachon's crossroads is just south of the town of Rockham, looking south. The landmark in the distance is probably Garfield Peak, Hand County.

Why am I  - - expecting a biplane to come flying over the horizon any minute?
More power to more peopleAccording to the National Academy of Sciences, almost half of all farms had electricity by 1942, and virtually all by the 1950s.
http://www.greatachievements.org/?id=2990
Busted!!Was the owner of the car with the hood up hiding from his wife to have a quick beer? Who he now has to call for help.
(The Gallery, Gas Stations, John Vachon, Small Towns)

Smoking by the Pool: 1939
Our third glimpse of John Vachon's leggy muse, a woman who we speculate might be his wife, Penny. 35mm ... a favor and never let anyone see it. Unflattery John was much better at capturing memorable images of architecture than of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/07/2011 - 7:53am -

Our third glimpse of John Vachon's leggy muse, a woman who we speculate might be his wife, Penny. 35mm nitrate negative. View full size.
The bandage againI'll take a couple of wild guesses and say that all three photos were taken on the same day and that Mrs. V has a new pair of sandals.
Thoughts for PennyShe reminds me of a young lady I once met and never had the courage to ask her out.  I wonder if she smoked as much as Penny?  
Inflationary tendenciesIs it an optical illusion or does this photo unflatteringly reveal and document the beginnings of riding breeches and cellulite?
I guess that even toward the end of the Great Depression that would mark somebody as being somewhat better off than many others. 
All setCigarette in hand, pack and matches at the ready and Fortune with a newfangled DC-3 on the cover. Let the rays begin.
Our Good Fortune How any self respecting male could get beyond the subjects gams is a mystery, but I managed. The artwork on the Fortune cover (February 1939) is by Tom Benrimo, titled "Navigation." It appears to be a likeness of the tireless gooney bird, a plane still at it in many parts of the world after 75 years.     
UnflatteringThis is such and unflattering and odd photo.  From where it is shot and the pose of subject make her thighs look huge and her head tiny.  This is the sort of photo that if I took it I would do the subject a favor and never let anyone see it. 
UnflatteryJohn was much better at capturing memorable images of architecture than of people.
PecuniousA Penny with Fortune.
Smoking by the Pool: 1939John and Penny Vachon lived in Greenbelt, Maryland at this time. Some sources indicate that the address was 3G Eastway.
Taped toesWhy are both of her toes taped?  I can't figure that it was
because of new sandals. Any suggestions?
Twenty Years LaterAn online article by Tara Hanks entitled "John Vachon: A ‘Lost Look’ at Marilyn" contains this sobering fact: "His wife, Penny, suffered from depression and tragically committed suicide in 1959."
(The Gallery, John Vachon)

Happy Motoring: 1942
... View full size. 35mm Kodachrome transparency by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. The Gaunt Brooding State In ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/03/2008 - 12:50am -

1942. "Cemetery at edge of Romney, West Virginia." View full size. 35mm Kodachrome transparency by John Vachon for the Office of War Information.
The Gaunt Brooding StateIn the book "John Vachon's America" (University of California Press), there are numerous letters written by him to his wife while he was on the road for the Farm Security Administration. In an entry dated January 24, 1942, he writes:
Romney, West Va. First day out. Night now, and many Saturday night people on the main street of this little town of dark West Virginia. The gaunt brooding state of the U.S. The West Virginia people have lean angular faces with dark seamed wrinkles. The bony women have thin breasts and strange sweet straight lips. Black Sunday suits on the men with combed hair, and shapeless color printed dresses on the women.
Country RoadsWest Virginia, mountain mama
Take me home, country roads.
At first glance, I thought this was another of tterrace's slides. Surprise, it's by John Vachon.  For photo historians, it must be nice to have the year prominently displayed on a billboard!
Fort Pitt AleGorgeous! What a lovely photo. Can anyone read the brand of ale in the billboard on the right? "Fort Pitt?"
["A toast to the holidays. Fort Pitt Ale." - Dave]

Dead Man's CurveThe road is Interstate 50, and the cemetery is Indian Mound.
Could have been yesterday.Aside from the car and the billboard, it almost seems as if this photo could have been taken yesterday. There are many areas which still look exactly like this. 
Indian MoundThat'd be US 50, not Interstate 50.
Fort Pitt Ale"A toast to the holidays"  Fort Pitt Ale.  Fort Pitt Brewing Company, Sharpsburg and Pittsburgh, PA(1906 - 1957).  Perhaps the best selling beer in the Pittsburgh area at one time and Romney was certainly within the marketing area of the brewery.  It vaguely looks like the woman on the billboard is wearing a ski outfit, but at that time skiing was far from the popular sport it is today.  Curiously, this sign may have explained the origin of a colloquialism known to many from Pennsylvania, "That's it, Fort Pitt" or the reverse, "Fort Pitt, That's It" was an advertising slogan for Fort Pitt Brewery.  See: http://www.flickr.com/photos/13ball/2334579584/
Also, I would note that there is no Interstate 50, but certainly a US 50.
Local breweriesLike Fort Pitt, there were a lot of breweries in the area of Allegheny County. Most of the buildings are still standing. Some still have that ascetic appeal of the early architecture of years ago. 
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, John Vachon)

Night Service: 1940
... night. Dubuque, Iowa." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. All gone ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/22/2019 - 10:30pm -

April 1940. "Gas station at night. Dubuque, Iowa." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Resettlement Administration. View full size.
All goneThe Page Hotel was located at 4th and White Streets.  The current view is no view at all.
GeniusJohn Vachon was the Edward Hopper of the Rolleiflex. So many incredible images from one man.
Non-Standard NoirIn fact, it's one of Shorpy's best noir photos!
Dubuque TriptychThis is a nighttime version of the shot out the hotel window in Standard Service: 1940 (www.shorpy.com/node/25189), very likely the same hotel where we find Vachon himself inside one of the rooms in The Cat’s Pajamas: 1940 (www.shorpy.com/node/25187), both of which we viewed here at Shorpy just over a week ago.  If they were hanging in a gallery together, they could be called Night, Day, and Self-Portrait.  Thanks to our curator, Dave, for bringing them together for us.
White FlightThe owners of that new Deluxe, twin-taillight Ford (parked at the near corner) and the Plymouth across the street had better be enjoying their whitewall tires, sales of which would be banned a year later (in April 1941) due to the greater amount of a strategic material -- rubber -- required in their manufacture.  It would be another seven years before the ban was lifted.
The numbersunder the Standard Service sign?
The right-hand column must be octane.  Any very old-timers know what the
left-hand column numbers are?  I have a guess as to what they are and why they are written that way, but would like to see other guesses.
[Price per gallon, excluding tax. Or maybe gallons per dollar. See Azor's comment above. - Dave]
Room pleaseI'd like a third floor room facing the tracks.  Listen to those steam locomotives pounding by!
ChiaroscuroMy mind wants to see a Ghost Train bearing down on the Ghost Bus.
Shadows of the Picket Fence on the lawn make the Shot for me. Top-Shelf Noir,  to echo rayray below.
O. Winston LinkIn my mind, as a lover of O. Winston Link photography, I keep seeing that roaring steam locomotive barreling through town and frozen in an image forever in time.
Perhaps John Vachon, but for a few minutes, could have preceded Mr. Link.
Gas PricesGas prices are in gallons per $1.
(The Gallery, Gas Stations, John Vachon, Railroads)

XXXX Coffee Chums: 1942
... region of Central Colorado." Acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Coffee ... last October with my 1942 Adox Adrette. (The Gallery, John Vachon, Mining, Small Towns, Stores & Markets) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/16/2022 - 1:26pm -

May 1942. "Central City, an old mining town in the mountainous region of Central Colorado." Acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Coffee ChumsThe XXXX chums, in MCMXLII and MMXI.

Central City memoriesI'm loving this series. I spent quite a bit of time in Central City in the early 1970s. In the 30 years that passed between Vachon's visits and my own, not much had changed -- it was still rustic. It's a very different place now that the casinos have completely taken over.
There's Less Mud These DaysLess mud, more casinos, but it doesn't look too different otherwise these days. https://goo.gl/maps/GqCrCSKFh4ASpf3h7
No, thanks!Stair-step machine sales in old Central City, Colorado, were near zero.
The Good Package CoffeeBrew me a cuppa!
One chum to anotherWhere have you bean all my life?
That's Not Lens DistortionThe building about halfway down the street with the "Coors On Tap" sign is quite droopy.  I'm amazed it's held on to today.  

I love black-&-whiteI happened to photograph that "Owl" wall last October with my 1942 Adox Adrette.
(The Gallery, John Vachon, Mining, Small Towns, Stores & Markets)

The Cat's Pajamas: 1940
... setting for this untitled self-portrait of photographer John Vachon. Medium format acetate negative. View full size. Cell Phone ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/13/2019 - 1:25pm -

April 1940. A hotel room in Dubuque is the setting for this untitled self-portrait of photographer John Vachon. Medium format acetate negative. View full size.
Cell Phone ChargerIt's not, but then again, what is it?
Belt and suspenders.Can't be too careful!
re: Cell Phone ChargerIt's a little difficult to tell because it's out of the picture's depth of field, but my guess is that the wire shaped contraption on the dresser is a shutter bulb, or at least part of one. 
One Heck of a SuitcaseLooks like he doesn't believe in traveling light, and we don't even see his photo gear.
I want a big oneThat suitcase is worthy of George Bailey, when he dreamed of hopping aboard a tramp steamer and seeing the world.
Phone charger?How about a light meter?
[On the right, yes, but the cord in question is over on the left. - Dave]
Not a phone charger for sure.Could it be what attaches to the flash from the camera?
Phone Charger?My vote is for timed shutter release, or similar contraption. 
Awake?So that’s what photographers do when they sleep-walk.
Photographer for hireHotel rooms a specialty.
https://www.shorpy.com/node/25134
Feeling foggy in DubuqueIn a letter to his wife on April 18, 1940, Vachon complained, "Changing film is a difficult problem, no closets, no light proof toilets.  Fear I fogged some under the bed clothes this afternoon." 
Source: John Vachon's America, Photographs and Letters from the Depression to World War (Edited, with Introductory Texts, by Miles Orvell)
It IS a phone chargerAnd that's a vape pen on the stack of books.
(The Gallery, John Vachon)

Wisdom's End: 1942
... Edge of the town." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size. Looks like ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/17/2021 - 10:53am -

April 1942. "Wisdom, Montana. Edge of the town." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Looks like the edge of townis the town.
Wisdom's startand Wisdom's end looks to be about a block long.
Yellowstone coach remains?It looks like an old Yellowstone coach resting in pieces to the left of the gas station. 
Waitin'For the vintage vehicle experts here on Shorpy to ID these two muddy pickups, seemingly a matched pair.
Home, home on the rangeOn April 22, while here in Wisdom, John Vachon wrote to his wife:
"I've got to come back here again. I want to live here and raise my children here. It keeps growing and growing. If I stayed 2 weeks I wouldn't even leave to go home and pack up. I'd just send for you."
Just East Of WisdomJust east of Wisdom is where I believe this picture was taken. The topography of Odell mountain can be seen on this snip-it from Google Earth.
AmusementsWhen I look at many of these small town photos I'm struck by how little there is in the way of entertainment for the people who live there. We're surrounded now by all sorts of things and have the prosperity to be entertained inside and outside the home. For these folks, money was so very tight and even if you had some maybe a beer and song from the jukebox were your options (or make your own music).  A very different expectation about leisure.
(The Gallery, Frontier Life, Gas Stations, John Vachon, Small Towns)

Hotel Meade: 1942
... haunted Hotel Meade . Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Historic ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/17/2022 - 11:20am -

April 1942. "Bannack, Montana. Old hotel." The supposedly haunted Hotel Meade. Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Historic PlaqueIn case you're wondering what the plaque mounted on the rock says, here it is.
'Cook's Tour'? No: Carter'sShorpy's latest photo sets seem like they've been guided by Sunset's
"Ghost Towns of the West" (And IIRC, Central City was listed as a "tourist" town, while Bannack was rated "pure").
RestoredThe Hotel Meade has since been restored and was recently used in the 2017 movie "The Ballad of Lefty Brown."  It is one of many original structures of the ghost town of Bannack, now a state park in Montana.
Eerie vibe.Would absolutely love to go back in time and see the workings inside the hotel.  Thank goodness it was preserved!
Arrested DecayThe first time I visited Bannack in the 1990's the Park Ranger/Guide said that the State of Montana kept the buildings in a state of "arrested decay".  I revisited the town again last year. All the buildings looked the same - so "arrested decay" is working. The Hotel Meade still looks just the way it did when John Vachon photographed it. 
Bring your snowshoes!Winter visit to Bannack?
https://nwtravelmag.com/bannack-state-park-ghost-town-montana/
(The Gallery, Frontier Life, John Vachon, Small Towns)

Dakota Depot: 1940
... The station last glimpsed here . Acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Hopper ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/17/2022 - 6:15pm -

October 1940. "Rail depot in Burlington, North Dakota." The station last glimpsed here. Acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Hopper Come a CropperThis Vachon photograph evokes an Edward Hopper painting.
No DepotThere is no train depot in Burlington now.  The two buildings to the right are also gone.  But train depots of that era were usually near downtown and today there is still only one road in downtown Burlington that crosses the railroad tracks. So I started there and looked at the terrain in the 1940 photo.  The red line starts where I believe John Vachon was standing when he faced east (I rotated the map) and took his photograph.  In the top right of my photo below you can see the coal mines jsmakbkr referenced.
Who would have ever thought?Back in the early '90s I worked with a guy in Milwaukee who started his railroad career as an operator/telegrapher working vacation relief in just about all of the Soo Line stations between Harvey and Portal, North Dakota. The probability is high Stu worked the Burlington office on occasion. I recall complaining about the winter weather in Milwaukee once, and my buddy just gave me a look over the top of his glasses and didn’t say a word.
The look said, let me tell you about bad winter weather. Even as recently as the late 1950s these remote stations were heated with potbelly stoves, light was provided with kerosene, and bodily relief was facilitated outdoors. Communication was by telegraph key or block phone, and occasionally by telephone if the local feed store was blessed with one. Train movements were controlled by means of handwritten train orders. Now it’s all done in an air conditioned office a thousand miles away with a keyboard and state of the art radios. Who would have ever thought in 1956? 
(The Gallery, John Vachon, Railroads, Small Towns)

No Man's Land: 1940
... assistance of any men." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. What she ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/15/2020 - 1:11pm -

May 1940. Grant County, Illinois. "FSA rehabilitation borrower operating tractor. She and her mother run the farm without the assistance of any men." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
What she needsis a hat.
Not surprisingUntil probably the 1950s, women in America worked really hard all day long, and pretty much drudge work at that. Much harder than men, in general, or at least a lot more continuous work. Running a tractor doesn't require a man's physical advantages, it takes a lot of stick-to-itiveness. It was probably notable at the time, hence the underlying "shock" of the original caption, but arguably it's easier than doing endless manual housework like scrubbing clothes by hand and trying to feed a family 3 meals a day from a huge cast-iron wood stove. 
MaintenanceThe hard part is the repairing, not the driving.
KilljoysThe clutch-operation instruction sticker located just ahead of the operator shows just what sticks in the mud the builders of this equipment really were.  After all, where's the fun in having all those gears if you can't speed-shift?
Good for her!I assume the tractor is a Fordson? That's what it looks like. They were called widowmakers, for their propensity to pop wheelies. 
I must say, as someone typically assumed to be a dude, I'm thrilled to see a woman named as an "FSA borrower" rather than as a wife thereof. Those women worked just as hard as the men, and they deserve the credit. 
And who says she didn't repair her own tractor?
Tractor IDMcCormick-Deering 10-20, perhaps?
[It is indeed a McCormick-Deering. Click below to embiggen. - Dave]

Grant County?The label appears to be wrong; there is currently no Grant County in Illinois.  It looks like there's a Grant Township in Illinois or Grant County, Wisconsin.
[Vachon did take 20 photos labeled Grant County, Wisconsin, so perhaps this is there. - Dave]
HarvesterNot an expert, but:  The tractor looks like an early 1920's McCormick-Deering brand (part of International Harvester).  In 1923 McCormick and Deering (both IH) had to reduce to one dealer per region as part of a US antitrust suit.  Maintaining a battered 17-year-old tractor had to be fun.  
So that's what they meantThe farming area I grew up in had occasional signs along the roads: "Tractors with lugs prohibited." Quite understandable.
I believe my parents had one of these tractors to work our orchard. 
(The Gallery, Agriculture, John Vachon)

Wholesale Minneapolis: 1939
... Minnesota." A nice view of the Chase Bag tower. Photo by John Vachon. View full size. No more rails. This rail yard was between ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/23/2013 - 11:06am -

September 1939. "Railroad yards, wholesale district, Minneapolis, Minnesota." A nice view of the Chase Bag tower. Photo by John Vachon. View full size.
No more rails.This rail yard was between North First and Second Streets, running from Fourth Avenue North to Plymouth Avenue North. The tower for Chase Bag stands at 700 Washington Avenue North. The entire area is now filled with apartments and condos. The current view is from about the same place, but at street level.
View Larger Map
Much is still thereHowever the wholesale district is now the residential district. All converted to condos and the rail yard filled in with new condos.  An interesting side note, a residential building that I was part of constructing uses that stone retaining wall at the far side of the yard as a foundation wall.
Here's a similar view now.
Hole in the WallThe photographer is looking northwest along First Street North and the cross street is 4th Ave North.  Fourth Avenue was atop a granite wall, and the Northern Pacific tracks cut through the wall to enter the picture at the far left, hence the railroaders called this location Hole In The Wall.
Today, the scene is unrecognizable.
John Deere PlantWhere the John Deere building was on Washington Avenue. They were on the north side of the street, on this side of picture, Washington Avenue runs left and right here. The building is still there, though John Deere moved to Bloomington.
(The Gallery, Factories, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Railroads)

Double Duty: 1942
... Accommodations at the Wisdom Hotel." Acetate negative by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size. Two things ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/26/2021 - 1:02pm -

April 1942. "Wisdom, Beaverhead County, Montana. Accommodations at the Wisdom Hotel." Acetate negative by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Two things rarely seen these daysCatalogs and outhouses. Sears stopped producing its general catalog in 1993.  
It's a long, long way to necessaryYears ago I learned a German word. It is one of those complex German words that has a nuanced meaning involving a stressful situation, the distance from point A to point B and a toilet. Fahrfumpoopen.
Just a word from an experienced user. While waiting to finish, tear out a generous number of catalog pages and give them a good rubbing up. Much more satisfying than straight from the book.
Ya gotta love the Google Books search engineIssue 134 of the Montgomery Ward catalog (1941), Page 412.  https://books.google.com/books?id=uWhQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA412&dq=sun+valley+pl...
No thanks!A hotel with an outhouse? And a shared outhouse at that? Umm ... maybe I don't want a time travel machine.
Thank GoodnessFor the camera angle ... I've used facilities like this in my younger days, and the combination of visual and olfactory assaults were a bit much.
No No, not the glossy pagesWhen I was a kid we were the only ones with a septic tank and flush toilet. My great-grandparents who lived behind us and my grandfather across the road had outhouses and used old telephone directories and the soft pages from Sears and Roebuck catalogs. When those were gone then the misery of the glossy pages began.
Re: Ya gotta love the Google Books search engineLooks like they kept the Sears catalog to use for actually buying things and the Monkey Wards catalog for ... oh well.
Two cowpunchers walked into a bar...On April 22, 1942, John Vachon wrote from Wisdom to his wife:
"Last night 2 soused cowpunchers had a real slugging knocking down rolling on the floor fight in the joint next door ... After a few minutes I ran and got my camera, and when I came back they were buying each other drinks and lighting cigarettes. They wouldn't fight again for the camera."
From the book, "John Vachon's America."
Careful!The seat appears smooth so splinters may not be an issue but watch out for those gaps in the board.  They are just waiting to pinch someone.
Slick paper?That's rough.
Deluxe OuthouseTravel through British Columbia and you will find that most Rest Stops on the highways feature modern concrete pit toilets and a few picnic tables. Regional parks in the Vancouver area also have outhouses; there is one just 1 km. from where I live.
On Lopez Island in Washington State there is this amazing pit toilet. From the outside it is a plain wood building, but when you open the door you are greeted with a spotless interior - including fresh lilacs.
Best title ever?Certainly right up there!!
Additionally, it looks like the wall covering was used once or twice as emergency TP -- that couldn't have been pleasant.
(The Gallery, Bizarre, John Vachon, Small Towns)

The Corn Is Yellow: 1942
... from wagon through feed store window." 35mm Kodachrome by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size. Wide ranging ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/30/2022 - 1:07pm -

Sardinia, Ohio, circa 1942. "Man shoveling ears of dried corn from wagon through feed store window." 35mm Kodachrome by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Wide ranging referentsDave, I'm wondering how many folks remember what color the corn is (was)?
Bean bag tossThis is a variation of the cornhole game but with real corn and an easier goal.
Miss Lilly MoffatI loved The Corn is Green (1945). Bette Davis is my spirit animal.
In a more bureaucratic environmentJust inside the window would be a wooden trailer, identical to the one the man is standing in.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Agriculture, John Vachon)
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