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Our holdings include hundreds of glass and film negatives/transparencies that we've scanned ourselves; in addition, many other photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs) in the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) They are adjusted, restored and reworked by your webmaster in accordance with his aesthetic sensibilities before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here. All of these images (including "derivative works") are protected by copyright laws of the United States and other jurisdictions and may not be sold, reproduced or otherwise used for commercial purposes without permission.
[REV 25-NOV-2014]
Vintage photos of:
October 1942. "Preparing a model of the B-25 bomber for the wind tunnel at North American Aviation's plant at Inglewood, Calif." More here and here. Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information. View full size.
1940. "Abandoned boy holding a stuffed toy animal amid ruins following German aerial bombing of London." Photo by the versatile Toni Frissell. View full size.
January 1943. "The operator of a zinc ore loader at a large smelting plant is protected against harmful dust by a mask. From the Eagle-Picher plant near Cardin, Oklahoma, come great quantities of zinc and lead to serve many important purposes in the war effort." 4x5 inch nitrate negative by Fritz Henle for the Office of War Information. View full size.
December 1942. "Production. B-17 heavy bomber. A skilled team of men and women workers at the Boeing plant in Seattle complete assembly and fitting operations on the interior of a fuselage section for a new B-17F (Flying Fortress) bomber. About half of the workers at the Boeing plant are women. The Flying Fortress has performed with great credit in the South Pacific, over Germany and elsewhere. It is a four-engine heavy bomber capable of flying high altitudes." Photo by Andreas Feininger for the Office of War Information. View full size.
March 1943. "Safe clothes for women war workers. Estelle Hendel, twenty-eight, a guard at the Bendix Aviation Plant in Brooklyn, New York, stands before the company service flag and gives the correct salute." 4x5 inch nitrate negative by Ann Rosener for the Office of War Information. View full size.
October 1942. "Health measures for low home temperatures. Down goes the thermometer and out come flannel nightclothes, almost like the kind Grandpa used to wear, as government workers in Washington, D.C., dress for the 65-degree maximum temperature recommended by the fuel oil limitation order." Photo by Albert Freeman for the Office of War Information. View full size.
October 1942. "Health measures for low home temperatures. The American male, accustomed to heavy clothing indoors and out, probably won't mind the lower home temperatures imposed by the government's fuel oil limitation order; but the ladies had better adopt costumes of warmer materials made with long sleeves to ward off the chill air this winter." 4x5 inch nitrate negative by Albert Freeman for the Office of War Information. View full size.
January 1943. "Production. Zinc. Cars for transporting zinc and lead ore. From the Eagle-Picher Mining & Smelting Co. plant near Cardin, Oklahoma, come great quantities of zinc and lead to serve many important purposes in the war effort." Photo by Fritz Henle for the Office of War Information. View full size.