Nov 30, 2008

Donkey Cart

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms BURRO and CARTNew Mexico, 1940. A time in which homesteaders still used burros/donkeys as a means of transportation.

Photo by Russell Lee.
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to locate this image, use search terms: burro, cart

Nov 29, 2008

Mmm, Cabbage

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms CABBAGE and CANThe collection contains a series of 1942 photos documenting the processing of fresh whole cabbage into dehydrated ribbons which were then canned and shipped overseas to feed the armed forces.

In the first photo, a worker hermetically hand-seals a 2.5-gallon can. Gourmet fare it was not. Nor had routine industrial tasks become fully mechanized yet.

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms CABBAGE and CAN
Photos by Russell Lee.

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to locate these images, use search terms: cabbage, can

Nov 28, 2008

Empties

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms BEER and CELEBRATION The aftermath of a "beer party" in 1941 Oregon.

Photo by Russell Lee.

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to locate this image, use search terms: beer, celebration

Nov 27, 2008

Thanksgiving Dinner

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms CROUCH and THANKSGIVING Thanksgiving dinner at the home of Timothy Levy Crouch, whom the photo caption describes as a "Rogerine Quaker."

1940, Connecticut. Photo by Jack Delano.
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to locate this image, use search terms: Crouch, Thanksgiving

Nov 26, 2008

Anticipation

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms CROUCH and THANKSGIVINGA younger son of the Timothy Levy Crouch family peeks into a pot pre-Thanksigving dinner in 1940 Ledyard, Connecticut.

Note the wood-fired stove. Other shots show the boy's father fetching firewood for the event.

Photo by Jack Delano

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to locate this image, use search terms: Crouch, Thanksgiving

Nov 25, 2008

Christmas Dinner

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms EARL PAULEYAs American Thanksgiving approaches, our thoughts turn toward the many reasons we have to feel grateful.

Taken in 1936, the caption accompanying these photos reads: "Christmas dinner in the home of Earl Pauley. Near Smithfield, Iowa. Dinner consisted of potatoes, cabbage and pie." Note the lunch bucket near the top of the images.

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms EARL PAULEY
(Photos by Russell Lee)
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to locate these images, use search terms: Earl, Pauley

Nov 24, 2008

Lobster Fest

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms GIANT LOBSTERExtreme lobster claw. Taken at the Fulton Fish Market in New York city, 1943.

Photo by Gordon Parks.

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to locate this image, use search terms: giant, lobster

Nov 23, 2008

Husband & Wife

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms WILLIAM GAYNOR This lovely portrait, of Mr. & Mrs. William Gaynor, was taken in 1941. The couple are dairy farmers. Other photos in the series show them milking cows and canning vegetables while their children collect potatoes from the fields.

Photo by Jack Delano.

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to locate this image, use search terms: William, Gaynor

Nov 22, 2008

Scantily Clad

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms TUNBRIDGE WRESTLERS Wrestlers at the 1941 Tunbridge, Vermont "World Fair."

Photo by Jack Delano.
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to locate this image, use search terms: Tunbridge, wrestlers

Nov 21, 2008

Snowy Mountains

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms ALASKA MOUNTAINS The collection contains a dozen stunning shots of US aircraft flying over Alaskan mountains during World War II. These are A-29s near Mount McKinley.

(In 1942, Japanese forces landed on the Alaskan Aleutian island of Attu - the site of the only World War II land battle on US soil.)

Photo attributed to the U.S. Army Signal Corps., 1942.

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to locate this image, use search terms: Alaska, mountains

Nov 20, 2008

Long Life Butter

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms BUTTER LAND LAKES Land O'Lakes butter in 1941. Sixty-seven years later, this product's packaging has changed little.

www.landolakes.com Photo by John Vachon at a butter packing plant in Chicago.
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to locate this image, use search terms: butter, land, lakes

Nov 19, 2008

Neighbors

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms BACK FENCE COPPER Chatting over the back fence in Laurium, Michigan.

Photo taken by John Vachon in 1941.

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to locate this image, use search terms: back, fence, copper

Nov 18, 2008

Army Supply

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms DODGE ARMY TRUCKSWhether American automobile manufacturers will survive the current economic crisis remains uncertain. Meanwhile it's interesting to recall that, back in the forties, these companies were central to the war effort.

The above photo was taken in 1942 by Arthur S. Siegel. The caption reads: "Chrysler Corporation. Dodge truck plant. Detroit, Michigan (vicinity). These long rows of Dodge Army trucks await shipment to various branches of the armed forces. Hundreds of army vehicles come off the Chrysler Corporation production lines daily."

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[American Memory link]
to locate this image, use search terms: Dodge, army, trucks

Nov 17, 2008

Feast

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms LOAVES BREAD The young man in this photo is carrying "loaves of bread made from Red Cross flour at an evacuation camp." He and others at this camp in Tehran, Iran are Polish.

Photo taken in 1943 by Nick Parrino.
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to locate this image, use search terms: loaves, bread

Nov 16, 2008

Haircut

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms CAMP BARBER Pulp and paper workers in Maine, 1943. The camp handyman is giving this haircut since the nearest professional barber is 35 miles away.

Photo by John Collier.
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to locate this image, use search terms: camp, barber

Nov 15, 2008

Hands

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms ANDREW OSTERMEYER The caption associated with this photo reads: "The hands of Mrs. Andrew Ostermeyer, wife of a homesteader, Woodbury County, Iowa."

Other photos explain that this 76-year-old and her 81-year-old husband had their farm re-possessed by the loan company and now live with their son.

Photo by Russell Lee, 1936.

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to locate this image, use search terms: Andrew, Ostermeyer

Nov 14, 2008

Fabulous Face

to locate this image on the American Memory website, use search terms MANUEL ZORRAThis striking gent, Manuel Zorra, was photographed in 1940. A fisherman of Portuguese descent, he made his home in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

According to Edwin Rosskam, the photographer, Mr. Zorra was "one of the best storytellers on the cape."
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to locate this image, use search terms: Manuel, Zorra

Nov 13, 2008

The Lighthouse

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms PAULINE FEEDING HERSELFTwo-year-old Pauline is able to feed herself after receiving coaching at The Lighthouse - a New York city institution for the blind.

Photo by Richard Boyer, 1944.
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to locate this image, use search terms: Pauline, feeding, herself

Nov 12, 2008

Bloom of Youth

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms RECRUITING MARINESSometimes it's necessary to go to war.

But armed conflict should never be undertaken lightly. As this photo makes clear, it is a country's young men - barely out of boyhood - who are sacrificed.

Photo taken by John Collier at a San Francisco marines recruiting office, 1941.

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[American Memory link]
to locate this image, use search terms: recruiting, marines

Nov 11, 2008

Lest We Forget

to find this image on the American Memory website use search terms MILITARY FUNERAL ALASKA A military funeral in Alaska, held sometime between 1942 and 1945. The photo caption reads: "Here atop a hill are the remains of seven soldiers, mainly pilots who lost their lives in action."

(Photo is attributed to the United States Signal Corps.)
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to locate this image, use search terms: military, funeral, Alaska

Nov 10, 2008

Inmate

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms INSANE ASYLUM INMATEIn 1941, a portion of the Charlotte Amalie Hospital in the Virgin Islands was allocated to the "insane asylum."

These days, the photo caption would describe this individual as a patient/client rather than an "inmate." And the facility would be called a "mental health center."

(photographer: Jack Delano)

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to locate this image, use search terms: insane, asylum, inmate

Nov 9, 2008

Preacher Man

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms PREACHER and SCRIPTUREA preacher reading the scriptures to another man in San Antonio, Texas - 1939.
Photo by Russell Lee.

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to locate this image, use search terms: preacher, scripture

Nov 8, 2008

Howdy Horse

A fun shot of a horse trainer and his steed at a rodeo in San Angelo, Texas.

Taken by Russell Lee in March 1940.

Nov 7, 2008

Mother & Child

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms MOTHER CHILD NYSSA
Following Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor in Dec. 1941, the United States officially joined World War II. One of the many consequences of these events was that individuals of Japanese origin or descent were evacuated from US coastal regions. In 1988, Congress apologized for that policy. Financial reparations in excess of $1 billion have since been made.

This photo was taken in Nyssa, Oregon in July 1942. Photographer Russell Lee explains: "Japanese-American mother and child at a baseball game. They were evacuated from a coastal area, volunteered to do farm work and now live at the FSA (Farm Security Administration) mobile camp."

A caption associated with another photo in this series notes: "These people volunteered to leave the reception centers to do farm work. When it was apparent that they would not be satisfied to stay unless they had electricity in individual camps, the sugar beet companies and the town of Nyssa arranged for electrical connections."
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to locate this image, use search terms: mother, child, Nyssa

Nov 6, 2008

Fat Ladies

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms FAIR SIDESHOW POSTER A poster for a sideshow at a county fair.

Vermont, 1941 (Jack Delano).

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to locate this image, use search terms: fair, sideshow, poster

Nov 5, 2008

Sweat

to locate this image click the American Memory link below
Taken by Jack Delano - apparently in the Virgin Islands, late 1941.

Nov 4, 2008

Coal Miner's Daughter

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms COAL MINE DAUGHTER TENNESSEEThe caption accompanying this photo reads: "Daughter of migrant Tennessee coal miner. Living in American River camp near Sacramento, California."

One wonders what became of this person. Were any of her dreams realized?

Taken by Dorothea Lange, 1936.

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to locate this image, use search terms: coal, mine, daughter, Tennessee

Nov 3, 2008

Brothers & Sisters

to locate this image click the American Memory link below
These youngsters are identified as the children of Albert Lynch, a farmer receiving government assistance in Dummerston, Vermont.

Another photo in the series shows seven siblings in total - none of whom could be described as over-fed. There are no pictures - or any mention - of their mother.

Photographed by Jack Delano, Aug. 1941.

Nov 2, 2008

Abundance

locate this image on the American Memories website by using search terms FRESHLY LAID Freshly-laid eggs in Sonoma county, California.

Photo taken by Russell Lee in 1942.

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to locate this image, use search terms: freshly, laid,

Nov 1, 2008

Boots

locate this image on the American Memory website by using search terms SPURS PIE I love everything about this photo - the shadow on the woodgrain of the porch, the elaborate stitching on the well-worn leather, the spurs, the fact that the denim cuffs are of different widths.

Photographer Russell Lee says that although the gent here is a farmer, he prefers to outfit himself according to his earlier job as a cowboy. Taken in 1940 in Pie Town, New Mexico.

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to locate this image, use search terms: spurs, pie,