Making Butter

A ceramic butter churn on a family's front porch. The cloth cover kept out the flies. North Carolina, 1939.

Photo by Dorothea Lange. [American Memory link]

Wonder of the World

Niagara Falls, New York. 1940. There's something about the mood of this shot that grabs hold of me. Everything looks ancient and forsaken.

Photo by Royden Dixon. [American Memory link]

Sheep Shipping

Sheep being herded onto train cars in Colorado, 1940. Despite the presence of girls in pretty dresses watching in the background , one suspects this was a noisy, odorous affair.

Photo by Russell Lee. [American Memory link]

Sweeping Up

Tidying up around the woodstove in Utah, 1940. This is a great shot of a stove from that era. It's no doubt much fancier than the ones used by many of this family's neighbours. (Click image for a larger view.)

Note also the sink with the water tap behind the girl. Indoor plumbing was far from universal at the time, which also suggests this family was relatively prosperous.

Photo by Russell Lee. [American Memory link]

Young Family

A Mormon farmer with his wife and child in 1940 Utah.

Photo by Russell Lee. [American Memory link]

Sewing Machine

Seen here threading her machine, home sewing wasn't something this woman did as a hobby. Rather, the photo caption explains that a substantial part of her family's wardrobe was acquired this way.

1940, Oklahoma. Photo by Russell Lee. [American Memory link]

Blacksmith

A blacksmith with the hub of a wagon wheel in 1940 Oklahoma. As one technology replaces another there, are always periods of transition in which both co-exist in the same communities at the same time.

Workers into today's auto industry surely share some this blacksmith's concerns as he watched horseless carriages destroy his livelihood.

Photo by Russell Lee. [American Memory link]

Spinning Wheel

A spinning wheel in 1935 Arkansas. A new coat or blanket was no small thing when every part of the process needed to be undertaken by hand.

Photo by Arthur Rothstein. [American Memory link]

Recess

Seven shoeless girls and (a piglet) in a school playground in Georgia, 1938. Click image for a larger version.

Photo by John Vachon. [American Memory link]

Fruitful

In 1940, cataloupes were one of the main crops in parts of Utah.

Photo by Russell Lee. [American Memory link]

Warm and Cozy

The caption accompanying this photo reads: "Making a quilt from surplus commodity cotton in Greensboro, Greene County, Georgia."

1941. Photo by Jack Delano. [American Memory link]

Flower Garden

Brother and sister examine the poppies. Louisiana, 1940.

Photo by Marion Post Wolcott. [American Memory link]

New Wagon

A family in their new wagon. Georgia, 1939.

Photo by Marion Post Wolcott. [American Memory link]

Bows & Arrows

Playing with bows and arrows, by the railroad yard. Iowa, 1940.

Photo by John Vachon. [American Memory link]

Homeless

Ben Shahn, who took this shot in 1935 Natchez, Mississippi described these two as "homeless children." Although North America now has a social safety net, in many parts of the world some youngsters still fare for themselves.

[American Memory link]

Fisherman's Sons

These sons of a Louisiana oyster fisherman were photographed in Sept. 1938. Other photos reveal that the younger one is barefoot.

Photo by Russell Lee. [American Memory link]

Waiting for a Train

Waiting for a train in Illinois in 1940. Were these two people co-workers? Relatives? Married to one another? While it's unlikely they'd now recall this moment in time, it has nevertheless been captured, preserved. First on a nitrate negative. Now as a digital image on the World Wide Web.

Photo by John Vachon. [American Memory link]

Summertime

It's unclear when, where, or by whom this summertime photo was taken. But it's fun to travel back to a place in which hot dogs and hamburgers cost ten cents - and where one could rent a rowboat and a fish pole. (click the image for a larger version)

[American Memory link]

Stripes and Shovels

Convicts and their guard, 1941 Georgia.

Photo by Jack Delano. [American Memory link]

Convicts

A peculiar image, documenting an unusual occasion. The caption accompanying this photo reads: "Convicts from the Greene County prison camp at the funeral of their warden who was killed in an automobile accident, Georgia."

Photo by Jack Delano, 1941. [American Memory link]

Bananas

Bananas being loaded in Mobile, Alabama. Click the image for a larger view of this lovely shot. One wonders what the gent on the far right was thinking at that moment.

Taken in 1937 by Arthur Rothstein. [American Memory link]

No Hitchhiking

The message on this truck's windshield indicates that hitchhikers aren't welcome. San Juan, Texas - 1939.

Photo by Russell Lee. [American Memory link]

Disease Prevention

A cowboy with a syringe used to immunize cows against Blackleg - a fatal disease that strikes cattle aged 6 months to 2 years. Montana, 1939.

Photo by Arthur Rothstein. [American Memory link]

Ice Cream

Indiana farm children enjoying a treat in July 1941. I love the silhouette of the truck's driver behind them. (Click the image for a larger version.)

Photo by John Vachon. [American Memory link]

Father and Son

Taken in Detroit, Michigan in 1942. This gent is described as a war worker.

Photo by Arthur S. Siegel. [American memory link]

Walden Pond

At Thoreau's Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts. Yup, the sign really does say: "bathing suits for rent." (Click image to see a larger version.)

Photo by Edwin Locke, 1937. [American Memory link]

Smokescreen

One spooky image. "Soldier of a cavalry rifle unit going through a smokescreen during a field problem" - at an army training base in Kansas.

Photo by Jack Delano, 1942. [American Memory link]

Target Practice

Washington D.C. - October 1943. The caption accompanying this photo reads: "Walter Spangenberg practicing with a rifle at Woodrow Wilson High School." These days, metal detectors attempt to keep guns out of schools.

Photo by Esther Bubley. [American Memory link]

Deer Hunter

A hunter with his prize. When this photo was taken in 1937, the deer would have represented a significant number of meals at a time when meat was more expensive than it is today.

Taken in Pennsylvania by Arthur Rothstein. [American Memory link]

Pretty Faces

A moment in a Puerto Rican slum, 1942. One wonders how these children's future unfolded. Did they grow into adulthood - or were their lives cut short by misfortune? Today, they'd be in their 70s.

Photo by Jack Delano. [American Memory link]

Sweet Song

A children's choir in a Washington, D.C. church.

Photo by Esther Bubley, 1943. [American Memory link]