Community Chest

Many of us associate the term "community chest" with the boardgame, Monopoly. Turns out, it was an earlier incarnation of the United Way charity. Nebraska, 1938.

Photo by John Vachon. [American Memory link]

Cheap Eats

Hot dogs costing 5 cents and platefuls of food for 25 cents. Wonder what the cowboy stew was made of. Texas, 1939.

Photo by Russell Lee. [American Memory link]

Eternity

A cheery little sign to have encountered at the side of the road, near the beginning of the Second World War. Apparently coloured red, white and blue. Georgia, 1940.

Photo by Marion Post Wolcott. [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]

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]

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]

Wooden Beauties

Be sure to click on the image to see a larger version of these houses in Atlanta, Georgia in 1938.

Photo by John Vachon. [American Memory link]

Do Not Apply

A sign in Colorado, 1940. Folks looking for work during the Great Depression encountered numerous signs of this sort.

One wonders how many parents with young mouths to feed had their day darkened by this particular one on the date this photo happened to be taken.

Photographer: Russell Lee. [American Memory link]

Typo

Oh, dear.

Photo taken by Russell Lee in San Juan, Texas. 1939.

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[American Memory link]

to locate this image, use search terms: San Juan, sign