Vintage Tobacco

Click the image for a larger view of these tobacco packages. They're great examples of vintage graphic design.

Ohio, 1938. Photographer unknown.

Thoughts and Moments

The caption accompanying this image tells us this gent is a farmer - and that he's resting in a car in 1938 Ohio.

Yet his body language suggests more than a mundane moment. What were his thoughts at that instant? If he had been shown this photo a year later, would he have recalled them?

Photo by Ben Shahn. [American Memory link]

Generations

For me, this shot captures the cycle of life beautifully. The child holding her doll (suggesting the children she, herself, will have some day), her mother in the doorway, and her grandmother behind her.

Full disclosure: It's actually uncertain who the others in the photo are. The caption accompanying this image says the girl is the daughter of a struggling Ohio farmer.

Photo by Ben Shahn, 1938. [American Memory link]

Have Your Head Read

A stall at a carnival in Ohio, 1938. "Come in and have your head read. She will tell you what you want to know about love" and marriage.

Originally developed by a physician in the late 1700s, phrenology was taken seriously by medical personnel in the 1800s. It was believed that an individual's personality could be understood by examining the exterior of his or her skull.

Photo by Ben Shahn. [American Memory link]

Leaving Church

In 1938 Ohio, going to church and dressing up went hand-in-hand.

Photo by Ben Shahn. [American Memory link]

Nothing Lasts Forever

A worker washes an army vehicle prior to its final coat of paint. Taken at White Motor Company, in Cleveland, Ohio in 1941. The company lasted an additional forty years, but shut down down in 1981. (See a larger version of this wonderful shot by clicking the image.)

Photo by Alfred T. Palmer. [American Memory link]

Donuts

Military fighter aircraft tires being packaged at the Goodyear plant in Akron, Ohio. There's a lovely contrast here between the belly-button roundness of the tires and the crisp angles of the boxes.

Photo by Alfred T. Palmer, 1941. [American Memory link]

Let It Snow

Chillicothe, Ohio in 1940. Photo by Arthur Rothstein.

[American Memory link] to locate this image, use search terms: snow, auto