blogs.denverpost.com — These images, by photographers of the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, are some of the only color photographs taken of the effects of the Depression on America’s rural and small town populations. The photographs are the property of the Library of Congress and were included in a 2006 exhibit Bound for Glory: America in Color.
Aug 3, 2010 View in Crawl 4
![America in Color from 1939-1943 [PICS]](http://cdn1.diggstatic.com/story/America_in_Color_from_1939_1943_PICS/t.png)
BannedOnTheWebAug 3, 2010
Now how cool is this? I would love to be able to do this with random pics I have and have seen.
lukeatronAug 3, 2010
Do what exactly?
seantubridyAug 3, 2010
I think he means colorize them.
You do know that they were shot in color, right? Not colorized?
mobhit101Aug 3, 2010
Well the History channel did the WWII in HD series and I was under the impression they took black and white footage and colorized it... And it looked amazing!
I know that these particular pictures were taken in color but it would be really cool to see even older pictures (before color tech) colorized. Even if it is, more or less, the artist's interpretation.
lukeatronAug 3, 2010
Most of what was shown in that series came from color film. There were a few bits that had been colorized but they always pointed out when they had done so. I kind of wish they would have gone a little further cleaning up the noise in the images but by and large, it was a very cool series.
blackeye111Aug 3, 2010
This software is pretty good for colorizing and even changing the color in images.
http://www.recolored.com/
dullnationAug 3, 2010
I've heard this one is pretty good too:
http://www.photoshop.com/
zeeakzAug 3, 2010
If one goes out in America today, he will see how colorful America actually is. These pictures are just awesome, someone did a great job during the 1940s.
Closed AccountAug 3, 2010
For some odd reason the color photos bring it closer to home. Makes it feel more real.
ltetheAug 3, 2010
Indeed. Black and white has a distancing effect for me. It's like a lens is placed over the image and it suddenly becomes "a long time ago."
These color plates suddenly make it yesterday, and it's easy to imagine oneself in those circumstances or living amongst the past portrayed.
potchi79Aug 3, 2010
Well said Itethe, that's exactly what it feels like.
jhochbergAug 4, 2010
Nothing like good old fashioned Kodachrome. Thank you Kodak for the memories. You will not be forgotten!
sen5241Aug 4, 2010
Here's #57 (Dillion MT) today:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=dillon,+mt&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=52.505328,67.5&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Dillon,+Beaverhead,+Montana&ll=45.217512,-112.637646&spn=0.002895,0.006164&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=45.217583,-112.637561&panoid=UFKWGtVQzLdJvF3eVB2VSQ&cbp=12,90.73,,0,5.23
sen5241Aug 4, 2010
Here's Wisdom, MT
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=wisdom+mt&sll=38.907298,-77.014933&sspn=0.025447,0.032959&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Wisdom,+Beaverhead,+Montana&ll=45.617752,-113.450478&spn=0.005748,0.012327&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=45.617752,-113.450235&panoid=XIh_wvLcOVctIoAtDPU0ZQ&cbp=12,306.97,,0,4.3
kufurexAug 3, 2010
Norman Rockwell in photographs. Very nice indeed.
halphpriceAug 3, 2010
Normal Rockwell painted based off of photographs. Every painting.
Closed AccountAug 3, 2010
So what - still life is based on life. Landscape is based on landscapes. Portraits are based on the person actually sitting in front on you...
The important parts of Rockwell's work were the subtle differences and exaggerations that added subtext. Take a look at some side by sides - http://www.pdnphotooftheday.com/2009/12/2778
.
grabateAug 3, 2010
A fun day out watching Teddy the Wrestling Bear followed by a visit to Drugs.
halphpriceAug 3, 2010
For some medicinal Cocaine.
w3berAug 3, 2010
oranges 1 cent!!!
deatonedAug 3, 2010
and then some family fun at the Girlie Show
erikwithaknotacAug 3, 2010
Too bad those women looked like beasts of burden
user1236Aug 4, 2010
I think the woman in the middle influenced the Sgt. pepper uniforms!!!
man3sterAug 3, 2010
why not first go to Drugs, then go watch the wrestling bear.
bettverbotenAug 3, 2010
Awwww back in the day!
elranzerAug 3, 2010
Ah, the good ol' days. When racism was legal, women couldn't vote and the gays were lynched.
The good ol' days.
kyanAug 3, 2010
Gays were not lynched. There were no gays back then. Sheesh, don't you know anything?
evilkrustydollAug 3, 2010
Racism isn't illegal, you can't criminalize someone's thoughts, women have been voting since 1920, the middle class certainly existed and actually most people could afford general healthcare because healthcare was simpler back then, there were no million dollar chemotherapy machines, and gays weren't lynched they were just not public about their behaviors.
caramba421Aug 3, 2010
Yeah, well at least they had Count Basie and Louis Armstrong and Glenn Miller instead of Justin Bieber and Lil' Wayne and T-Pain.
strawb411Aug 4, 2010
This account has been closed by the user
brucealmightyAug 3, 2010
Who knew the world was in color back in the '40's...?
Seriously tho, the technical quality alone of these pics is amazing on top of the choice of subjects and scenes.
doctechnicalAug 3, 2010
If you think that's impressive, take a look at this:
http://www.newsweek.com/photo/2009/08/31/photos-prokudin-gorskiis-color-photos-of-russia-1907-1915.html
These pictures were taken a century ago with glass plates, so the Russian Tsar could have a photographic record of his empire. There's some great stuff here.
seantubridyAug 3, 2010
Skip to the photos: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/
anagogeAug 3, 2010
Wow, they're amazing. You'd never know they were 100 years old.
peynisAug 3, 2010
Why do such amazing photos always come in such a crappy resolution?
Seriously, what's the f**king point?
nerddtvgAug 3, 2010
Reading how they made the photos is neat: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/making.html
The same basic principle today and it gave the same powerful controls over the color, hue, and contrast to the image. Phenomenal.
erikwithaknotacAug 3, 2010
In Soviet Russia glass frames you
doctechnicalAug 3, 2010
@erik: "In Tsarist Russia glass frames you"
FTFY.
scobizAug 3, 2010
Tolstoy, kickin' it.
joannchiladaAug 3, 2010
Wow, doctechnical. Thank you for linking to those pics! Those are genuinely exciting to see. Now I have to go perusing for more pics like that.
vsxd412Aug 3, 2010
Picture 23 looks like Chumlee from Pawn Stars.
Closed AccountAug 4, 2010
Hey peynis, if you're not satisfied with the quality of a 70 year old picture, then why don't you invent a time machine and take a digital camera back to 1940 so you won't be disappointed in the future?
energyeinsteinAug 23, 2010
Something magical about those photos.
caramba421Aug 3, 2010
No it wasn't. Just ask Dad.
http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/calvin-father-on-black-and-white-pictures.gif
brucealmightyAug 4, 2010
Gotta confess...Watterson was the muse behind my comment.
hero0ftimeAug 3, 2010
http://auditd0rk.files.wordpress.com/2006/12/calvin-father-on-black-and-white-pictures.0.gif
beshirthappyAug 3, 2010
I love looking at old photographs, and this was such a pleasure to see.
Closed AccountAug 3, 2010
This was amazing to see. I wonder why we had yellow planes.
amauldin71Aug 3, 2010
To match the yellow submarines.
d0kken_Aug 3, 2010
It was primer
Closed AccountAug 3, 2010
Thank you.
twinklyjesusAug 3, 2010
Primer coat to keep corrosion away until they completed the aircraft and then painted, as needed. Once we had achieved air-superiority in Europe, the buffed the yellow and sent the planes polished aluminum, (no paint) to save on weight. less weight = more fuel = greater range.
doctechnicalAug 3, 2010
Which is why the pilots always went to the bathroom right before a mission.
twinklyjesusAug 3, 2010
NO, they went before because there wasn't a bathroom on the plane, and your junk falls off if you try to piss out the door at 30,000 feet and 250 mph when it's -50 degrees outside.
doctechnicalAug 3, 2010
That was - I say - that was a *joke*, son.
avengingturnipAug 3, 2010
Foghorn Doctechnicalhorn?
ShovelbabyAug 3, 2010
I think there was a shot in there from the B&W portion of The Wizard of Oz.
mpenetrabletacoAug 3, 2010
For some reason I always feel very connected when I see older pics like this. Maybe I was reincarnated. lol
xsecretfilesAug 3, 2010
http://denverpost.slideshowpro.com/albums/001/496/album-125171/cache/color011.sJPG_950_2000_0_75_0_50_50.sJPG?1280840093
Those aren't "girls" right?Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
twinklyjesusAug 3, 2010
No, the kind of "girls" you like have penises.
halphpriceAug 3, 2010
The entire show was done by girl, even the male parts.
gazzerhAug 3, 2010
No. They are "ladies".
Closed AccountAug 3, 2010
....i'd do the middle one.
There is something about being a traveler from the future that I think would enable me to have any girl I like, and I don't think i'd turn too many down. Even if their knees are a bit pointy.
I'm also from digg...so.
slowspinAug 3, 2010
Man, I used to think people looked depressed back then because all the black and white photos made them look that way.
After seeing these, I realize they were just really f**king depressed. Even in color.
lukeatronAug 3, 2010
I was going to make almost the same comment. I think the only picture I saw where any one was smiling was the one of the army guys standing in front of their tank. I imagine life was in general harder back then but from those pictures, it doesn't look like any one enjoyed much of any of it.
The good old days indeed.
twinklyjesusAug 3, 2010
let's see, Great Depression ... check, Dust Bowl...check ... WWII... check... ding-ding-ding! Wonder why people weren't just skipping around singing happy, happy all the time? It's hard to be happy when there was just so much joy everywhere.
davenp0rtAug 3, 2010
I smiled for photos when Bush was president, it couldn't have been much worse.
tmanvAug 4, 2010
Significantly worse.
gustomuchoAug 3, 2010
We have an expression in Quebec, it's : "on s'en fou comme dans l'an 40" in english it would be " we don't care, like the 40s".
Comes with the time.
Closed AccountAug 3, 2010
Smiling for photos are a modern day concept. Back then, they weren't under society's prenotion that you must pretend to be happy for every photograph. They just acted as they would if there wasn't a photographer there. They didn't have facebook and a bizillion "friends" to look "good" for.
osivertAug 3, 2010
When portrait photography first appeared, people didn't smile because of the long exposures that were needed for the picture. It's hard to hold a smile for 30 to 60 seconds. I've read that when Americans starting smiling in portraits during later times other countries thought it was odd.
Closed AccountAug 4, 2010
"they weren't under society's prenotion that you must pretend to be happy"
People dont smile to pretend to be happy. People want to look nice and pleasant for a picture, smiling is better than not smiling, and as OsiVert said, when pictures became instant it was easy to smile for a picture.
drunktomatoAug 4, 2010
Did you just pull that out your ass or what?
gnixon70Aug 3, 2010
Lack of Prozak?
stanslikewh0aAug 3, 2010
They also looked really sweaty.
potchi79Aug 3, 2010
If they look depressed that's just because leisure time had yet to be invented.
collinsullivanAug 4, 2010
One thing that became obvious after looking through these pictures is that they definitely didn't have the same etiquette we have today about getting your photo taken. Today we are taught from a young age to plaster on the biggest fake smile possible when someone is pointing a camera at you but as soon as the camera turns away so does that fake smile. If you were to snapshot your face right now while reading these comments it might look similar to those in these pictures. It's possible they are not as depressed as you think.
moderntenshiAug 3, 2010
I find it utterly amazing how having color pictures from this time period seems to make things come alive, and at the same time it doesn't feel like they're 70 year old pictures. Looking at pictures from this far back in black and white, they seem old and distant, like a long forgotten past, yet in color these seem like they were taken not so long ago.
As someone who enjoys film, I often have to remind myself that most of what I'm watching that are regarded as classics really aren't terribly old. I first got this impression while watching How to Steal a Million, a film starring Audry Hepburn and Peter O'Toole which premiered in 1966. I had to keep reminding myself that the film wasn't even twice as old as I am, so in the grand scheme of things, not really that old. Hell, my parents are older than the film by nearly a decade. Sure the film is in color, but I think my point is still made.
I suppose a better example might be Hitchc**k's Psycho, from 1960, and easily one of the most iconic black and white films ever made. Again, only twice as old as I am, but my parents are still older than this film.
Furthermore, I feel that pictures like this really underscore the importance of old black and white films, and why their colorization is really a bad idea. Additionally, it emphasizes the power that color has over the medium, both photography and film.
twinklyjesusAug 3, 2010
Not many friends to talk to, eh?
moderntenshiAug 3, 2010
What are you getting at?
rochesterrificAug 3, 2010
Dick
hexrrAug 12, 2010
It's called analysis and observance. Something you clearly have no grasp of.
lukeatronAug 3, 2010
I think part of that might be the fact that if you were taking pictures on color film, you probably had a top of the line camera. These pictures look a lot sharper than most of the pictures of that era. The lenses are clearly better as the vast majority of photos from that period show a lot of drop off in focus and exposure as you move away from the center of the image.
One of the names that shows up on a lot of these pictures is Marion Post Wolcott. She was a prolific photographer who worked for the Farm Security Administration for many years under a man named Roy Stryker. Roy Stryker was something of a visionary in that he realized that a certain rural way of life in America was ebbing away. He convinced Congress to allot his department what at the time was a substantial amount of money to send a handful of photographers across the country to document this lifestyle. These photographers would go on to be recognized as some of America's most talented of the period. They produced vast tomes of photographs. They were given the best equipment available and essentially free license to travel and photograph where and what they will.
During wartime, the output of this office was used as a propaganda vehicle. After the war ended, Stryker had a much harder time procuring funding but was able to continue to do so on a smaller scale for some time until eventually Congress decided this was waste of money. It wasn't until decades later that people realized what had been produced was a priceless documentation of American life.
lwhassellAug 4, 2010
This account has been closed by the user
brucealmightyAug 3, 2010
The classic example of B&W vs. Color in filmmaking is, of course, The Wizard of Oz. Even today it still blows audiences away when the B&W film they're watching suddenly blossoms into spectacular Technicolor.
protodonAug 3, 2010
Those pictures are so sweet, cute and innocent. Makes people say, oh times were simpler back then. But then I think, didn't they still do a lot of lynching back then? Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
halphpriceAug 3, 2010
And domestic abuse,
and misogyny,
and religious persecution,
and obscene poverty,
and poor medical health
and there's even a picture of he fire brigades badge on the printer building because fire fighters were not "SOCIALIST" (aka government ran) but private, so your house would burn down if you didn't have fire insurance.
You still have medical insurance as a private thing, tsk tsk sk.
Closed AccountAug 3, 2010
You're an idiot. End of story. Come cry to me when the US isn't #1 in Gross Domestic Product.
jman5Aug 3, 2010
Our GDP is so enormous compared to any other country it's ridiculous. Barring some insane natural catastrophe like a meteor or super volcano, that wont be changing any time soon.
flyingllamaAug 4, 2010
I saw on CNBC that China would surpass the USA in GDP by 2025 or so
halphpriceAug 4, 2010
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Planet_Index
"The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is an index of human well-being and environmental impact that was introduced by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) in July 2006. The index is designed to challenge well-established indices of countries’ development, such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Human Development Index (HDI), which are seen as not taking sustainability into account. In particular, GDP is seen as inappropriate, as the usual ultimate aim of most people is not to be rich, but to be happy and healthy.[1] Furthermore, it is believed that the notion of sustainable development requires a measure of the environmental costs of pursuing those goals.[2]"
1 Vanuatu 68.21
2 Colombia 67.24
3 Costa Rica 66.00
4 Dominica 64.55
5 Panama 63.54
...
150 United States 28.83
rainemakerAug 3, 2010
Remarkable. For whatever reason, it is so much easier to put yourself in the pictures, and in the shoes of the subjects in the pictures when they are in color.
peck3277Aug 3, 2010
Those signs/flags/poster at the top of picture 10 are awesome. Anyone know where you can buy them?
damageincAug 3, 2010
That square dance looked very unpleasant.
prokidAug 3, 2010
and hot
atarioAug 4, 2010
In other words just like modern "clubs".
kaiosamaAug 3, 2010
The kids weren't all that happy sharing that one bed.
nihaoxpandaxsanAug 3, 2010
When is a square dance not unpleasant?
sulakattackAug 4, 2010
ITS GETTIN HOT IN HERE, SO SQUAREDANCE OFF YOUR CLOTHES
fungowskiAug 3, 2010
These pictures depict the effects of the depression small town america? I guess it wasn't as bad as i originally thought.
slapdedAug 3, 2010
This account has been closed by the user
ourmanintangierAug 3, 2010
The Library of Congress has a Flickr page--all of these photos, along with many more, are on the page. Really cool stuff.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/
rochesterrificAug 3, 2010
This is awesome, thanks!
kaiosamaAug 3, 2010
Thanks!
markosfunkAug 3, 2010
You just cracked it wide open!
fauozAug 4, 2010
Nice find!!!
cptbuckAug 4, 2010
A more direct link to these type of color photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/sets/72157603671370361/
lunchbox37Aug 3, 2010
There is no better way to start your day than looking at 70-year-old photos of poor people! Thanks Digg!
jackspadeAug 3, 2010
hahaha. true
beigemoreAug 3, 2010
This is one of the better pic collections that someone has put on here. It's a lot easier to connect with the older photographs when they're in color. They don't seem like some fairytale.
thebiochemistAug 3, 2010
Damn, times were good back then.
inactiveuserAug 3, 2010
Most foods were non perishables. There was no such thing as frozen carrots in a ready cook bag. Dentists would drill holes into your teeth without anesthetic. Still think it was good?
akairennAug 3, 2010
"Dentists would drill holes into your teeth without anesthetic."
Uh, if they were doing that, you had a fairly crappy dentist.
thebiochemistAug 3, 2010
Yes.
startsomething7Aug 3, 2010
The woman in 23 is beautiful.
ostracizeAug 3, 2010
She'd be a whole lot prettier if she smiled once in a while...
zeblithAug 3, 2010
The woman in 66 is beautiful.
Closed AccountAug 3, 2010
You mean butch?
rogeeAug 4, 2010
Yeah, there's something strangely attractive about her. That reflection is great.
Closed AccountAug 3, 2010
I was going to post the same thing.
shadicAug 3, 2010
Nah. Second from the right, #16.
/shudder
bracomadarAug 3, 2010
Hey, that's my dog your talkin' about!
fadetooneAug 3, 2010
I like how the school had posters to convince kids to buy war bonds.
hipmanAug 3, 2010
Desperate times....
tmwoAug 4, 2010
So did the comic books actually
joot2112Aug 3, 2010
Look out for a female Napoleon Dynamite in a buttoned-up dress in her family picture.
cme884Aug 3, 2010
http://denverpost.slideshowpro.com/albums/001/496/album-125171/cache/color016.sJPG_950_2000_0_75_0_50_50.sJPG?1280840094
I was going to come here and post something about it. Gosh!
ryancawdorAug 3, 2010
Few thoughts:
1. Astounding how much work had to be done to build the USA from scratch. Most of the major construction has taken place in the last 70 years, a lot of which was done with very crude (by today's standard) machinery.
2. A lot of vacant, dead expressions on most faces. Those people really took on huge burdens and it wore them down and aged them quickly.
3. Thank God for modern shampoo and conditioner.
cme884Aug 3, 2010
Na, I would chalk #2 to more of the fact that most of these people had never had a camera shoved in their face. Cameras are so ubiquitous now, and it's part of the social fabric that we look into the lens and smile, sometimes to the picture's detriment.
desktopgeoAug 3, 2010
Concur with cme884.
brucealmightyAug 3, 2010
Bear in mind too that these pictures were taken to show the effects of the Depression and not supposed to reflect happy people and good times.
sulakattackAug 4, 2010
these people BUILT things with their HANDS, do you knwo what its like to BUILD with your HANDS.....jeez I wouldnt be happy about it either. excuse me ihafta go play the sims now
leukramAug 3, 2010
Really cool pictures. I always like to see old historical pictures like this, especially in color. My only complaint is why do the captions of the pictures with "African American" people have to specifically point out that they are "African American?" None of the pictures of "Caucasians" had "Caucasian" in the caption. I think that separating distinction has to end. I hate to come off all PC, but that really does have to stop. If your doing a piece about 1940s America, then it is understood that the people in the pictures are Americans, regardless of race.
Closed AccountAug 3, 2010
That is indeed very strange. When I got to the portrait of the little boy and I went to the caption to see who he was, it said "Young African American Boy" as if that were some kind of insight into his identity. Not only that, but do they think we can't tell what race they are anyway?
leukramAug 3, 2010
That was the one that got my attention, too. Then, as I viewed the pictures, I noticed it a few more times. It wasn't on all of them. There was one of a lady working on some sheet metal that didn't say it, but in all the pictures where it occurred, it was completely unnecessary.
whosdamikeAug 3, 2010
Looking at other 1930s/40s photos by Russell Lee, some of the captions say things like: "Negroes talking on porch of small store near Jeanerette, Louisiana."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JeaneretteConversation1938Lee.jpg
My guess is that whoever wrote the article simply replaced all the instances of "Negro" with "African American."
lwhassellAug 4, 2010
This account has been closed by the user
bratterscainAug 3, 2010
Can't win. And if they didn't mention it, someone would call them out on not owning up to the segregationist nature of most people at this time, that we're ignoring the divisiveness that they had to endure.
leukramAug 4, 2010
You are right. That is probably also true. Both things have to change, or it will always continue. I just find it odd that most other countries do not make these distinctions. I don't see Britons of color being called "African Britons." I also don't see "African Britons" insisting that they be addressed or described by some special, currently agreed upon label.
gnatzorsAug 4, 2010
I'm not American, so I'm not too familiar but - African Americans were still discriminated against in that era, until the Civil Rights movement led by Martin Luther King right? They had to give up seats to white men on the bus and what not? If so, then the caption is important - the boy is born into a world where he is considered inferior, and he can do nothing about it - you can see the sadness in his eyes.
mac1sokAug 3, 2010
That third picture reminds me of John Marston's house from Red Dead Redemption.
fall0ut17Aug 3, 2010
that was a boring game.
wicket146Aug 3, 2010
Just me or were people just not that attractive back then?
rustiangelAug 3, 2010
I don't think I saw one hot chick in any of these.
americangunnerAug 3, 2010
after a lot of moonshine man...id probably disagree with your question.
wicket146Aug 3, 2010
I like the way you think.
Step 1: Make vat of moonshine
Step 2: Build time machine to take back to time period in pictures.
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit!
matrim2217Aug 3, 2010
Unattractive, yes. But not a single obese person in the bunch!
howitzer86Aug 3, 2010
Don't just go by what you see in the office or on TV. People today aren't that attractive either. Ride the bus sometime; then you'll see some real people.
kaiosamaAug 3, 2010
Yeah, but there's a difference between what you see on the bus...
...And people just not showering regularly.
Just think. For most of humanity existence, hygene's been a luxury.
We're the lucky ones.
noncn4mstAug 3, 2010
let's see...
we have (more) makeup, botox, plastic surgery and mirrors!
asus3000Aug 4, 2010
People also don't have to spend 12 hours tending the field much any longer..
calliganAug 3, 2010
Just you
thecoffeeAug 4, 2010
I've heard that if Marilyn Monroe lived to today's society she would be considered unattractive.
rscan70Aug 4, 2010
I was just going to link to one picture, but these all prove that she wouldnt be unattractive in any time
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=imghp&biw=1280&bih=923&q=marilyn+monroe&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=
sleestakslayerAug 3, 2010
Utterly amazing. Imagine all of the hard work that had to be done for everything including the things we take for granted.
supervAug 3, 2010
What, no one is texting, no cell phones? How did they communicate? Also noticed there weren't many overweight people in the photos and everyone looked hot, sweaty, and dirty. Makes me appreciate my a/c!
caramba421Aug 3, 2010
These are all the qualities I look for in a woman:
Not texting
Not obese
Hot, sweaty, and dirty.
cosmopAug 3, 2010
It's surreal to me to think I was born only 35 years after those pictures were taken. It's not that long ago, but the life we live to day would be incomprehensible if described to those people at that time. We own a great debt of gratitude to the blood and sweat sacrificed from that generation. They built the foundation that we live on today.
sabres00Aug 3, 2010
It seems like every dude wore a hat back then.
caramba421Aug 3, 2010
The decline of civilization began when men stopped wearing fedoras to work.
keviniskoolAug 4, 2010
Team Fortress 2 is trying to bring class back to the forefront of society.
strangehumorAug 4, 2010
Around the turn of the century it was considered indecent/inappropriate to leave the house without a hat on.
Closed AccountAug 3, 2010
Those Chicago pictures are amazing.
hokies499Aug 7, 2010
I've been there. It looks almost exactly the same today, except more modern and the interstate runs right by those tracks
Closed AccountAug 7, 2010
I know, I live there >.>
kibblesnbittsAug 3, 2010
I hate to say this as I know it will make me seem stupid, but seeing pictures in color makes history seem more real. As in, black and white gives us more of a storybook, novella rather than "This actually happened to millions of people."
These pictures were awesome.
catboxeddieAug 3, 2010
The 40's were in color? Since when?
apextekAug 20, 2010
since the wizard of oz
nana1701Aug 3, 2010
absolutely amazing pictures
inactiveuserAug 3, 2010
What more do you need?
http://denverpost.slideshowpro.com/albums/001/496/album-125171/cache/color026.sJPG_950_2000_0_75_0_50_50.sJPG?1280840094
danr2c2Aug 3, 2010
If something like this was done today we'd have another Tea Party movement on our hands.
"The Government spent money on new technology to document our sorry lives when they should have used it to go implode themselves!"Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
mwrlAug 3, 2010
It is being done today, the LoC has been documenting the progress of America from the start.
rat_manAug 3, 2010
Awesome pictures.
jordanlgtaAug 3, 2010
Hot women in #54.
lloydbentsenAug 3, 2010
Well, they couldn't afford A/C.
bhatch514Aug 3, 2010
Everyone is thin back then
Closed AccountAug 3, 2010
Great Depression and WWII-related rationing will do that to you - as will working your ass off on a farm or in a factory. =P
frequentflyerAug 3, 2010
And women are much prettier these days. Thank God.
blankmanAug 4, 2010
and so will not sitting on fat asses watching American Idol, and commenting on Digg. People worked their asses off back then. They also ate 'real' food.
loudmusicAug 10, 2010
Actually having to worry about where you might get your next meal has a pretty big impact on people.
americangunnerAug 3, 2010
i wonder what glenn beck would be like if he had to live in pie town, new mexico circa 1940?
jman5Aug 3, 2010
He would probably be complaining about how socialist FDR is destroying America with all his social programs and government spending.
bubba9999Aug 4, 2010
a crybaby
lichter86Aug 3, 2010
Incredible images, really shows how far the style of life has come in such a short amount of time.
assassyn360Aug 3, 2010
I love seeing where this great nation came from and those who built it. These were wonderful photos to view especially in color.
robopuppyAug 3, 2010
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Closed AccountAug 3, 2010
people were ugly back in the day
shervin123Aug 3, 2010
Makeup fixed that nowadays.
jambyAug 3, 2010
Personally, I'm quite turned off by all the modern obesity.
jaxxbatAug 8, 2010
Things were pretty raw when i was a kid , in the 40s way more i would think.. People complain about the lamest stuff today and life was so hard back then, But America was a a free proud country then and that made all the difference..
sildudeAug 3, 2010
http://rorr.im
thejunkerAug 3, 2010
Now count how many obese people you see
fall0ut17Aug 3, 2010
yeah and also count how many people are doing physical labor.
dadumtishAug 3, 2010
Now count how many WoW Level 80 Priests you see in those photos.
Exactly. 21st century win!!!
kpheaseyAug 6, 2010
I was thinking the same thing, it was an America not littered with fat and lazy people. Everyone in the photos, even the children picking potatoes, seems to have a strong work ethic.
cryptopsyAug 22, 2010
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