Shorpy, a showcase for vintage photography and a forum for its fans, endeavors to be a high-definition window on the past.
Paterson, New Jersey, circa 1908. "Passaic Street -- anarchists live here." Paterson was a hotbed of labor unrest in the early 20th century, with the label "anarchist" applied to anyone from strike organizer to bomb thrower. 5x7 glass negative, Bain News Service. View full size.
New York circa 1917. "Taking home milk. (Woman with baby carriage holding bottles from one of the depots set up by merchant Nathan Straus to provide pasteurized milk to poor families.)" 5x7 inch glass negative, Bain News Service. View full size.
March 29, 1935. "CHERRY BLOSSOMS COMING. Famous Japanese cherry blossoms are beginning to open around Washington's Tidal Basin. Velera Barber, left, and Anne Moffett, both of Washington, are inspecting the blossoms. They predict that the blossoms will be out by Sunday, or Monday, March 31, at the latest." Harris & Ewing glass negative. View full size.
Howard County, Maryland, 1920. "Herald tour to Annapolis (Ellicott City railroad station)." One in a series of photos documenting the Washington Herald's "pathfinding tour" by car from one capital to another, back when inter-city automobile travel, still something of a novelty, could be a real adventure. 4x5 inch glass negative, National Photo Company. View full size.
Washington, D.C., 1926. "Post Products Co. -- Dodge Bros. trucks at Lincoln Memorial." 8x10 inch glass negative, National Photo Company Collection. View full size.
Inscription on the White House Zero Mile reads: POINT FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF DISTANCES FROM WASHINGTON ON HIGHWAYS OF THE UNITED STATESWashington, D.C., 1926. "Cross Continent Trip -- Official Car, Lee Highway Association; White House in background." The "Cross Continent Trip" was a publicity stunt promoting a proposed "national highway" that would traverse the United States from New York to Southern California via Washington. 8x10 inch glass negative, National Photo Company Collection. View full size.
Washington, D.C., circa 1917. "Dodge Brothers trucks -- Lerch's van." Lerch's billed itself as "Washington's Foremost Cleansers and Dyers." 8x6 inch glass negative. View full size.
Montgomery County, Maryland, circa 1930. "Glen Echo Park." 8x10 inch glass negative, National Photo Company Collection. View full size.
Rockville, Maryland, 1926. "Montgomery County Motor Co." A behind-the-scenes look at MCMC's oil-stained service bay. 8x10 inch glass negative, National Photo Co. View full size.
Rockville, Maryland, circa 1926. "Montgomery County Motor Co." A view from inside the "Used Cars" section of the Chevrolet dealership seen here a few years ago. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, National Photo Company Collection. View full size.
Washington, D.C., circa 1926. "Ford Motor Co. -- Lincoln at Lincoln Memorial." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, National Photo Company Collection. View full size.
Buffalo, New York, circa 1900. "Unloading grain at the Great Northern elevator." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.
January 23, 1925. Washington, D.C. "Broadway producer Earl Carroll picking beauties to play in 1925 'Vanities' revue." 4x5 inch glass negative, National Photo Company. View full size.
January 23, 1925. Washington, D.C. "Broadway producer Earl Carroll picking beauties to play in the 1925 Vanities." 4x5 inch glass negative, National Photo Company Collection. View full size.
New York circa 1908. "M.W. Littleton's, Fifth Avenue." The ivy-clad residence of lawyer Martin Wiley Littleton, future congressman and Brooklyn borough president. 8x10 inch glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size.
Circa 1950. "Homemaking cover for McCall's." Meet Mr. and Mrs. Al Dente, about to indulge in that exotic Italian import known as pasta. 4x5 inch Kodachrome by Toni Frissell. View full size.
September 1947. "New England characters (girl with books). A variety of people, young and old, in photographs taken for Collier's magazine in New England states." 4x5 inch Kodachrome transparency by that prolific peripatetic polymath, Toni Frissell. View full size.
Circa 1910. "Surf bathers at crowded beach, possibly Atlantic City." Not sure if you can swim? There's always the rope! 5x7 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Sept. 11, 1900. "Chicago Masonic Temple, Randolph and State Streets." Glimpsed here two minutes later, 10 years ago. 8x10 glass transparency, Detroit Photographic Co. View full size.
We're continuing our journey through the archives with this photo from Coney Island first posted to Shorpy on August 29, 2008.
Luna Park at Coney Island circa 1905. Tonight only: "Infant incubators with living infants." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.
From the archives. This popular image was first posted to Shorpy on March 23, 2007. Also on the menu is more waffle. And even more waffle.
Entrance to the Waffle Shop at 522 10th Street NW, Washington D.C. Circa 1950 photograph by Theodor Horydczak. View full size.
From the archives. First posted here on March 20, 2016.
July 1942. "Klamath Falls, Oregon. Carnival of the circus." In line for the Tilt-A-Whirl. Photo by Russell Lee for the Office of War Information. View full size.
From the archives. This Dorothea Lange photo was first published here on March 31, 2008
California, March 1937. "Toward Los Angeles." View full size. Medium format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration.
We're continuing our journey through the archives with this Jack Delano photo first published here on March 9, 2007. And Saba is still in business in 2026.
December 1940. "Secondhand plumbing store, Brockton, Mass." 35mm Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano. View full size. As of 2007, Saba Mechanical Plumbing & Heating is still in business in Brockton, at an address on Linus Avenue.
We're starting a series that digs into the Shorpy archive to revisit some old favorites. This Lewis Hine photo was originally posted on February 27, 2007.
March 1912. "Row of tenements, 260 to 268 Elizabeth Street, New York, in which a great deal of finishing of clothes is carried on." 268 Elizabeth Street, in Little Italy, is now a "luxe sweater bar" called Sample; 258 (Kips Bay) is a handbag boutique called Token. Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.
New York, May 1947. "Teddy Kaye, Vivien Garry (last seen here) and Arvin "Arv" Charles Garrison at Dixon's." Photo by Down Beat contributor William Gottlieb. View full size.
Atlantic City, New Jersey, circa 1912. "The Boardwalk and Steeplechase Pier." George Tilyou's "amusement pier" lasted the better part of a century, hurricanes and fires notwithstanding. 5x7 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
July 1, 1964. Here we are at the Midtowner Motel, in a Kodachrome slide donated by a fan of Shorpy. But where is the Midtowner Motel? Let us know in the comments below. View full size.
Niagara Falls, New York, circa 1899. "The Factories -- Niagara Gorge. (Roof of first plant by water: Power Station No. 2, Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power & Mfg. Co.; second plant: Cliff Paper Co.)" 8x10 inch glass transparency, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.
UPDATE: Several of our astute commenters have identified this as North Creek Station, Town of Johnsburg, Warren County. Others say Riverside Station, in Riparius.Circa 1911. "Commuters at train station, upstate New York." Where your charabanc awaits. 5x7 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
