People can be hard to recognize in panoramic postcards. They tend to look more like tiny stick figures in a diorama than individual men and women. The postcard processing project team members, however, found two intriguing people-filled panoramic views that will encourage you to zoom in closely, as you get acquainted with the more than 400 oversize postcards that are “new for you” in the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. Be sure to check out the largest JPEG and TIFF files to see all the details.

Brett Carnell found special interest in a group of eight postcards showing Phoenix, Arizona, in the early 1900s. Do you see the woman with the tripod, standing just above the abbreviation “Ariz”?

The Busy Corner of Phoenix, Arizona. Photographic postcard copyright by Lester Clement Barton, 1907. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ds.02314

Detail of http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ds.02314

Here’s a detail we cropped from the photo to show her a little bigger. She’s one of the few women he spotted out on the streets. Just as curious is the kind of work that she’s engaged in. If you recognize the type of equipment she’s using, and why it’s pointed at the building, please let us know!

Kristen Sosinski wrote about another postcard featuring a large group:

“As the end of another school year approaches and students (and perhaps a few teachers) count down the days until summer vacation, this panoramic postcard of a ‘Normal School’ in California, Pennsylvania, caught my eye.”

Group portrait of men and women at Southwestern State Normal School. Photographic postcard copyright by H. R. Harris, California, Pa., 1909. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ds.02620

Sosinski continued:

Detail of http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ds.02620

“The students include a lot more women than men. That makes sense because ‘normal school’ means teacher’s college or school of education, and most teachers at that time were women. A few clever students managed to be photographed by sitting in the windows of the building on the right hand side. Southwestern State Normal School is now known as California University of Pennsylvania. Are you wondering as I did, how a Pennsylvania town near Pittsburgh wound up with the name California? It turns out that the town was founded in 1849 at the height of the California Gold Rush. Perhaps they hoped that the name would give them luck in finding gold in their mines along with all that coal.”

Learn More

• Visit the first part of this story at, Taking the Long View (in Miniature), May 3, 2013
• Look at all the panoramic and oversize postcards in LOT 14058.
• View the Panoramic Photograph Collection: more than four thousand larger format panoramic images measuring between twenty-eight inches and six feet in length.
• Read about how photographers made the panoramic postcards using a special camera and the history of photographic postcards in the book: Bogdan, Robert, and Todd Weseloh. Real Photo Postcard Guide: The People’s Photography. N.Y. : Syracuse University Press, 2006, p. 51-52, [view catalog record for this book].
• See how the larger format panoramic photographs are made.

You see the strangest things in the South Dakota countryside, near Murdo, South Dakota. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2009 September 15. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/highsm.04579

Marilyn’s comment:

The immediate outline against the sky of a dinosaur skeleton, juxtaposed with a coy title that doesn’t confirm what you are seeing, makes you zoom in for a closer  look, followed by a laugh. The skeleton man (a caveman?) is carrying an axe! And, he is holding a lead, as if walking a large dog. But that dog is a Tyrannosaurus Rex. It’s a humorous roadside attraction, whimsically captured by Highsmith.

Learn more:

• View the Carol M. Highsmith Archive and read about her project.
• Revisit the Picture This blog post about other roadside attractions that have caught our eyes: Coffee and Donuts, Anyone?
• Take a look at the results of a search for “roadside” in the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog–quite an array of sights have been visible to travelers in every era!

What tends to be 3.5 inches tall and 10 inches long?  Postcards created in a panoramic view format.

Car on beach with airplane overhead,  in Seabreeze (Daytona Beach), Florida. Photograph published by H. Marshall Gardiner, 1911. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ds.02356

More than 400 oversize postcards are “new for you” in the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. The Library received most of the postcards as copyright deposits in 1905-1909. Thirty-nine different states are represented. Of special interest are the series of cards showing single towns, including Aberdeen, SD; Millville, NJ;  and Beloit, Wisconsin. You’ll also find such dramatic subjects as the devastating results of a fire in Chelsea, MA, and an airplane flying over cars driving along a beach. (Do you think the plane was really in that position, or added later through darkroom magic?)

When we first inventoried the Library’s main postcard file back in 2008, these cards stood out as deserving extra attention; more than half are original photographic prints, called “real photo” postcards. It took a few years to gather the resources necessary for scanning and cataloging. Then, the Library’s Duplication Services carefully captured the digital images, and a talented team in the Prints & Photographs Division created the catalog records, finishing up last week.

Several team members chose fascinating cards to introduce you to this new collection. Shaunette Payne found delight in a card that reminds her of the classic movie The Wizard of Oz!

Birds eye view of Orchard, Nebr. Photo by J.A. Newberry, 1910. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ds.02537

Bonnie Dziedzic chose a baseball game at Sauk Centre, Minnesota, on July Fourth. She wrote: “The photo shows a fairgrounds race track on the prairie with a covered grandstand and school. The teams have taken to the field in the center of the track with the spectators overflowing the bleachers. Buggies of spectators line the outside fence of the track and the infield. I imagine them enjoying their picnics as they watch the holiday activities and wait for fireworks. Sauk Centre is the birthplace of Sinclair Lewis, and the town inspired Gopher Prairie in his 1920 novel Main Street. Maybe Lewis was at this game!”

Base ball at Sauk Centre, Minn., July Fourth. Photo by W.O. Olson, 1908. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ds.02503

Mary Christ enjoyed cataloging a set of postcards from New York State, and came across one miniature panorama that wasn’t used as a postcard. In her own words: “A print showing New York City in 1850 is a treat for any history nerd or native New Yorker. (I happen to be both.) On the card, New York is still written with a hyphen as New-York; Staten Island has a quarantine station; and Ellis Island has yet to serve its most famous purpose. The familiar names of Brooklyn, Hoboken, and Long Island Sound brought a smile to my face, though, I must confess it took me a moment to identify  “Bedlow’s Island.” A quick Google search informed me that the island was the 17^th century home of one “Issack Bedloo” and the 19^th century location of a military fort.  It was then that I realized–Bedloe’s Island is now Liberty Island, the home of the Statue of Liberty.”

City of New-York, Brooklyn, Jersey City & Quarantine Station on Staten Island. Print, publication date unknown.  http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ds.02585

Please let us know which of the many “new” postcards intrigue you!

Learn More

• Look at all the panoramic and oversize postcards in LOT 14058.
• View the Panoramic Photograph Collection: more than four thousand larger format panoramic images measuring between twenty-eight inches and six feet in length.
• Read about how photographers made the panoramic postcards using a special camera and the history of photographic postcards in the book: Bogdan, Robert, and Todd Weseloh. Real Photo Postcard Guide: The People’s Photography. N.Y. : Syracuse University Press, 2006, p. 51-52, [view catalog record for this book].
• See how the larger format panoramic photographs are made.

The United States celebrates Arbor Day on the last Friday in April to remind us of the need to plant and nurture trees. This year, the national celebration day prompted me to check the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. How many of the thousands of tree-related pictures at the Library of Congress represent the planting of new trees?

While only a few digitized images relate directly to Arbor Day, several hundred pictures show people establishing new trees in their own yards, attending special memorial tree dedications, and working on major conservation projects. Two of the digitized images especially caught my eye.

Quentin Roosevelt Planting a Tree. Photo by Edward S. Curtis, copyright 1904. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.23805

A delightful scene called Quentin Roosevelt Planting a Tree shows the young son of President Teddy Roosevelt with a sapling at Sagamore Hill, the family estate in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York. The empty bottle might have held water for the tree. Taking a look at the group of portraits of Quentin and his brothers, made in 1904 by master photographer Edward Curtis, revealed, however, that the images are primarily about boys playing. The bottle was also used to hold June bugs!

Tree Planting Ceremony. Photo by Underwood & Underwood, 1920? http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsc.01555

The second photograph, Tree Planting Ceremony, shows Librarian of Congress Herbert Putnam with a large group of people gathered outside the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington, D.C. A photographer working for Underwood and Underwood captured this scene around 1920. Might the event be honoring Library staff who fought in World War I?  Is the tree still standing almost one hundred years later?

I’ll check in with the savvy reference librarians who follow the Library’s own history and report back!

Learn More

•  View all digitized tree-related pictures in the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog.  (More tree pictures, not yet digitized, are also available.)
• Look at Arbor Day pictures
• See more photographs by Edward S. Curtis of Teddy Roosevelt’s children in 1904.
• Read about the Arbor Day Foundation programs

Visitor photographing the Library of Congress Main Reading Room. Photo by Katherine Blood, 2013 Feb. 18.

American author Dan Brown has famously described the Library of Congress Main Reading Room as the most beautiful room in Washington, D.C. (The Lost Symbol). While it is routinely open to researchers, drop-in visitors had the rare treat of photographing this inspiring space during our Spring Open House on President’s Day. We invited those with cameras in tow to share their images on the Library’s Flickr site. Selected favorites from participants appear in three galleries called LOC Open House 2013 Spring.

A number of photographers trained their lenses skyward to capture the Main Reading Room’s spectacular domed ceiling. Others focused on specific artworks, including the dome’s signature allegorical painting by Edwin Blashfield (see if you can spot his idealized portrait of Abraham Lincoln in the Flickr galleries). Colorful books on alcove shelves were another favorite subject along with the Library’s card catalog, which garnered shots of wooden drawers scarred with use, hand-written entries, and ad hoc researchers thumbing through these vast indexes.

As a staff member who knows and loves this space well, I was impressed by how the participating photographers collectively showcased not only the grandeur of the Main Reading Room’s art and architecture, but also the sense you get there of a living think tank where old ideas can be explored and new ideas conceived.

Learn More

• Take a virtual tour of the Main Reading Room to view its art and architecture.
• View more Library of Congress Flickr galleries.
• Explore an overview of resources for researching the art and architecture of the Library of Congress Jefferson Building.
• Watch  a video about coming to do research in the Library’s Main Reading Room

Head of a Girl. Pen and ink drawing by Charles Dana Gibson, ca. 1893. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.33592

The following is a guest post by Martha H. Kennedy, Curator of Popular & Applied Graphic Art.

The renowned illustrator Charles Dana Gibson (1867-1944) is best known for creating the Gibson Girl, that dazzling paragon of feminine beauty—with a flawless face, steadfast gaze, small-waisted yet voluptuous form, that tall beguiling being who radiated grace no matter what. Could the artist who invented this enchanting and widely emulated ideal of American womanhood also be considered a cartoonist?

While selecting works for a new exhibition about Gibson (on view at the Library from March 30 through August 17, 2013), I began to realize just how often his elegant drawings incorporate sharp political commentary with humorous social observations.

A look at The Jury Disagrees (1904) demonstrates Gibson’s remarkable narrative gifts and masterful pen-and-ink technique. How he achieves impeccable depictions of clothing and facial expressions as well as mockery of social pretension with such concise, perfectly placed lines of ink is a wonder to behold.

The Jury Disagrees. Pen and ink drawing by Charles Dana Gibson, 1904. Published in: Life 43 (May 12, 1904): 464-465. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cai.2a12841

On reflection, I now wholeheartedly agree that many of the great cartoonists employ the same skills as great illustrators in creating visual imagery that conveys pointed messages in a humorous light. The Jury Disagrees is both an impressive social cartoon and a compelling illustration that tells a story about a young woman.

As further evidence, consider Gibson’s political cartoon, In Her Path (1917), one of many he created during World War I.

In Her Path. Pen and ink drawing by Charles Dana Gibson, 1917. Published in: Life, 70 (November 8, 1917): 749. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.33519

What has happened to the Gibson Girl? We see no less a noble female figure, but she has been transformed into a monumental allegorical Miss Democracy symbolically vanquishing German autocracy, which is represented by the caricatured head of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The allegorical figure of Peace alights in the background of this dynamic, powerfully expressive cartoon.

The Library has one of the best collections of Gibson’s original works of art on paper. Our new exhibition, The Gibson Girl’s America, features significant examples of the artist’s matchless social and political commentary in the Graphic Arts Galleries through August 17, 2013.

Learn More:

• Explore the online exhibition, The Gibson Girl’s America: Drawings by Charles Dana Gibson.
• View drawings by Gibson in the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog.
• View images of Gibson, his wife, and his environs in the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog.
• Read a biography of Gibson: Downey, Fairfax. Portrait of an Era as Drawn by C.D. Gibson. A Biography. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons; London: Charles Scribner’s Sons, Ltd., c1936.
•  Read about cartooning: Gibson, Charles Dana. “Cartoons and Cartoonists: The Story of Cartoon Making from Hogarth Down To the Present Day.” In: The Mentor, 11:9 (October, 1923), 1-18.

Fukurokuju. Watercolor by K. Tsunoi , 1921. Japanese Collection, Asian Division. http://lccn.loc.gov/2011385549

The following is a guest post by Helena Zinkham, Chief, Prints & Photographs Division.

How do the delicate blossoms of a cherry tree represent the strength found in friendship? A new video from the Library of Congress suggests many answers in an engaging gallery tour of the exhibition Sakura: Cherry Blossoms as Living Symbols of Friendship.

As the exhibition team takes you through the show, an early highlight is a remarkable set of original watercolors that reveal the wonderful varieties of sakura (cherry blossoms) in great detail.

Yayoi or Sangatsu, Asukayama Hanami (Third Lunar Month, Blossom Viewing at Asuka Hill), from the series Jūnikagetsu (Twelve Months). Color woodblock print by Kitao Shigemasa, between 1772 and 1776.  Prints and Photographs Division. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/jpd.02258

Historical Japanese prints portray the long tradition of hanami—going to view the blooming trees. Images in posters, books, and historical as well as contemporary photographs confirm how sakura are a treasured sign of spring for many people.

Personal memories from a Japanese childhood and a cherry blossom princess are also featured.

This exhibition was held in 2012, when the Library participated in the celebration of the 100^th anniversary for a magnificent gift of cherry trees from the city of Tokyo to Washington, D.C. The glorious sight of sakura around Washington’s Tidal Basin continues to draw thousands of people together each year.

Learn More:

• Tour the exhibition gallery webcast (25 minutes)
• View the online exhibit Sakura: Cherry Blossoms as Living Symbols of Friendship.
• See more images related to cherry blossoms in the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC).
• Enjoy more Japanese prints in the online collections.
• Find out about the Japanese collections and their history in the Asian Division.
• Read how the cherry blossoms came to Washington in Mrs. Taft Plants a Tree, by John R. Malott. Washington: Japan-America Society, 2012.
• Read a history of the cherry trees from the National Park Service.

“Bat Roost, San Antonio.” Photo by Bain News Service, between ca. 1915 and ca. 1920. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.19684

What crossed my mind on first glimpsing the man standing under the “Municipal Bat Roost” sign was, “Is this some sort of faked (composite) photo? Could the structure possibly be that large?”

Flickr members immediately started supplying some context and verification, with links to sources and modern photos of bat roosts. Charles Augustus Rosenheimer Campbell championed the roosts to help fight disease-carrying mosquitoes, and Campbell is the man posing on the roost.

Learn More:

• View the image in Flickrand scroll down to see the information Flickr members supplied, including the two links below.
  • the Texas Historical Society’s page on Charles Augustus Rosenheimer Campbell: www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/f ca31
  • the 1909 patent from the Patent Office archive, complete with a drawing, in case you want to start preparing for mosquito season!
• View pictures in the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog of other types of pest control measures.
• View images of bats appearing in three different contexts (a Japanese print, a drawing for a book illustration, and a French advertisement for an early bat toy) in the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog.

Ann Rosener. Photograph, between 1935 and 1945. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8d29661

A new biographical essay about photographer Ann Rosener (1914-2012) sheds light on her wartime work as she focused on the contributions of women workers and other aspects of the World War II home front.

In the early 1940s Rosener documented preparations for war and home front activities for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) by contributing some 800 photographs to the FSA/OWI (Office of War Information) Collection. Her work fell into three broad categories: 1) women working outside the home; 2) women practicing home economics in their own homes and providing health and nutrition services; and, 3) people overcoming social barriers to work together for the good of the country.

One theme showed women and others filling essential jobs formerly reserved for able-bodied men, many who were off serving in the armed forces. Rosener showed women learning aviation science from a nun; former actresses producing aircraft motors; former professional baseball players building ships; and people crippled by polio manufacturing small machine parts.

Field trips for the “Flying Nun” pre-flight class, including inspection tours of hangars at the Washington National Airport. Here, Sister Aquinas is explaining engine structure to her students. Photograph by Ann Rosener, June 1943. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsc.00249

To replace men who have been called to armed service, many young girls like 19-year-old Jewel Halliday are taking jobs never before held by women. Her job is shuttling workers between two Midwest war plant. Allis Chalmers Manufacture Company. Photograph by Ann Rosener, October 1942. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8b07729

A second theme instructed women in “making do” on the homefront so that more resources could be allocated to the war. They were instructed in “conservation of durable goods”–vacuuming refrigerator coils and defrosting freezers regularly to reduce electricity use, remaking worn out adult clothing to fit children, walking rather than driving to run errands, and salvaging cooking grease to sell for bomb production.

San Francisco, California. Sign on the top of a hill in the residential section. Photograph by Ann Rosener, January 1943. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8d31930

War housing needs. Crowds of homeseekers wait in line for housing information in every “boom town” war housing center. Photograph by Ann Rosener, February 1943. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8b08269

A third topic, “Americans All,”  illustrated news stories promoting the idea that citizens, “with no thought of differences of race or creed,” were making contributions essential to the war effort. The FSA had promoted the concept that with patriotic unanimity,  Americans would be able to overcome political, racial, religious and ethnic boundaries to confront economic hardship. As President Franklin D. Roosevelt phrased it they could come together to form “an arsenal of democracy” to win the international war.

“I’ll carry mine.” Betty Jane Rhodes, popular Paramount Pictures star, shops and carries her own parcels, patriotically cooperating with the “I’ll Carry Mine” Campaign, sponsored by the Office of Defense Transportation to save vital delivery equipment for essential war uses. Photograph by Ann Rosener, 1942 or 1943. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8b05675

Manpower. Americans all. Being of a different racial strain from Hitler or Hirohito, Guy L. Miles wouldn’t stand much chance of survival in an Axis-controlled America. A skilled machine operator who makes parts for medium tanks in a large Midwest factory, he’s fighting the fascist fanatics as grimly and intensely as America’s men on the fighting fronts. Pressed Steel Can Company, Chicago, Illinois. Photograph by Ann Rosener, September 1942. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8b07376

As we celebrate Women’s History Month, we appreciate anew the many ways in which Rosener and the women she photographed assumed new roles in support of a nation at war.

Learn More:

• Get to know Rosener even better in photograph curator Beverly Brannan’s biographical essay about Ann Rosener, one of a series on groundbreaking women photojournalists.
• See more photographs by Ann Rosener in the FSA/OWI Collection via the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog.
• View our “Rosie Pictures” reference aid, which offers a selection of pictures of women working in World War II, as well as tips for finding additional materials.
• View the Women’s History Month Web site, which highlights resources and events.

Army on 5th Ave. Photo by Bain News Service, 1917 Aug. 30. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.25222

Arden comments:

The photographer leaned out a window over Fifth Avenue to capture this aerial view of a military parade in New York City during World War I.  This image caught my eye because of its vivid details:  a girl waving a flag from a balcony, soldiers marching towards downtown Manhattan, crowds of spectators spilling out from the sidewalks into the street and the flags flying from buildings.  Looking closely, one can even see the window displays of dresses in the Lord and Taylor department store on the corner.

Learn More:

• View information about the George Grantham Bain Collection, from which this image comes.
• View an overview of Prints and Photographs Division’s World War I holdings.
• Explore pictures of World War I we have shared through the Library of Congress Flickr account, along with comments and perspectives Flickr members have offered.
• Challenge question: See if you can find coverage of this event in Chronicling America historic American newspapers!