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Pictures that Make Us Happy, Part 2

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This Autumn we offer a sequel to a post from this past Spring featuring pictures that cheer Prints & Photographs Division staff.

This post’s contributors are all staff members in the Technical Services Section, who work hard to organize, describe, digitize and house for preservation the images in the collections, making it possible for you to access them through the Library of Congress online catalogs as well as in person in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room.

Cataloging Specialist Arden Alexander notes that “I like the contrast between the playful kittens and the ‘serious’ congressional office setting” in the image below.

Kittens crawling on Representative Peter Kostmayer in his congressional office. Photo by JH, 1991 June 26. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.38833
Kittens crawling on Representative Peter Kostmayer in his congressional office. Photo by JH, 1991 June 26. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.38833

For Alexander the next photograph is pleasing for more personal reasons, as it brings to mind “church and town festivals from my childhood with their delicious baked goods.”

Array of pies for sale at the “Back to Church Sunday” festival, organized by the nearby St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, on the grounds of the New Hampshire capitol (or state house, as New Hampshirites call it) in Concord, New Hampshire’s capital city. Photo by Carol Highsmith, 2017 Sept. 17. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/highsm.47320

Michelle An, Processing Technician, got a kick out of a paper doll set she found in the collections: “Any time I go to a used book store I always grab children’s books with paper doll cut-outs. The outfits are fun, especially when they include historical figures.”

Paper doll fashions issued by the Sunday Times-Herald Chicago. Chromolithograph by Shober & Carqueville, 1895. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pga.08313
Paper doll fashions issued by the Sunday Times-Herald Chicago. Chromolithograph by Shober & Carqueville, 1895. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pga.08313

Karen Chittenden, a Cataloging Specialist and frequent traveler to destinations near and far, appreciates how some images from the collections allow her to live vicariously when she’s not on the road herself:  “I always feel happy when travel posters come my way. The posters are usually visually striking and make me feel like I’ve taken a quick trip to another place.”

<em>Discover Puerto Rico U.S.A. Where the Americas meet</em>. Silkscreen poster by Frank S. Nicholson, between 1936 and 1940. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ds.08068
Discover Puerto Rico U.S.A. Where the Americas meet. Silkscreen poster by Frank S. Nicholson, between 1936 and 1940. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ds.08068
<em>See America Welcome to Montana</em>. Silkscreen poster by M. Weitzman, between 1936 and 1939. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ds.08249
See America Welcome to Montana. Silkscreen poster by M. Weitzman, between 1936 and 1939. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ds.08249

Our Technical Services staff do so much to make researchers (and their co-workers!) happy by enabling access to our varied collections; we’re glad that their daily close contact with the pictures regularly fosters their own good cheer.

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Comments (5)

  1. How to help me

    • If you have specific questions about images in the collections of the Library of Congress, I recommend that you write to us through our Ask a Librarian service: http://www.loc.gov/rr/askalib/ask-print.html. We look forward to hearing from you!

  2. Does the Smithsonian have a complete collection of cameras? If so, I would really like them to publish a book cataloging the cameras with information on them. I collect cameras but can no longer find anything to compare what I have with what has been out there.

    • Good question! For information about the Smithsonian’s collections you will need to get in touch with their staff. For questions about Library of Congress materials we are happy to answer any questions you might submit through our Ask a Librarian service: http://www.loc.gov/rr/askalib/ask-print.html.

  3. 🙂

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