In my most recent selection of railroad-related images on Flickr, All Aboard!, the photo that received the most attention was this one of the Manitou & Pike’s Peak Railway. I’m imagining the seemingly backwards and tilted locomotive drew some curiousity. This is a cog railway, used to climb steep grades. The boiler in this steam …
One of the photos I chose for my recent Flickr album, All Over the Map, caught my attention not just for the image, but also the associated title. This 1930 news photo from the Harris & Ewing Collection says, as part of its original caption: “Quite a contrast between the modern map in the background …
During my search through our collections for interesting hats, bonnets, caps, and all manner of headgear for my most recent Flickr album, I found one hat that most certainly was never meant to sit on anyone’s head. When it opened in 1954 as the “Premium Tex” gas station, this red hat captured drivers’ imaginations on …
In my most recent Flickr album, Animals are Looking at You, twenty two animals are peering out at you from black-and-white photographs. The photos were initially selected by Office of War Information staff in 1945 for a display in the Photographic Section file room. The Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection (FSA/OWI) was transferred …
My latest Flickr album – A Few of My Favorite Things – will be my last. I’m retiring from the Library after 34 years. I’ve had the privilege of working with the collections of the Prints & Photographs Division and seeing a lot of great, memorable images. I’ve been able to share many of them …
One of my favorite ways to explore the vast collections of the Prints & Photographs Division is to look for connections between multiple collections that span different time periods. Quite by accident while searching for another photo in the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, I found this fascinating 1942 photo of a stop …
My latest Flickr album – Sweet 16 – A Golden Birthday for Flickr Commons – celebrated the 16th birthday of the Flickr Commons. When I was looking for images for the Flickr album, the photo below showed up in my search results, as the caption tells us that the bus made sixteen round trips daily: …