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Category: Photographs

A Few of My Favorite Things

Posted by: Jan Grenci

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 …

Come Fly With Me – Part Two

Posted by: Jan Grenci

Last week, we started a compare/contrast journey through Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia via photographs taken by Jack Delano in July of 1941 for the Farm Security Administration and by me in April of 2024. Our journey concludes this week with four more picture sets. First up is an exterior shot: Let’s return to …

Come Fly With Me – Part One

Posted by: Jan Grenci

In July of 1941, Jack Delano photographed Washington National Airport, in Arlington, Virginia, for the Farm Security Administration. The airport had opened a month earlier. Earlier this month, I went to the airport to try to replicate some of Mr. Delano’s photos. I concentrated on what in 1941 was known as the waiting room and …

Posters Working Together

Posted by: Jan Grenci

I love to keep an eye out for photos from the P&P collections that show posters being displayed. I then search the poster collection to see if we have a copy of the actual poster. Here are some of the better examples from the World War II era. A 1942 poster by Jean Carlu, produced …

The First Three

Posted by: Jan Grenci

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: …

On The Ice

Posted by: Jan Grenci

I’d like to share an image that I didn’t use for my latest Flickr album – On the Ice. The photo is from the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection (FSA/OWI) and was retrieved when I searched in the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) using the search term “skating”: At first glance, it …

Another Miracle on 34th Street

Posted by: Jan Grenci

My latest Flickr album features a building that was once the tallest in the world, the Empire State Building. I particularly enjoy this photo, taken in 1933 by Theodor Horydczak. It shows the skyscraper on July 4th, from Fifth Avenue and East 41st Street: Ever wonder what was at the site of the Empire State …

Swanning About in a Boat

Posted by: Jan Grenci

At the 1898 Trans-Mississippi & International Exposition held in Omaha, Nebraska, visitors could take a ride on a lagoon on a swan boat. I included a stereograph showing the swan boat in my latest Flickr album Stereographs of Fairs and Expositions: I’ve found more swan boats from other places and times in the varied holdings …

Not Enough Cats

Posted by: Jan Grenci

There is no question that Toni Frissell loved dogs. She often photographed her own dogs and also took photos of canines she met on her many photographic assignments. One of her dogs, an Italian greyhound named Bambi, is featured in this color test photo that is included in my latest Flickr album – Toni Frissell …