Documenting America: Scenes of Early-Century New York City Life in Paintings of John French Sloan
Sunday Women, Drying Their Hair, 1912
John French Sloan (August 2, 1871 – September 7, 1951) was an American painter and etcher. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Ashcan school of American art. Continue reading »
Suspicious Aliens in the Wild West: Superb Drawings by Mark Rogers
Why is the United States one of the most influential countries in the world today? According to artist Mark Rogers, aliens are likely to be involved. Continue reading »
Fascinating Vintage Photographs of Scooter Enthusiasts in Nebraska, 1945
Dmitiri Kessel/LIFE Picture Collection
The Cushman scooter company started in 1903 in Lincoln, Nebraska, by Everett and Clinton Cushman. The company incorporated as Cushman Motor Works in 1913. Cushman began production of their four-stroke Husky engine in 1922. Continue reading »
Gorgeous Photos of American Actress and Model Joan Staley in the 1950s and ’60s
Born 1940 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, American actress and model Joan Staley joined The Little Theater in Hollywood with roles in The Robe, Fiona in Brigadoon, and My Sister Eileen with actress Jo Anne Worley. This led to small roles in live television, such as Playhouse 90, Climax!, and Westinghouse Studio One. These appearances opened the door for her in film and television. Continue reading »
Skirts and Saddle Shoes: Favorite Styles of ’40s Teenage Girls
The term ‘teenager’ was coined in 1941, and Seventeen magazine printed its first issue in 1944, showing off young teenager-targeted clothing and interests. It was a new market, one that was somewhere between girls and college-age young women. Continue reading »
Back To Beat Street: Photos of Hip-Hop In The Bronx Back in the 1980s
Sophie Bramly spent 1982 to 1984 photographing clubs and culture in the Bronx. The New York borough was home to new sound and look. Continue reading »
Portrait Photos Defined Hairstyles of American Young Men in the 1970s
Men’s hair was rocked long until the mid-1970s when everything changed following the hippie lifestyle. As opposed to the shaggy haircuts of the ’60s, most ’70s men’s haircuts were styled with soft and long layers. Continue reading »
Stunning Snapshots of America in Crisis in the 1970s
By the late 1960s, the American landscape was ravaged by decades of unchecked land development, blighted by urban decay in the big cities, and plagued by seemingly unstoppable air, noise, and water pollution.
In November 1971, the newly created Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a monumental photodocumentary project to “photographically document subjects of environmental concern” in the United States. The collection, now at the National Archives, resulted in a collection of more than 20,000 photographs by its conclusion in 1978.
Water cooling towers of the John Amos Power Plant loom over a home located across the Kanawha River, near Poca, West Virginia, August 1973. (Harry Schaefer)
With support from the first EPA administrator, William Ruckelshaus, project director Gifford D. Hampshire contracted well-known photographers to work for the EPA on the project. Estimates of the number involved range between 70 and 120, and they were organized geographically, with each photographer working in a particular area in which they were already active. Continue reading »
Mike’s Motels 1974: Atmospheric Retro Photos of the Roadside Motels by Mike Mandel
According to Mike Mandel: “Working on the Baseball Photographer Trading Cards, traveling throughout the country, my girlfriend at the time, Alison Woolpert, and I would stay at some, shall we say, “economy” motels. We pulled into one in Texas on a wintry night and upon waking in the morning we realized that the sheets had not been changed after the visit of the previous motel guest. Continue reading »
Evocative Photos of Life in Texas in the 1970s
Dallas, 1972
By the late 1960s, the American landscape was ravaged by decades of unchecked land development, blighted by urban decay in the big cities, and plagued by seemingly unstoppable air, noise, and water pollution. Continue reading »
Fascinating Nostalgic Black and White Photos of Daily Life in Michigan in 1970s and ’80s
These pictures were taken by Don Hudson, an experienced amateur photographer born on December 29, 1950 in Detroit, Michigan, during his student days at the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts, now called College for Creative Studies. Continue reading »
Historic Photos of USS Recruit, a Dreadnought Battleship Built in Union Square From 1917-1920
USS Recruit was a wooden mockup of a dreadnought battleship constructed by the United States Navy in Manhattan in New York City, as a recruiting tool and training ship during the First World War. Commissioned as if it were a normal vessel of the U.S. Navy and manned by a crew of trainee sailors, Recruit was located in Union Square from 1917 until the end of the war. Continue reading »
Vintage Photos of Ugly Restaurants in the USA From the Mid-20th Century
The 1950s was a truly unique moment in time. Fresh out of World War II, the world – and North America in particular – were embracing prosperity and a strong economy, built and spurred on by the war. Continue reading »
Amazing Vintage Photos of Postwar New York From 1945 to 1948
3rd Avenue from 42nd Street El Station, 1945
These stunning pictures of postwar New York were taken by Todd Webb, an American photographer notable for documenting everyday life and architecture in large cities as well as from the American west. He did various jobs before the war and began taking a serious interest in photography after attending a ten-day workshop with Ansel Adams as his teacher in 1940. During World War II, Webb was a photographer for the United States Navy and was deployed to the South Pacific theater of operations. Continue reading »
The World of the Wild (and Not-so-Wild) West: A Paintings by Morgan Weistling
Morgan Weistling is an American painter who paints the everyday life and characters of the Wild West. An accomplished painter, Weistling is skilled in both paint and printmaking, creating truly inspiring paintings of beauty and danger. Weistling’s paintings have won multiple awards and been purchased for permanent display by major museums. Continue reading »
Amazing Photographs of Teenage Skateboarder Laura Thornhill Caswell in the 1970s
Laura Thornhill Caswell was born in 1961 in Dallas, Texas, where she grew up. She was an avid roller skater as a young child. The day she saw a skateboard, something changed, and she knew she was destined to ride. Continue reading »
Captivating Vintage Photos of People in Encampment, Wyoming From Between the 1920s and 1930s
When her youngest child reached 4 years of age and the Nichols family committed to remaining in Encampment after the last of the mining and railroad work left town, Lora Webb Nichols (1883-1962) purchased a storefront and established the Rocky Mountain Studio in the center of Encampment, Wyoming. Continue reading »
Amazing Photos Capture Street Scenes of New York City in the 1990s
At the dawn of the 1990s, New York City was in an unremittingly bleak state. Following two decades of continuous decay, 1990 brought yet another all-time record high in violent crime and to this day, 1990 and the three years that followed remain the most homicide-plagued stretch in the city’s last five decades. The 1990s had quickly positioned itself to become the city’s worst decade yet. Continue reading »
Vintage Snaps Capture Life at Venice Beach in 1970
The smell of the ocean, the feel of sand on your feet and the burning of incense bring back the memories of a golden era in Venice Beach. These vintage snapshots were taken by Howard Gribble that show life at Venice Beach in 1970. Continue reading »
Beautiful Portraits of Highland Park High School Teenage Girls, 1947
Cornell Capa/LIFE Photo Archive
Highland Park High School is a public, co-educational high school located immediately north of downtown Dallas in University Park, Dallas County, Texas. It is a part of the Highland Park Independent School District, which serves residents who are predominantly college-educated professionals and business leaders in the Dallas community. It serves: all of the city of University Park, most of the town of Highland Park, and portions of Dallas. Continue reading »
This Library Attracts The Public By Dressing Up One Librarian’s Cat As Literary And Movie Icons
The Center County Library is a public library (with three different branches) located in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, USA. However, what separates this library from all the others is the fact that it has a very special employee: a cat named Horatio. Every week, Horatio stars in the hashtag #caturday on the establishment’s Instagram, contributing some really wholesome pictures. Continue reading »
Remember When Traveling by Train Was Wonderful in the 1950s
Before the start of Amtrak in 1971, the Sunset Limited was operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad. The Sunset Limited is the oldest named train in the United States, operating since November 1894 along the Sunset Route (though originally named the Sunset Express). The Sunset Route (originating in New Orleans) is the southernmost of the three gateways to the West Coast envisioned through the Pacific Railroad Acts. The other two embarked from Chicago and St. Louis. Continue reading »
Once Upon A Time, You Could Ride a Train Right Through the Orange Groves in Southern California
“These cards seems to be part of an advertising campaign by the Southern California Tourist Agency. It probably isn’t, but it certainly highlights the attitude that people had about Southern California. Imagine, Easterners coming to Southern California for the first time and, as the train passes through the orange groves to get to Los Angeles, crowding the back platform of the last car to get a better look at the trees laden with fruit! Continue reading »
The Art of the National Parks: Beautiful Posters Celebrating Famous US Parks
Great Smoky Mountains by Chris Turnham
ART OF THE NATIONAL PARKS is a beautiful art book that displays the unique beauty of each U.S. National Park, as captured by the Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series. Continue reading »
A Visual Record of New Jersey Bikes & Ink in the 80s in Photographs by Pulsating Paula
Pulsating Paula tapped us with her eye-popping photographic archive of the New Jersey bike and tattoo crowd she shot back in the ’80s & ’90s. Continue reading »
