Of Postcards and Postage I love postcards. I send them, collect them, and even make them. In my latest Flickr album, You’ve Got Mail, I included a 1939 photo of what was described as the “largest postcard ever sent through the mail.” A regular postcard cost one cent to mail in that year. I spot an interesting error in the original caption for the photo. It states that “it took $1.50 in stamps to carry the card.” Being a stamp nerd, I wanted to get a closer look at the postage on the card. This was possible because of the high-resolution scan made from the original glass negative. Look at all the postage in the upper right corner of the…
Category: Picture this
Live at the Library: Women in Photography, Stories from the Not an Ostrich Exhibition
If you are in the D.C. area, please join us on Thursday, March 16, to celebrate Women’s History Month with Women in Photography, Stories from the Not an Ostrich Exhibition, from 6 to 8 p.m., in the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building. Photojournalist Sharon Farmer, the first woman and the first African American to be director of the White House Photography Office, and Anne Tucker, curator emerita at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas, will share stories of women photographers and their own work with the Library’s exhibition. Register here to attend. The event is first come, first served, so grab your tickets quickly! In the meantime, enjoy a virtual tour through the online version of the exhibit: “Not…
Shave and a Haircut: The Blog
The barber pole is an internationally recognized symbol of the barbering trade. In my latest Flickr album, Shave and a Haircut, you will see a small selection of images of barber poles from the Prints and Photographs Division. The collections hold many more photos than I could use in the album. This is the kind of barber pole that I remember from my youth: Barber pole (manufactured by the Marvy Company), Minneapolis, Minnesota. Photo by John Margolies, 1984. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/mrg.01748 There are many other types of barber poles represented in P&P holdings. Painted wooden poles were sometimes used to great effect: Barber poles, Belle Fourche, South Dakota. Photo by Russell Lee, November 1937. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8a22420 Much less traditional is this Volkswagen decorated…
You Say Potato…I Say Pototem!
While searching our collections for a photo, I came across the following image and my natural curiosity required me to zoom in and read the text: Poster distributed throughout Aroostook County, Maine by the potato growers association advertising the barrel rolling contest in Presque Isle. Photo by Jack Delano, 1940 Oct. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8c03316 Because I didn’t grow up in a region known for potato farming, it was surprising to learn of potato barrel rolling as an event! I absolutely had to find out more. Farm Security Administration photographer Jack Delano spent some time in Presque Isle, Maine, in October 1940 and answered many of my questions about this event through the photos he took. Join me as I show you what…