Westminster Exterior 1920.

Westminster exterior by J. Alphege Brewer (creator); Henry C. Brewer (etcher) 1920.

The Detroit Electric.

Production on the electric vehicles began in 1907, by what was then known as the Anderson Carriage Company. The vehicles were initially popular, with Clara Ford, wife of Henry Ford, being among their many famous owners.

The Detroit Electric going from Seattle to Mt. Rainier 1919.

The Anderson Electric Car was powered by a rechargeable lead acid battery, which was advertised as reliably getting 80 miles (130 km) between battery recharging. With a top speed of about 20 miles per hour (32 km/h), which was considered respectable for city driving, it was marketed to women and professionals who needed a reliable easy use vehicle.

Electric auto at re-charging station. August 25 1919.

Between 1910 and 1920 the high price of gas, and the first world war helped to push production to a peak of between 1000 and 2000 cars a year.
In 1920 the name of the Anderson Carriage company was changed to The Detroit Electric Car Company, with the car maker detaching its body business to a separate entity that became part of Murray Body and the motor/controller business which became Elwell-Parker.

A Detroit Electric automobile stopped on road by burnt-over land, with snow-covered mountain in background, Washington 1919.

The stock market crash of 1929 hit sales hard and the company filed for bankruptcy, some production did continue on a small scale for some years after, with cars being made to orders, The last Detroit Electric being sold in February 1939.

A Detroit Electric automobile on promotional tour through mountains from "Seattle to Mt. Rainier"1919.

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Detroit Electric

Detroit Electric Touring Car


The Photography Of Marion Post Wolcott.

A small selection of photographs by the celebrated American photographer Marion Post Wolcott. The photographs in this collection are selected from the photographic series taken by Marion Post Wolcott while working for the Farm Security Administration during the late 1930's and early 1940's.
This small selection of photographs show a snapshot of American life at the end of the depression era and the start of the war boom years. There seems to be a sense in the pictures of an ending of the rural, depression era, America, and the start of the confident post war America of the 1950's.

Cabins imitating the Indian teepee for tourists along highway south of Bardstown, Kentucky July 1940.

Natchitoches, Louisiana 1940.

Natchez, Mississippi August 1940.

The horse races, Hialeah Park, Miami, Florida 1939.

Sampling and classing cotton in classing rooms of cotton factor's office, Memphis, Tennessee 1939.

Farmers playing cards on a winter morning, Woodstock, Vermont 1939.

One of the hazards of driving over Kentucky mountain roads. Photograph taken Near Jackson, Breathitt County, Kentucky, July 1940.

Itinerant preacher from South Carolina saving the souls of the construction workers at Camp Livingston job near Alexandria, Louisiana, December 1940.

Natchez, Mississippi, August 1940.

Mountaineer trying to change a tire with a fence post as a jack. Up South fork of the Kentucky River, Breathitt County, Kentucky 1940.

Guest at a Sarasota trailer park, Sarasota, Florida. Beside her garden made of shells and odds and ends. The camp has garden club for members organized for the purpose of making the surroundings attractive, January 1941.

Corn shocks and fences on a farm near Marion, Virginia October 1940.

Shopping at a grocery store, Lakeland, Florida.

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All photographs are courtesy of the Library Of Congress At Washington D.C. F.S.A Collection.

The commuters

The commuters, Pennsylvania Station, Philadelphia, by Joseph Pennell.

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The physician of the x-rays

Etching of The physician of the x-rays by Ivo Saliger (1894-1987).

Cave of the winds 1888.

Cave of the winds, Niagara Falls by George Barker 1888.

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Cave of the Winds

Recycling 1920's Style.

A house constructed from recycled streetcars 1921.

Image Credit: the National Photo Company at The Library Of Congress At Washington D.C.

Steam Trains

A set of steam trains photographed by an unidentified photographer at the Office Of War Information sometime between 1940 and 1946.

Washington D.C. Streets In The 1920's.

A selection of street scenes taken in Washington D.C. in the 1920's, some of which follow in succession.

Picture 1: 13th & G Streets Washington D.C. 1924.
The first of two pictures taken in close succession on a Washington street in the 1920's.
On closer inspection you can see people from the first photograph still in the second exposure. The two police officers, for example, see in the bottom half of the first photograph have moved down to the corner by the barricades and are talking to a citizen.

Picture 2: 13th & G Streets Washington D.C. 1924.

The second set of pictures is again from an unidentified street, but is set over three exposures.

In this set you can see people come and go along the streets in front of the shops, while the shopkeeper at the confectioners comes outside and opens the awning over the shop windows.

Picture 1:Washington, D.C. 1924 unidentified street.

Picture 2: Washington, D.C. 1924 unidentified street.

Picture 3:Washington, D.C. 1924 unidentified street.

Unidentified Washington street 1923.

Trolley car passing street construction at corner of Pennsylvania & F. St., looking toward Treasury Building, Washington, D.C. 1919.

9th & F Streets 1919.

Finally another successive photograph set, again showing an unidentified street.

Picture 1: Unidentified Washington street.

Picture 2: Unidentified Washington street.

Automobile Showroom 1921.

Automobile showroom 1921 for the National Photo Company Collection (Library of Congress).

The Watson Grain Elevator 1883.

The Watson grain elevator, Buffalo, New York, By George Barker 1883.

Early Twentieth Century Japanese Woodblock Prints.

A small selection of early twentieth century Japanese woodblock prints with a water base theme.

Sanbashi Bridge in Fukugawa at night.

Kojima Island.

Snipe bird in reeds by Koson Ohara.

Evening sailboats by Koson Ohara.

Sailboats and Mount Fuji by Konen Uehara.

The sparkling sea by Hiroshi Yoshida.

Karasaki pines at night on Lake Biwa.

Evening sailboats by Koson Ohara.

Ocean waves by Konen Uehara.

Shubi Pine.

Waves by Konen Uehara.

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Lining Up For Coal And Water By Jack Delano.

One of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad's "400" fleet of locomotives lined up for coal and water at a coaling station, december 1942.

Image Credit: The Library Of Congress At Washington D.C. Jack Delano, 1942.

Steamboat Approaching The dock By George Barker.

Steamboat approaching the dock, the view from the Morgan house, Silver Springs, Florida 1886.

Image Credit: George Barker 1886, from the Library Of Congress At Washington D.C.

Rudder and screws of The S.S. Imperator 1912.

The SS Imperator was build in Hamburg Germany for the Hamburg American Line, when built she was the largest ocean liner in the world. She was the first of three successively larger Hamburg American Line ships that included the SS Vaterland and the SS Bismarck.

Image Credit: The Bain Collection at the Library Of Congress at Washington D.C.
Photograph of the Rudder and screws of the S.S. Iperator, taken in 1912 and showing Shipbuilders on scaffolding at the ships construction site in Hamburg, Germany.

With the outbreak of war in 1914 she was confined to port for the duration, until she was employed by the U.S Navy as the USS Imperator, a troop ship to return soldiers home from the front at the end of the war. After this assignment, she was given over to the British as part of the war reparations and renamed the RMS Berengaria under the Cunard line, were she sailed for the rest of her career.

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The Detroit Skyline 1942

Looking south from the Maccabees Building with the Detroit skyline in the distance, Detroit, Michigan 1942.

Image Credit: Arthur Siegel, for the Office Of War Information July 1942.