Shorpy love

So my google reader hasn't dropped below 50 unread posts in awhile, due to things I've been keeping unread to re-read, or post for you. At least 6 of them were Shorpy posts, and here they are:

Elk's Parade: 1916 - Great street/parade scene. Look at how big of a deal this is, when really all it seems to be is the local Elks lodge walking down the street. LOVE the simple elk silhouette banner.

Deer Island Light: 1906 - I love the simplicity of this image. The peaceful desolation. Check it out full size and imagine living on that thing for a bit. Peaceful and terrifying. Awe inspiring and boring. That's how I imagine it would be.

Clerks: 1925 - I have always enjoyed libraries. Stacks and stacks of information. This massive looking patent office is impressive in much the same way. So much stuff in there.

Donnie Cole: 1910 - This is one of Lewis Wickes Hine's images of young children at work. These pictures always have a tragic beauty to them. Apparently the truth behind the stories that go along with his pictures has been called into question before, as he was working to try to get these kids out of these situations, so he may have exaggerated a little. If that's what it took though, more power to him. Pictures of Donnie Cole by Hine have showed up before, and the accompanying story always gets me: "'Our baby doffer,' they called him. Said, after hesitation, 'I'm 12,' and another small boy added, 'He can't work unless he's twelve.'" Damn.

In My Room: 1943 - It feels like such a real moment has been captured here. Like you're actually in the room with her or something. Nice.

Westbound Freight: 1943 - Gotta close with a Jack Delano. I LOVE so many of Delano's pictures. They're always so crisp and perfect. And I can't argue with classic pictures of trains. His colour stuff is amazing. You can just feel the cold snap in this one. Bonus Delano.

(That's Delano up above by the way. Funny that the only pictures I could find of a guy who took such striking pictures are really boring...)

Oh, and if you're checking these pictures out, I highly recommend taking the whole thing in, then hitting that "View Full Size" link at the end of the info about the picture, and getting in there real close. Then maybe go back out to the smaller version to get it all back in context. Then maybe go back in real close and pore over that image but good.

I'm telling you, Shorpy is a pretty amazing site. What a chance to see the world of the past, and in nice high quality images too. Great site. Extremely highly recommended. Even if you only really like 1 picture in every 10, that one is enough to warrant looking at every other picture that did nothing for you.