# Fantastic Kodachome photos from the 1940s **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 13, 2012, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-kodachome-photos-from-the-1940s/615633 "2012-03-13T10:56:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-kodachome-photos-from-the-1940s/615633/21 "2012-03-14T05:37:03Z")
> [@Disposable Hero](#): > > And someone else stated they were apparently sourced from here: > > [Kodachromes | Shorpy | Old Photos](http://www.shorpy.com/image/tid/179) Climbs on soapbox: Ahem. The photos were not “sourced” from Shorpy. While Shorpy is a great, fun site, what it mostly does is aggregate pictures produced elsewhere. The pictures you linked to were produced by the federal government of the United States, through the Farm Security Administration and the Office of War Information. They are now hosted as a distinct [collection](http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsachtml/fsowhome.html) within the fantastic [American Memory](http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html) website at the Library of Congress. Not only can you find all these images at American Memory, but you can download the full-sized, high-resolution TIF versions of the images. I just downloaded one of the TIFs, and it was 138Mb, with a resolution of about 6000 x 8000 pixels (48 megapixels). I make a point of noting all of this because, with all the whining about government in modern America, plenty of Americans seem unaware that a substantial amount of awesome stuff just like this has been produced by the federal and state governments over the years and decades and centuries, and constitutes a fabulous resource and a repository for national memories. At least Shorpy, on its site, notes where the images come from. Sometimes LoC images are collected and used by newspaper and other media websites, without so much as an acknowledgement or a link to tell the readers where the material originated from. It annoys the fuck out of me, because Americans have paid for these images, and their government has done the work of collecting them, yet some asshole at a random newspaper website will grab them and post them as if they were his own great discovery. I complained about a similar case [recently](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14791070#post14791070) in another thread about old arrest photos from Australia. Thanks for listening. Climbs off soapbox. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Norse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a9adbd/32.png) [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-kodachome-photos-from-the-1940s/615633/22 "2012-03-14T06:45:35Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > The photos were not “sourced” from Shorpy. While Shorpy is a great, fun site, what it mostly does is aggregate pictures produced elsewhere. The pictures you linked to were produced by the federal government of the United States, through the Farm Security Administration and the Office of War Information. > > They are now hosted as a distinct [collection](http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsachtml/fsowhome.html) within the fantastic [American Memory](http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html) website at the Library of Congress. Not only can you find all these images at American Memory, but you can download the full-sized, high-resolution TIF versions of the images. I just downloaded one of the TIFs, and it was 138Mb, with a resolution of about 6000 x 8000 pixels (48 megapixels). Thanks for the info and the link, I’m a sucker for old photographs posted online in high quality. But I believe that you’ve got to admit that the pictures were a lot easier to find and browse on Shorpy. It seems to me that the American Memory website is more suitable for someone who’s looking for a specific image. And **Princhester** , thanks for threadshitting. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-kodachome-photos-from-the-1940s/615633/23 "2012-03-14T07:13:09Z")
You might want to look up the meaning of that word. Actually, I’ll do that [for you](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=320298). Relevantly: > [@](#): > > Threadshitting – basically, shitting on a discussion, by belittling the topic or the people discussing it. It typically takes the form of a dismissive comment, like “Who cares?” or “This is stupid!” or similar. The implication of the threadshitter is that discussion of such a topic is beneath them, and should be beneath everybody else. The OP amounts to: “here’s some photos, I like them”. My posts amount to “I don’t like them and here’s why”. Cogent contrary opinions are not threadshitting. Your post appears somewhat precious. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-kodachome-photos-from-the-1940s/615633/24 "2012-03-14T12:53:10Z")
One thing I notice is that the pictures are perfectly focused and the exposure is set correctly. I know from scanning in pictures is that perfectly focused picture is rare. I haven’t dealt with much film before automatic exposure. As other people noted the lighting is good also. I think the focus is actually more important than the resolution on these pictures. We aren’t looking at huge jpegs in any case. ---
**Author:** ![Suil\_Dubh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@Suil\_Dubh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suil_Dubh)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-kodachome-photos-from-the-1940s/615633/25 "2012-03-14T13:52:12Z")
I really hate these interesting old photos too! ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-kodachome-photos-from-the-1940s/615633/26 "2012-03-14T15:28:40Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Yes, they are such an accurate historical record. It really is true that in the early 1940’s American women wore perfectly clean blouses colour matched to their surroundings, coming to work after having their hair and makeup done, and had perfectly clean hands, and worked under direct mood lighting, perfectly posed, while _building engines and aircraft during a war_. > > That’s what life was like. Overalls, grime, harsh factory lighting, tiredness etc didn’t exist back then. Life was like a bunch of models in a Sears catalogue. No, really, that’s what it was like. > > It isn’t about b&w vs colour, it’s about posed vs unposed. I don’t care one whit that they’re posed. They’re people in the 1940s. It’s cool (for me) to see them pictured in full color. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-kodachome-photos-from-the-1940s/615633/27 "2012-03-14T15:47:49Z")
> [@Norse](#): > > But I believe that you’ve got to admit that the pictures were a lot easier to find and browse on Shorpy. Yes, that is certainly true. > [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > One thing I notice is that the pictures are perfectly focused and the exposure is set correctly. I know from scanning in pictures is that perfectly focused picture is rare. I haven’t dealt with much film before automatic exposure. As other people noted the lighting is good also. I think the focus is actually more important than the resolution on these pictures. Well, these pictures weren’t taken by rank amateurs with box brownies. Many of the photographers hired by the FSA-OWI were talented professionals, and they were mostly using 4x5 field cameras, usually mounted on large tripods. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-kodachome-photos-from-the-1940s/615633/28 "2012-03-14T17:46:24Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Yes, that is certainly true.Well, these pictures weren’t taken by rank amateurs with box brownies. Many of the photographers hired by the FSA-OWI were talented professionals, and they were mostly using 4x5 field cameras, usually mounted on large tripods. Yeah these photos look like something from Time-Life. I suspect these pictures would still look great if done on 35mm. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-kodachome-photos-from-the-1940s/615633/29 "2012-03-14T17:54:31Z")
I like them. They make me think all the world’s a sunny day. Oh yeah. mmm [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-kodachome-photos-from-the-1940s/615633.md?page=1)