Snowball Fight!

I could wait till winter to share these-- but they're too good to wait! When there's snow, people across the decades just can't resist.

Anti-aircraft gunners of WWI having a snowball fight after duty. Source

College kids snowball-fighting, Maine, 1939. Source

Brits enjoying their bit of snow, 1951. Source

As captioned, a snowball fight on the steps of the Capitol Building in Tallahassee, Florida, 1899. Source

Chicago school kids on a visit to Stockholm, 1966. Source

Karizawa resort in Japan, 1964. Source

Snowball fight at the Timberline Lodge Ski Party, 1942, USA. Source

A 1930s snowball fight. Source

Student having a snowball fight with his date at a college in Maine, 1939. Source

Oregon students with snowballs.. I don't know, 50s? Source

The members of research expedition Operation Windmill playing in the Antarctic snow, 1947. Source

The War Effort

 Another series of photographs showing the men and especially woman of the home front hard at work during World War Two. A bit posed for photographical purposes, sure, but the people,  their jobs, and their conviction are very real. (The first series is here).

From the endlessly amazing Library of Congress archives.

A mechanic at work on a motor. Source

Painting insignia on a plane. Source

A hydraulic mechanic greasing landing gear. Source

On a lunch break at an aircraft plant. Source

A sailor mechanic refueling a plane. Source

Riveting. Source

At work-- riveting, I think. Source

Wing brace assembly for a B-25. Source

Checking electrical assemblies. Source

London Transport Poster Spotting II

Yes, we're back at it! Finding London Transport Posters in their native environments, 1930s. (The first set in this series is here).

Of course these are thanks to the wonderful London Transport Museum collections!

Manor House Underground Station, 1932. Source

The posters, left to right, are these by Louis Whirter, also from 1932:

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A themed set outside St. James's Park station, 1931: Source

The posters are this wonderful series by Andre Edouard Marty, 1931:

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A zoomed out view of St. James Park Station. You can see the four posters to the left of the doors.   Source

The Wonder of Alfred Eisenstaedt

I can't say enough about the photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt. I would count so many of his photographs among the best ever taken-- and on so many subjects. He is rightly renowned as a photojournalist, capturing just the right moments-- that famous photo of the sailor kissing a girl on VJ day (see this post) is his, as are this set of wartime goodbyes at Penn Station. But he is also a master of architectural photography both the simple and the abstract, of compositions, of moments glimpsed, of masterful portraiture. He worked for much of his career for LIFE magazine, and so many of his best photographs are a part of their archive (which I've praised before!). 

But, enough talking. We'll explore more of his work, but here are just a few examples of the variety and genius of Alfred Eisenstaedt. 

Monks walking along the river Arno, Florence, Italy, 1935. Source

Detail of the food building at the World's Fair in New York, 1939. Source

Parisian children on a merry-go-round, 1963. Source

Italian officer on a sled in the Italian Alps, 1934. Source

A speeding steam train, Georgia USA, 1938. Source

The Brooklyn Bridge, NYC, 1983. Source

An illuminated St. Peter's Bascilia in the Vatican, 1934. Source

Another building detail from the 1939 World's Fair, NYC. Source

Frank Lloyd Wright working at his home Taliesin in Wisconsin, 1956. Source

A view of Manhatten, c. 1939. Source

Waiters learning to serve cocktails on skates at the Grand Hotel, St. Mortiz, Switzerland, 1931. Source

Multnomah Falls, Oregon, 1938. Source

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

I'll be the first to admit baseball isn't my thing at all, but it is one of my dad's great loves and so I thought I'd use it as a jumping off point-- and, of course, in the world of online collections there's loads that will delight and intrigue even the least sporty among us. I may in fact have to do a second baseball post at some point!

Naturally, this post is dedicated to my dad. 

Good old-fashioned Victorian baseball! (this is a stereograph view, 3-D with the appropriate viewer, hence the two images). Source

Home! (but, safe?). The All American Girls Professional Baseball League in a practice game in Florida, 1948. The players are Marg Callahan, sliding, and the catcher Vivian Kellogg. Source

Old baseball cards are a world of fun. Since shutter speeds weren't fast enough for action shots, you get these wonderful 'baseball in action' poses. I think the ball's on a string. The player is unidentified, but one of the Philadelphia Quakers. Source

And a nice 'dive to home'. Monte Ward on a baseball card, 1888. Source

A couple baseball men famous enough even I know their names. Christy Matheson ('Matty') and Ty Cobb, 1911. Source

The New York Female Giants team, 1913. 

A rather beautiful photograph of Cleveland Indian Napolean Lajoie, 1908. Source

Oh yes, stripy baseball hats of old. Ed Andrews of the Philadelphia Quakers, late 19th century. Source

Marty McHale of the Yankees, 1913. Source

And you're out! They didn't even bother to pretend it wasn't a studio in this one. Don't you love the carpet? Charlie Ferguson and Tommy McCarthy, no later than 1888 (Ferguson died in 1888 of typhoid, aged only 25). Source