America, 1935-1945

I just realized that this is my 100th post! I'm glad that it's one that I think is really special, and that I'm genuinely excited to be sharing with you all.
One of the famous images of the Great Depression is the pea picker's wife, her face dirty and creased with concern, two of her children hiding their faces against her and a third, a baby, in her lap.

That photo was taken by a photographer from the Farm Security Administration, and there are a lot more where it came from. Like, a lot a lot. Almost 175,000 more, to be exact, and they've recently been digitized by the Library of Congress, and tagged with information like who took them, where, and who the people in the photos are, if it's known.
A project at Yale University, Photogrammar, has taken those archives and organized them into an interactive map, viewable by county. I just found this yesterday, and of course that last few hours of my day were given over to poring over the images. I started with Chicago, but I'm excited to see images from everyday life from around the rest of America as well. Here are some of my favorites from the place I call home.
Anything with a well dressed woman prominantly featured obviously caught my attention.

Bidding farewell to someone departing on a Greyhound bus.

A woman in a fur coat kissing her boyfriend, a soldier, goodbye in Union Station.

A WAC waiting for her train in Union Station.

I don't remember who exactly this young woman is, but I believe that she also works at Union Station. Just look at the beautifully set hair.

A young African American woman on the South Side tries on a skirt. Love the strong-shouldered silhouette.

A nurse working in a clinic on Chicago's South Side. Her eyes just have such depth.

The floor show at an African-American cabaret.

A young couple walking down Michigan Avenue. I really want to try to recreate her outfit.

This photo of three women waiting for the Easter Promenade outside of a South Side church is one of my favorite images. THOSE HATS.
There are some fantastically atmospheric shots as well.

Like this one, taken inside Union Station. At its peak during WWII, Union Station saw 300 trains and 100,000 passengers a day.

Two women waiting for a streetcar on a foggy day.

A ship heads down the Chicago River. I know exactly where this was taken, because the building on the far left is still standing.

I really, really encourage all of my fellow vintage enthusiasts to check out this fantastic archive. I love the glimpse that it's given me into the everyday lives of people living in my city so long ago, and I think it's really fantastic that this project focused on people that we don't really have that many surviving images of.

Life Magazine and Lauren Bacall

My darling boyfriend went camping in Colorado a couple of weeks back, and when he came back he brought me a little present.

A 1944 issue of Life Magazine with Lauren Bacall on the cover! It was just a few days before she died, so I'm feeling extra sentimental about it now.

The caption for this photo reads "Lauren (born Betty) Bacall plays her first movie roll opposite Humphrey Bogart in To Have and Have Not. This new movie find is 5'61/2" tall, weighs 119 lbs., has blue-green eyes. Her naturally blonde hair is streaked from hours of sitting in the sun. Off the screen she is gangly and awkward. Lauren's next picture, in which she again plays opposite Humphrey Bogart, will be The Big Sleep. Lauren is unmarried."
I found this so funny. I mean, in modern magazines you might get a little blurb about the shooting process or makeup used or some photo credits in this same spot, but not a fairly long description of what the cover star looks like. I also find it funny that on screen she's described as "catlike" (see the photo below), but here she's called "gangly and awkward." Very interesting.


That dress is just killer. Weirdly on trend by today's standards too, with the cutouts.

Sharing an onscreen kiss with Humphrey Bogart, the love of her life.
While Bogie and Bacall are now remembered as a classic Hollywood couple and an epic romance, it was a bit of a scandal back in the day. He was married, he was a drinker, and she was 25 years younger than she was. They had a brief affair and exchanged some really passionate love letters before he attempted to reconcile with his wife, Mayo, who was nicknamed "Sluggy" and had a temperament to match. However, that was short lived before they divorced, and just a few months later Bogart and Bacall were married.
The entire magazine was really a treasure trove. It's kind of stunning how all-encompassing the war really was. Scarcely a page goes buy without someone exhorting you to "Buy More War Bonds!", even literally telling you to "Buy More Than You Think You Can Afford." A lot of ads also talk about rationing, shortages, and the lives of the young men and women on the front lines.



This one is all about how changes in the lives of the members of this family due to the war efforts have actually made things better for them.

I thought this Bird's Eye ad was pretty funny - it's basically saying "look, don't get mad at us because you can't get the tuna you're looking for. There's a war on!"

I would looooove a pair of Gaytees overshoes, but now I feel like I don't deserve them.

And the ladies be getting all swoony over the soldier boys.

See? Swoon. And now I want a Chesterfield.

Actually, scratch that, I'll be an Old Gold girl if it means I get her outfit.

Speaking of cuties, isn't this illustration for a Barbasol ad great? I love that classic pinup pose.

This ad isn't that interesting, but I loved it because I actually have a dress with a label that says "Sanforized". It's just kind of cool to see something that ties my vintage wardrobe into the time period in which it was produced.

Got to love all these beautiful ladies, but I'm going to stick with calling this style of necklace a choker. Although now that I think about it, it's not really any less kinky than "dog collar."

This little article about the "Evolution of Overalls" is also really on point for today's fashions. I just saw a pair from the repro brand Nudeedudee that are a dead ringer for pair number two.
Of course, some things have changed in the 70 years since this magazine came out.

This article about using tough, lean beef to save money is kind of funny in modern context, when grass fed (as opposed to corn fed) beef can easily be twice as expensive.


I also got a kick out of this ad from Listerine, recommending it as a treatment for "INFECTIOUS DANDRUFF!" Of course, dandruff isn't actually infectious, and when I first read this I assumed that it was one of those silly things that they made up to boost sales, but there are some people who swear by it to cure the kind of dandruff you get from a mild yeast infection on your scalp, rather than that more common kind of you get when your scalp is dry.

Also, shoes. Shoes are great. I would like these ones for this price, please.