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Rare color photos from the 30ies and 40ies

skyvue

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,221
Location
New York City
No offense to you, RDW, but those photos really make the rounds. It's amazing how many websites have featured them, and how many threads have been started here in the Lounge about them.

They are great photos, though, and they clearly resonate with lots of folks.
 

rjb1

Practically Family
Messages
561
Location
Nashville
I had not seen all of them so I'm glad you brought them up.
One added comment is that since they are from Kodachrome film we can see the colors from 70 years ago in very accurate rendering. Since Kodachrome has been discontinued, people 70 years from now will not be able to see our world so accurately.
 

katiesparkles

One of the Regulars
Messages
187
Location
Rhode Island
I have never seen these, and I am simply amazed right now. It's like it was just a regular photoshoot with people "dressed up" maybe some time last week... but it's not. Wow.

Thanks for sharing these, I might be a minority here but I've never came across these before!
 

scottyrocks

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,161
Location
Isle of Langerhan, NY
I had not seen all of them so I'm glad you brought them up.
One added comment is that since they are from Kodachrome film we can see the colors from 70 years ago in very accurate rendering. Since Kodachrome has been discontinued, people 70 years from now will not be able to see our world so accurately.

Color photos such as these bridge the gap between our known world and the years prior to our birth if those years were represented primarily in black and white.

Most photos from the GE are B&W. This lends them a certain distance that very definitely separates them from our colorful reality. B&W images of long ago lead us to believe, at least on a superficial level, that the world of long ago was 'old' - black and white.

These kodachrome images bring it all into focus. A good point was made, too, about the reality of the color in these photos. This is more what the world looks like, and not the super-saturated colors of much today's digital media.

At any rate, I very much enjoy these color photos from the era of black and white predominance. Hey, they are just like us!
 

MikeBravo

One Too Many
Messages
1,301
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Most photos from the GE are B&W. This lends them a certain distance that very definitely separates them from our colorful reality. B&W images of long ago lead us to believe, at least on a superficial level, that the world of long ago was 'old' - black and white.

A few years ago the sun was setting and there must have been a sand storm earlier that day and the light made everything look sepia-toned. My daughter was about five years old at the time and said "Hey Dad, it looks like the olden days!"
 

ariellah

New in Town
Messages
21
Location
Germany
I have never seen these, and I am simply amazed right now. It's like it was just a regular photoshoot with people "dressed up" maybe some time last week... but it's not. Wow.

Thanks for sharing these, I might be a minority here but I've never came across these before!
I agree, it is almost scary how "now" they look. Very beautiful photos!
 

dhermann1

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,154
Location
Da Bronx, NY, USA
Actually, it's a good thing they keep getting rediscovered. There are always new details to find. BTW, picture # 6, the little girls at the State Fair, shows the three smaller girls in feed sack dresses. I discovered feed sacks a few years ago, looking for art deco era fabric to make kitchen curtains with. Feed companies, starting in 1919 and going right up into the 60s, sold their feed in sacks made of very decent quality cotton cloth, all 22 by 36 inches. You could unstitch them and have a very usable piece of printed fabric. Farm wives collected and swapped tham, making very nice dresses, curtains, etc. from them. If you enter "feedsack fabric" in Ebay, you'll see over 1800 hits, including a couple of very nice grown up ladies dresses, all made from feed sack fabric.
Thanks for (re) posting!
 

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