Picking some okra from Papaw’s garden:

From the picnic at the Geyser:

Charlie Brown's pub showing curiosities brought back by sailors

The National Maritime Museum is on Flickr with a number of sets, including Animals at Sea, photos of the London Port area, and several concerning museum operations (such as conservation and installation).

This collection is another great visual history resource.  I hope that they continue to add images to their collections because I know that they have a great archive of vintage images.

June 1940. Melrose, Louisiana. "A crossroads store, bar, 'juke joint' and gas station in the cotton plantation area." 35mm color transparency by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration.

For some information on Jax Beer, click here.

Image via Shorpy

"Photograph of Camel Corps two Sihks mounted in fighting order." Photograph taken by Felice Beato on the Nile Expedition to relieve Khartoum. 1884/5

The National Archives (formerly known as the Public Records Office) at Kew have joined Flickr.  They have added about 200 items in seven sets.  The images range from the photos of Felice Beato to Historic Documents to a handful of artifacts.

Sample Child's Ration Book. Throughout the 1940s (and for nine years after the end of the war) every man woman and child in Britain owned ration books of coupons for food and clothing. The Ministry of Food's carefully formulated diet is generally believed to have improved the nation's health.

Hopefully they will continue to post images from the Archives … from my work there during my doctoral research, they have a wonderful collection full of great stories and great images!

Osler Family at 7 Norham Gardens, Oxford, 1905

From the Marjorie Howard Futcher Photo Collection:

The youngest daughter of the influential McGill University physician and Dean of Medicine Robert Palmer Howard, Gwendolen Marjorie Howard Futcher (1882-1969) was born into a social milieu which included some of the most prominent Canadian business, political, and academic figures and families of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This collection consists of two of her photo albums of images from the 1890s and first decade of the twentieth century, when she was known as Gwendolen Marjorie Howard. It chronicles her school years in Germany and England, her life in Montreal during her late teenage years and early twenties, as well as visits with friends and relatives to various destinations in Canada, Bermuda, Britain, and Europe.

From my quick rummage through the collection, this could be a great resource for a variety of historians.  From the bio of Marjorie, she was an upper-class late-Victorian/Edwardian lady who was well-traveled and well-respected.  Her photo albums provide an interesting peek into both her social life and, for me, the ways (aka photographic technologies used) that memories were preserved.

William Jennings Bryan (seated at left) being interrogated by Clarence Seward Darrow, during the trial of the State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, July 20, 1925.

Last November, a new donation of Scopes Trial Photos was made to the Smithsonian Archives and the Archives has posted them to a Flickr set about the trial.  Like the original set that was discovered in 2005, these new images are great visual historical resource for one of the key events in twentieth-century US history.

Clarence S. Darrow (center) standing near Rhea County Courthouse with unidentified man (left) and Arthur Garfield Hays (right), Dayton, Tennessee, probably July 20, 1925.

George Washington Rappleyea

Fred E. Robinson (at right) owned the drugstore where local business leaders persuaded schoolteacher John Thomas Scopes to consent to be charged with violating state law by teaching about evolution. The sign on the tabletop says: “AT THIS TABLE THE SCOPES EVOLUTION CASE WAS STARTED MAY 5, 1925.”

Check out all of the wonderful images out on Flickr!

While she is best known for the Migrant Mother, many of her other works are visually more interesting and tell much better stories …

Oregon, August 1939. "Unemployed lumber worker goes with his wife to the bean harvest. Note Social Security number tattooed on his arm." (And now a bit of Shorpy scholarship/detective work. A public records search shows that 535-07-5248 belonged to one Thomas Cave, born July 1912, died in 1980 in Portland. Which would make him 27 years old when this picture was taken.)

Or, something closer to home (aka, North Carolina) …

Fourth of July 1939 near Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Rural filling stations become community centers and general loafing grounds. Cedargrove Team members about to play in a baseball game.

For me, both of these images speak volumes. The top image is of two people that, in today’s world, could make a good living with their looks but who are having to live meal-to-meal. The bottom image shows the type of community that is rare to find today, plus I love the vintage baseball uniforms.

What is this box being stuck in my face?

Out on a walk ... hopefully my next home will have its' own yard!

Watch me go !!!

Look at me fly ...

GGGGOOOOOAAAAALLLLL !!!!

Come on slow pokes ...

For more images of one of Phoenix’s last trips to Port Meadow, click here.

Heading off to my Viva ...

Yesterday was one of the last steps on my journey to earn my doctorate!  I had my viva and it went well.  I have two weeks to make my minor corrections and return the finalized document.  So, I am that much closer to be done!

Before the Viva …

After the Viva …

Okay, I have finally got around to posting our trip photos … to see the gallery, click here.

In the next few days, I will be posting more information about what we did and where we went.