Arizona - A group of cowboys exit a plane in Phoenix
Arizona - A Hopi Indian and his burro stand at the edge of a high mesa, near Walapai
Arizona - An informal portrait of Nampeyo, a famous Hopi potter
Arizona - Dude ranch guests pretend to be cowboys
Arizona - Portrait of a Hopi Indian holding one of the baskets she's made
Arizona - Portrait of Hopi Snake Clan priest adorned in paint and ornaments
Arizona - Two men stand by a car in a field looking at the nearby canyons, Moenkopi Wash, Western Navajo Indian Reservation
California - A family on the bank of a water body with a view of a cliff waterfall, Yosemite
California - A man repairs a light on the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco
California - A woman picks wildflowers in a Paso Robles field
California - A woman poses in rippled sand dunes near Crescent City
California - A woman stands at the edge of a pond observing the view, near Mount Shasta
California - Fishing boats in a San Francisco Harbor with the city as a backdrop
California - Lumbermen conversing among fallen giant redwood trees, Scotia
California - Woman adorned like a Chinese goddess poses in a garden
Connecticut - A tobacconist poses next to his statue of a Native American Indian, Danbury
Florida - A child and an adult stand by a tiled sea horse at the Carillon Tower, Iron Mountain
Florida - A girl gets into a car in front of a house covered in Flame vines, Tarpon Springs
Florida - A young woman stands by a garden full of poinsettias beside a house, Coral Gables
Florida - Crowds form at a Miami Beach pool for a swim competition
Florida - Six women sit on a St. Petersburg beach with the water behind them
Florida - The guests play "Obstacle Golf" on the lawn of a Davis Island hotel, Tampa Bay
Florida - Two girls pose with rifles, dressed for the Gasparilla Carnival, Tampa
Hawaii - A group of surfers on Waikiki beach pose leaning against their boards, Honolulu, Oahu Island
Indiana - A group of women hold bouquets of Gladiolus, near Goshen
Iowa - Men harvest corn in a Polk County field
Iowa - Women compare an original painting with its reproduction, Red Oak
Louisiana - A Choctaw Indian woman makes baskets from palmetto leaves, near Lacombe
Louisiana - A girl sits spinning cotton into yarn in preparation for cloth
Louisiana - A group of people from a Natchitoches art colony paint ouside
Louisiana - A view of a street in the French Quarter, New Orleans
Louisiana - A woman sits outside the doorway of New Orlean's Absinthe House
Louisiana - A woman sitting on stone steps in The French Quarter, New Orleans, sells pralines
Louisiana - An informal portrait of a young New Orleans boy eating watermelon
Louisiana - Children gather by a vendor selling "snowball" treats, New Orleans
Louisiana - Five boys sit together, eating large watermelon slices, New Orleans
Louisiana - Two Creole women standing in the doorway to their Uptown home, New Orleans
Louisiana - A vendor sells pralines in the French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana
Maryland - A child and her dog walk down the dock to meet the mail boat, Tylerton
Maryland - A group of actors portray an exhibit at The Fair of the Iron Horse, near Baltimore
Maryland - The Fair of the Iron Horse, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad exhibit. The "Atlantic", circa 1832. Locomotive and two coaches.
Maryland - Pilots inspect their planes at the Congressional Airport, Maryland
Maryland - Women relax on Smith Island, weaving fabrics and talking
Mississippi - A group of dancers perform at the Mississippi State College for Women, Columbus
Mississippi - A woman admires pictures at the Lauren Rogers Gallery, Laurel
Mississippi - A woman works in a factory testing radio instruments, Greenwood
Mississippi - A young girl removes raw fiber from spools to spindles for weaving, Hattiesburg
Mississippi - High school bands march on Capital street for an annual contest, Jackson
Mississippi - Women hold seven flags at site of historic lighthouse in Biloxi
Mississippi - Women walk down a spiral staircase in an ancestral home, City Park, Natchez
Mississippi - Young women have tea in a French inspired mansion
Montana - A chief on the Crow Indian Reservation
Montana - A Crow Indian child wears a buckskin dress of beads and teeth, Crow Indian Reservation
Montana - A portrait of the Indian 'Red Tomahawk', Crow Indian Reservation
Montana - An informal portrait of 'Red Tomahawk', Crow Indian Reservation
Montana - An informal portrait of the Indian named "White man runs him", Crow Indian Reservation
Montana - Native American children pose on a blanket
Montana - Portrait of a Flathead chief adorned in strips of the popular ermine, Glacier National Park
Montana - Sioux Indians pose in the feather headdresses, Crow Indian Reservation
Montana - Three men stand in front of a plane on the Crow Reservation
New Hampshire - People set out for a straw ride from the Old Toll House, Crawford Notch
New Mexico - A portrait of a Native American wearing turquoise earrings, Santa Fe
New Mexico - A Taos Indian pueblo rests on the hill behind women in the foreground
New Mexico - A tourist stops to get directions from a cop in Questa
New Mexico - A view of the development built up around Elephant Butte Reservoir
New Mexico - Cochiti Indians sit on the stairs to a kiva, Cochiti
New Mexico - Portrait of a Taos Indian chief with war bonnet, Taos
New Mexico - Pueblo woman puts bread into an oven in preparation for corn dance, Laguna
New Mexico - Water carrier stands on ladder in Acoma pueblo balancing jug on head
New York - A family live in a trailer at Fish Creek Tourist Camp
New York - A view of New York City's Brooklyn Bridge
New York - A view of New York City's Hudson River
New York - A view of Washington Square at Fifth Avenue, New York City
New York - An aerial view of New York City
New York - Commuters stop to look at hardware for sale along downtown streets, Manhattan
New York - People sit around a fountain in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York City
Ohio - A view of two train tracks up Price Hill, Cincinnati
Ohio - Coastguardsmen go out in their boat, Ashtabula
Ohio - Experimental planes are parked in line at Wright Field, Dayton
Ohio - Four women stand beside an apple stand at a fair in Loundonville Agricultural Fair, Loundonville
Pennsylvania - Veterans of the Civil War pose at High Water Mark memorial, Gettysburg
Pennsylvania - Wisteria blooms where General Lee marched his men in battle, Gettysburg
Rhode Island - A view of a business block in New Port resembling English buildings
Rhode Island - People relax on the beach in front of a new bathing casino, Newport
South Dakota - Boys pose outside a sod roof house at the Pine Ridge Reservation
Tennessee - An Appalachian man converses with an Indian in front of a log cabin, Great Smoky Mountains, Near Gatlinburg
Tennessee - Highlanders play and sing old mountain tunes
Tennessee - Two couples have a cookout in Cherokee National Forest
Tennessee - Women stencil on cotton fabric, Memphis
Texas - A cowgirl parks her horse at a meter in downtown El Paso
Texas - A farmer washes carrots with a water hose, Lower Rio Grande Valley
Texas - A group of cowgirls and trick riders watch a rodeo in Fort Worth
Texas - A group of women dress in costume to greet women off a Pan Am flight, Brownsville
Texas - A man shovels sulfur in storage bins on the docks of Galveston
Texas - A Mexican family sits outside their thatch-roof home, near Brownsville
Texas - A pistol team of the Border Patrol practices their shooting, Laredo
Texas - A trick rider poses with her blue pony at the San Antonio rodeo
Texas - A view of the court, saloon and store near Langtry
Texas - A woman displays varying stock models of a cowboy boot manufacturer, Fort Worth, Texas
Texas - A woman feeds a parking meter in El Paso
Texas - A woman picks dates along the lower Rio Grande valley, San Benito
Texas - A woman stands next to a sign at the end of the International Bridge, Brownsville
Texas - A young girl poses in a "China Poblana" costume, San Antonio
Texas - A young girl stands in costume at the archway to her home, Brownsville
Texas - Cowboys and riders sit along a fence at the San Antonio Rodeo
Texas - Girls pose in Mexican costume and frilly headdresses, Brownsville
Texas - Men load storage bins with sulfur on the docks of Galveston
Texas - Three girls attend a rodeo in Fort Worth
Texas - Two border patrol officers attempt to keep a fugitive in the US near El Paso
Texas - Woman wears China Poblana, man wears Charro garb of gentleman rancher, Brownsville
Texas - Women attend an archery class at the University of Texas
Texas - Women talk to the pilot of a large airliner, Brownsville
Vermont - A woman picks various flowers from a wide field, between Tyson and Ludlow
Vermont - Oxen plow where machinery is impractical
Virginia - A large group of actors relax and talk on the lawn at Monticello
Virginia - A mountaineer family poses in front of a cabin, Dark Hallow, Shannondoah National Park
Virginia - A woman admires the Potomac running over the boulders in Great Falls
Washington - a gas station in front of the Capitol
Washington - A woman looks at fruit from a vendor in front of the U.S. Capital
Washington - Three girls pose in front of a fountain near the Washington Monument
Washington DC - Employees of the government work to print money, Bureau of Engraving and Printing
West Virginia - A glass-blower works on a vase in his shop, Milton
West Virginia - Four boys bob for apples, Martinsburg
West Virginia - Governor Holt crowns the Forest Festival queen, Elkins
West Virginia - Two girls sit in front of an apple display in the shape of a turkey, Martinsburg
…
All images are original colour autochromes drawn from National Geographic’s image collection.
As an American these are incredible photos to see. The NatGeo site looks a bit impenetrable - thanks so much for ‘curating’ these images for us all to see so easily (and alphabetically!).
Amazing photos - surreal to see these in color. Doesn’t seem so long ago…. Just one small typo (but it appears at least twice) - it’s Fort Worth, Texas, not Forth Worth.
Some additional ID information:
“Florida - Crowds form at a Miami Beach pool for a swim competition” was taken at the Roman Pools:
http://www.southbeach-usa.com/news/pop-culture-history/2007/07/09/a-party-at-the-roman-pools-1930s-style
“California - Woman adorned like a Chinese goddess poses in a garden”. Lotus gardens were very popular in 1930′s Los Angeles. Given the carefully composed photo, I would hazard a guess that this was taken at China City (even though it didn’t open until 1938):
http://digitalcollections.lmu.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.html?CISOROOT=/chgface&CISOPTR=663&CISOBOX=1&REC=5
“California - A family on the bank of a water body with a view of a cliff waterfall” could be Upper Yosemite Falls.
Thank you, Laura. I have corrected the typos. The typo exists in the National Geographic records as well.
Wonderful, wonderful post. One minor correction from Florida : The woman getting out of the car in Tarpon Springs is in front of a flame vine, not a bigonia vine (I have the same vine clambering over my garage).
….Also, the carillon tower on Iron Mountain, Bok Tower, is to this day meticulously preserved, as are its splendid gardens. http://youtu.be/rdl5CDimef4
Thanks Jennifer, I loved creating it. These 125 were whittled down from 500 images.
I have changed the Bigonia to a Flame.
Tea dresses and Mary Jane shoes - a lot of the clothes here look like clothes being worn now. So strange to think that it is around 90 years ago.
very interesting , and great shots. Love the one of the girl in Dutch dress and clogs.
LOVE! your shots. You might want to re credit “A family on the bank of a water body with a view of a cliff waterfall” could be Upper Yosemite Falls.
Thats definitely Yosemite, one of my favorite places on the planet
Great pictures! Another quick note- the famous Hopi potter’s name is Nampeyo, not Nanpeo. Thank you for sharing these wonderful photographs!
I’m from Louisiana and a bit *confused* about the Louisiana girl in Dutch dress and clogs. The spinning-cotton part I do understand; I read an article in the newspaper back home about traditional Cajun crafts, including work with cotton. They’d grow it in their backyards. Often it was colorgrown cotton, yellowish or brown.
The Dutch thing though… I don’t get that. Maybe Acadian costume was similar to Dutch at some point?
Fascinating. I can tell you that the sreet scene of Newport, Rhode Island looks exactly the same today, except that the cars are a bit more modern.
Hi Dana - that is the title given to the original autochrome. It would be great to find out more
Thanks Emily. That is the name used by National Geographic’s records, and I’ll change it straightaway.
Thanks Kate. I have added a reference to Yosemite.