The American Image: The Photographs of John Collier Jr. at the University of New Mexico. "In 1941 to 1943, Collier worked as a photographer with the Farm Securities Administration and the Office of War Information under Roy Stryker and documented many areas around the eastern U.S and northern New Mexico." The full photoset is at flickr here.
posted by dersins on Nov 11, 2009 - 2 comments

There was a typewriter repairman in North Hollywood, California. He couldn’t believe it when all of a sudden someone deposited 24 vintage typewriters on his doorstep and said, “Make them look new.” He probably hadn’t had that much work in the last 25 years. He was probably just about ready to hang up the “Going out of business” sign and cursing the arrival of the laptop computer when all of a sudden here I come with 24 typewriters. The Collectors Weekly interviews Scott Buckwald, propmaster for Mad Men.
posted by dersins on Oct 18, 2009 - 44 comments

"QSL cards confirm either a two-way radiocommunication between two amateur radio stations or a one-way reception of a signal from an AM radio, FM radio, television or shortwave broadcasting station. They can also confirm the reception of a two-way radiocommunication by a third party listener. A typical QSL card is the same size and made from the same material as a typical postcard, and most are sent through the mail as such." Here's a substantial collection of them.
posted by dersins on Oct 7, 2009 - 43 comments

"When my grandfather passed away last year, my family gathered to go through his belongings. He had been in the foreign service and he had filled a whole wall of his study with hotel door hangers from all his travels throughout the world. They're really beautiful, in aggregate, and I wanted to share. Enjoy."
posted by dersins on Sep 28, 2009 - 21 comments

In Our Own Backyard: Resisting Nazi Propaganda In Southern California 1933 - 1945, a digital exhibition from the Oviatt Library at Cal State Northridge. "The Nazi Propaganda period, 1933 to 1945, chronicles a crucial twelve years in American history. This exhibit's story about the local threat to American ideals demonstrates how European events reached across the ocean and affected people in Southern California -- in our own backyard." Magazines, pamphlets, newspapers, stickers and more. [more inside]
posted by dersins on Apr 10, 2009 - 33 comments

"New Deal Programs: Selected Library of Congress Resources was created to serve as a starting point for research using Library of Congress collections of New Deal program materials." Includes links to numerous collections of digitized materials, including photos, posters, music, manuscripts and more. [more inside]
posted by dersins on Jul 15, 2008 - 4 comments

The Willa Cather Archive is an incredible resource provided by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, including biographies, letters, photos, and even full (often annotated) text of much of her writing, including scholarly editions of two of her greatest (and most famous) works, My Antonia and O Pioneers. About the archive.
posted by dersins on May 22, 2008 - 8 comments

From Aircraft to Zodiac, from Tricks to Trucks, the Zippo Gallery has something for everyone. (Well, everyone who likes Zippos, anyway.)
posted by dersins on Apr 22, 2008 - 5 comments

"The Pulp Gallery is a visual reference guide to the wonderful cover art of pulp and pin-up magazines." From the bizarre (Lovecraft!) to the breezy (NSFW?), the savage (Any relation to Adam?) to the spicy (Eel Trap!). And don't miss the gallery of recycled art.
posted by dersins on Nov 30, 2007 - 7 comments

There are two-- two-- awesome flashlight museums on the web. One of them is on geocities; the other is not. One of them has a page of art deco purse lights and a page of interesting and unusual lights; the other has bullet flashlights and the Dukes of Hazzard signal flash. I love them both.
posted by dersins on Nov 28, 2007 - 19 comments

Man, this guy really likes pencils.
posted by dersins on Oct 29, 2007 - 26 comments

Don't forget to save your receipts! Mark Thomas (creator of the Payphone Project, previously discussed on Metafilter here) has been saving his for years.
posted by dersins on Oct 8, 2005 - 14 comments