Old Kitchen

This week we will explore old kitchens from days gone by. Today's picture was taken in 1917. I see a stove back there, but no refrigerator. I wonder when electric refrigerators gained widespread use? I know that earlier there were "ice boxes" which kept things cold, but you had to keep adding blocks of ice to them.

White House Kitchen

Today's picture was taken in the 1920's and shows the kitchen in the White House. Amazing how simple and practical it was. I would imagine things would be quite different today.

Mystery Contest

OK, hope we have some players out there this morning, as this should be a good contest. Let the Games Begin!

Hydroplane Prototype

Today's picture shows Wilbur Wright and an early attempt he made to create a hydroplane. You can see he mounted his airplane on a canoe. The picture was taken in 1909. It is amazing how quickly things moved and evolved in the early days of aviation.

Fabre Hydroplane

This picture from 1911 shows the Fabre Hydroplane, designed to take off and land on water. All I know is the guy in the boat is going to have to row a lot faster if they ever hope to get this thing in the air.


Hope you all have a Blessed Thanksgiving.

Pilot

This is a picture of Clarence Culver at the controls of a biplane. Clarence was in the army, and was in charge of getting radios to work in airplanes. Note the microphone in the picture. I would think wind noise would be a little bit of an issue in an open cockpit airplane like this.

Twining Ornithopter

Today we feature a picture of the Twining Ornithopter during attempted takeoff. Don't you wish just one of these old flapping wing type flying machines had worked? I think no one has yet been successful in flying any type of flapping wing device.

Bleriot Airplane

Today's picture shows a Bleriot airplane. The picture was taken in 1911. It is amazing how quickly airplanes became popular after the Wright's first flight. The picture shows Murvin Wood, an early pilot, in front of the plane.

Army Aviators

This week we will explore the early days of Aviation. We start with this picture taken in 1912. The photo was taken at the Army Aviation Field near Washington DC. I was surprised to find that the Army had started considering use of airplanes at such an early date. Pictured are Mr. Geiger and Mr. Milling. The early days of aviation must have been very exciting.

Mystery Contest

OK, today is mystery person contest. Hope this is hard, but not too hard. Name the man on the airplane.

Paper Work

This picture was taken in 1938, and shows a woman sorting through the mail. This might have made a good mystery person contest, but would have perhaps been too hard. The woman is Miss Margaret Lehand, secretary to FDR.

Filing Cabinets

This picture was taken in 1919 and shows a man and woman working at a filing cabinet. I really like these old wood style filing drawers. Today they are all made out of thin cheap metal, or fake wood.

Finger Prints

This picture was taken in 1918, and it shows a woman inspecting fingerprint cards. I was not aware that fingerprints were used back then. Does anyone know when fingerprinting started?

Women Typing

Today's picture is from 1937 and shows a large room of women typing. They women are typing social security cards. It is pretty amazing how many people it took to do simple things that we take for granted these days. I can not imagine a more boring job that sitting and typing numbers on cards all day.

Tabulating Machine

Today's picture was taken in 1919, and shows an office worker operating a tabulating machine. The machine was developed by the Census Bureau to help count large numbers of cards. It is interesting that complex mechanical computers were in development all the way back in the 1850's to try and help the Census Bureau with the large task of counting and tabulating the census.

Office Workers

This week we salute office workers across the world here at OPOD. We start the week with this group of men working their adding machines. They are working at the Farm Credit Administration, and the picture was taken in 1937. I find it interesting how well they are all dressed.

So, hopefully we will have some fun this week exploring offices of a by-gone era.

Mystery Person

Who is the man standing beside Coolidge?

Tanks

This is another picture from Camp Meade. It shows men training in tanks. I find these World War I tanks fascinating.

Black Soldiers

This picture was taken in 1917 and shows a group of Black Soldiers training for World War I. I am not sure to what extent Black Soldiers were used in World War I.

World War I Tank

This picture was taken in 1918, and it shows a World War I tank. The tank was being used in Washington DC as part of a Liberty Bond Parade. The people in the photo are not identified, but to me, the man in the center almost looks like it could be Woodrow Wilson. What do you think?

Institute for the Blind

This picture was taken in 1918 and shows soldiers who were blinded in World War I. The picture was taken at the Institute for the Blind, where the soldiers are being taught how to function with their loss of sight.

Home From War

This picture was taken in 1919, and shows a group of soldiers returning home from the war. The picture was taken in 1919. I like looking at the clothes the people in the crowd are wearing.

World War I Soldiers

This picture shows World War I Soldiers. The picture was taken in 1917 at Camp Meade in Maryland. I do not know a whole lot about World War I. I have always been interested in the Civil War, so I have read a lot about that conflict, but have never done much study on the War to End all Wars.

Contest Day

Let the contest begin!

Southern Soldier

Old Soldier week comes to an end today, with this picture of an old Rebel Soldier. The picture was taken in 1913.

The South Will Rise Again!

Old Rebels

Today's OPOD was taken in 1917. It shows a nice group of Rebel soldiers. I am not sure where the picture was taken. This is a fine group of Southern Gentlemen. Zoom in on the picture, and notice how proud each man is standing. The other thing I notice about the picture is that they are holding the US flag. Many of the pictures of Veterans have the Rebels still holding their battle flag.

Old Soldiers

Today we have another great image of two old Civil War soldiers. This picture was taken in 1913 at the Gettysburg reunion. Looking at these two men, while they are shaking hands, I am wondering if their might still be just a touch of bad blood between them.

The Blue and the Gray

I have searched my vast archive of historic Civil War photos, and have come up with this one. OK, to tell the truth, Smartgirl sent this one in. I had not seen it before, and I thought it was an excellent one to show during Old Soldier Week here at OPOD. The picture was taken in 1913 at the Gettysburg Battlefield. It is interesting in that the old Rebels and Union soldiers are shaking hands over a stone wall. Maybe time does heal all wounds.

Gettysburg Veteran

This is a picture of a Veteran of the Battle of Gettysburg. The picture was taken in 1913, at the Battlefield. It was the 50th Anniversary of the Battle. One has to wonder what he is writing.

Old Soldiers

This photograph shows two old soldiers. Both were veterans of the Battle of Gettysburg. The picture was taken in 1913, at a reunion held on the battlefield. The man sitting on the rocks is a Rebel soldier, and the man standing is a Union soldier. I find it interesting that there are many people alive today who knew Civil War veterans, and heard about the war first hand from them. The Civil War seems like ages ago, but in generations, it is recent history.