The sign in the background (click on photo to enlarge) says "Saint Michael's Institute of Liberal Education: Stenography, Music, Language, Elocution. Maybe it's where my grandmother and her sisters (pictured above) learned photography.
Talk about a popular print, this image has been reproduced over and over for decades. This particular version is from the 1930's. Today, copies of the original photo have become popular again. I wish I knew who the original photographer was.
Though photography had reached the masses by 1910, flash and other lowlight equipment had not. Instead people posed outdoors in the sunlight. Occasionally they brought some furniture out with them, like in the picture above.
Monument Rock was a popular destination for tourists and residents alike, back in the day. It stood four miles west of San Jon, New Mexico, and was also called Apple Core Rock. It eventually fell over, though nobody is quite sure when.
Back then you could climb on the ruins, which was probably a bad idea, but it sure looks like fun. Quarai ruins, Salinas National Monument.
The bridge crossing the Canadian River at Logan was built in 1902 and has seen 104 years of continuous service. You don't see many of these types of steel trestles anymore. They are beautiful in their own spindly way. Photo courtesy of MDRails.
Back during the Great Depression the government had to get everybody back to work, including writers. One project was the WPA Guides to America, which consisted of a travel guide for every state in the union. Above is a sample page listing Tucumcari, Endee, Bard, and a few other towns along Route 66. If you want to see more, you'll have to get your own copy. It's still in print and available at most good libraries & bookstores.
