One final note: I came across the above image from the Japanese illustrated epic novel Satomi and the Eight “Dogs,” another beautiful work in the World Digital Library, on which the artist spent thirty years of life. But damn my ignint 21st-century-addled brain, the strongest association I have with this lovely historic print is the below terrifyingly-scored grainy viral video of a bird being snapped up and eaten by a turtle.
Weep for me and, indeed, for all of us.
At first use, I’m impressed and delighted by the World Digital Library, which had its official debut today. The information is simply organized and browseable by a variety of criteria (Place, Time, Topic, Type of Item, and Institution), the files are available to stream or view online or download in a variety of formats, and the content is from all shapes and sizes of institutions from around the globe.
A single complaint: when browsing large books or manuscripts with hundreds of pages, it is frustrating to plod along through the book, scrolling through seven pages at a time. The digital reader is quick and handsome and intuitive, but desperately needs the ability to jump to a page by typing in its number, particularly since the framework of the reader does not offer you a stable link to an individual page. (It’s true that most manuscripts and books are also offered as PDFs, but to be fully useful to all patrons, the digital reader on the WDL’s site should allow for skipping large numbers of pages.)
Just a few choice things I found today while digging:
I left Texas one beautiful day
I made up my mind that I would not stay
No longer in Texas the place that I love
Though it was like giving up Heaven above.[...]
I thought at first that I would not go
No further West than New Mexico
But the work it was scarce and the weather was bad
I felt like I’d left all the friends that I had.We landed at Peori one sad, lonely day
No place for a shelter but a rag house to stay
I felt like Arizona was too much for me
I cried ‘til my heart ached and I scarcely could see.Our next stop was California where the sun always shines
I know that is a saying but I’ll tell you my mind
In the little town of Colton hemmed up on a knoll
And the black water splashing ‘til the hearts had grown cold.[...]
The black water rolled and the homeless were brought
To this little knoll at Colton for shelter they sought
The radios broadcastin’ begging people to stay
Off of the streets and off the highways.The rain finally ceased and the sun shined out bright
How I prayed to Heaven and thanked God that night.
For our lives had been spared and all was made right
But I did wish for Texas and the old folks that night.[...]
Now in the state of California I guess you all know
The President built homes for people to go
Who were homeless and broke and just travelin’ around
Tryin’ to find work and a place to settle down.Now this little camp it stands here today
The little rag homes for people to stay
From there they find work and it really isn’t bad
Although it is different from the lives they have had.
Have a peek at the wikipedia entry for all the information about this behemoth achievement.
Helen chimes in with this cavity-inducing clip from Bye Bye Birdie, which is essentially a shrill, technicolor, motion picture version of the Life portfolio:
This week’s featured digitized image collection is the Teenage Telephone Essay, photographed by Grey Villet for Life magazine, and stored in Google’s Life photo archive. “The Teenage Telephone Tie-up” was the cover story of the April 2, 1956 issue.
Image source; back issue available for sale on eBay.
I couldn’t find the text of the story, but the very high quaintness factor of these images is causing me to consider buying that copy on eBay. The story arc seems to be “Young Americans engage in courtship using a device called the telephone. With this tool, they agree to attend a party, get ready for the party, and meet at the party. The whole process vaguely annoys their apron-wearing, hands-on-hipsing parents.”
Illustrated thusly with just a few of the dozens and dozens of photos:
And those party dresses and finger waves are divine.
I stumbled upon these while looking for images to add to my collection of photos of men on the phone.
Another project I may begin and promptly abandon: I am collecting photographs of men on the phone. Holler if you come across any of note.
As an impetus to get more use out of this thing, and as a way to get myself acquainted with the content and methods of the wide variety of digitization projects that are going on out there, I’m starting a weekly visual column that will excerpt highlights from various online collections. Title of said column TK. This, the inaugural post, features just a few images from the Otis Historical Archives of the National Museum of Health and Medicine that were recently posted to their Flickr account.
Tool adapted for use by an amputee.
Comparative anatomy, Auzoux model of horse, life size. Specimen no. 2635.
Nurses at Walter Reed.
Rattlesnake xray.
BOOZE.
Masks worn during experiments with Plague. Philippines, probably around 1912.
Winston Churchill observes his portrait as painted by Dwight Eisenhower in 1955, at Walter Reed General Hospital. 1959. [!]
When I woke up this morning, this was running through my head:
This ain’t a movie, dog. It ain’t no country club either.
A completely wrong and nonsensical combination of hollerations that Jay-Z and Sheryl Crow have respectively made.
Then later, at work, I spotted someone’s desk-size keep calm and carry on poster, and I read it to myself:
Keep calm and carry a big stick.
Does this mean I’m going to die?
I present to you Jón Þorláksson, prime minister of Iceland in 1926-1927, who posed for his official state portrait with a lit cigar.
