WWII Era photos

Tomathvl · 12-17-2012, 09:43 AM

Back in the mid '70s when (the author) was working at Heller’s Camera in Bethesda Md. he had a reference book with a color photo of the battleship Pennsylvania in an advanced base sectional dock, somewhere in the Pacific in about 1944.

The quality of the photo made it clear that it was shot with a large format camera, which puzzled him since he did not think Kodachrome (the only modern color film of the time in the US) was available in sheet films. A guy he worked with was an old Kodak hand (and WWII vet, a radioman in Europe) and told him that they did have sheet Kodachrome, and that there was only one machine to process the film, located in Rochester. The exposed film was sent there for processing.

And note the almost complete lack of basic safety equipment. The author saw only one pair of safety glasses, and only a few of the workers were wearing gloves. Working without gloves around sheet metal is an injury waiting to happen.
Notice most of the woman had lip stick and nail polish on. WII could not have been won without the woman of America stepping into men's shoes to build the equipment needed to defeat the axis powers.

Fascinating! Some of these images are 70 years old and look as fresh as ever. If someone had told any of the subjects in these photos that we'd have such a clear look at them in the year 2012... boggles my mind. Thought you'd find this interesting !

http://pavel-kosenko.livejournal.com...hread=22669914

suum cuique · 12-17-2012, 12:00 PM

Thanks for sharing! Excellent pictures, I'm amazed by the brilliant colors.

skeeter4206 · 12-17-2012, 12:40 PM

Wow! That definitly gives one a different perspective of that time. Just seeing how new the bombers and there parts look, thats amazing. I bet they were really beautiful aircraft when they rolled off the assembly line.

If there are anymore links to wartime pictures that are this crisp, please post. Most pictures fro back then are so blurred that you just get a small view window into the past. These pictures really put you right there with them

Thanks for posting this link.

Curly1 · 12-17-2012, 06:13 PM

Kodak was certainly a leader in their field at the time.

skeeter4206 · 12-17-2012, 09:08 PM

It would be kinda cool to see some old lugers straight off the assembly line this crisp

12-17-2012, 09:43 AM	#1
Tomathvl User Join Date: May 2004 Location: Milan, IN Posts: 363 Thanks: 3 Thanked 48 Times in 19 Posts	WWII Era photos Back in the mid '70s when (the author) was working at Heller’s Camera in Bethesda Md. he had a reference book with a color photo of the battleship Pennsylvania in an advanced base sectional dock, somewhere in the Pacific in about 1944. The quality of the photo made it clear that it was shot with a large format camera, which puzzled him since he did not think Kodachrome (the only modern color film of the time in the US) was available in sheet films. A guy he worked with was an old Kodak hand (and WWII vet, a radioman in Europe) and told him that they did have sheet Kodachrome, and that there was only one machine to process the film, located in Rochester. The exposed film was sent there for processing. And note the almost complete lack of basic safety equipment. The author saw only one pair of safety glasses, and only a few of the workers were wearing gloves. Working without gloves around sheet metal is an injury waiting to happen. Notice most of the woman had lip stick and nail polish on. WII could not have been won without the woman of America stepping into men's shoes to build the equipment needed to defeat the axis powers. Fascinating! Some of these images are 70 years old and look as fresh as ever. If someone had told any of the subjects in these photos that we'd have such a clear look at them in the year 2012... boggles my mind. Thought you'd find this interesting ! http://pavel-kosenko.livejournal.com...hread=22669914

12-17-2012, 12:00 PM	#2
suum cuique User Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: MD / Currently about 9000 klicks east of the Potomac Posts: 497 Thanks: 108 Thanked 47 Times in 35 Posts	Thanks for sharing! Excellent pictures, I'm amazed by the brilliant colors. __________________ Regards, Andy There's No Place Like Home (Wizard Of Oz)

12-17-2012, 06:13 PM	#4
Curly1 User Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Upstate New York Posts: 1,244 Thanks: 125 Thanked 715 Times in 372 Posts	Kodak was certainly a leader in their field at the time. __________________ Laugh hard and often. Gary

12-17-2012, 12:40 PM	#3
skeeter4206 User Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Augusta, GA Posts: 448 Thanks: 52 Thanked 88 Times in 49 Posts	Wow! That definitly gives one a different perspective of that time. Just seeing how new the bombers and there parts look, thats amazing. I bet they were really beautiful aircraft when they rolled off the assembly line. If there are anymore links to wartime pictures that are this crisp, please post. Most pictures fro back then are so blurred that you just get a small view window into the past. These pictures really put you right there with them Thanks for posting this link.

12-17-2012, 09:08 PM	#5
skeeter4206 User Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Augusta, GA Posts: 448 Thanks: 52 Thanked 88 Times in 49 Posts	It would be kinda cool to see some old lugers straight off the assembly line this crisp