Surplus Commodities and 1940s Hats

The Library of Congress just announced that it has put up 3,000 public-domain photos on Flickr and enabling tagging by all comers. It's a pilot project that could someday be extended to the 14 million photos in the collection.

Eventually photos like the one above, which are currently labeled something like "Distributing surplus commodities, St. Johns, Ariz." will be findable by searching "America at war," "poverty," "food aid," "pine boxes" and "1940s hats."

Plus, people who just want to enjoy a little retro beauty or take in a slice of American life can do so easily.

Among other things, this means that the Library of Congress has heeded the call of David Weinberger, Internet deep thinker and author of Everything Is Miscellaneous. When reason spoke with Weinberger last year, he compared old-style photo archives to photo sharing sites. The old archives lock photos away in temperature-controlled vaults listed under one or two inadequate key words, viewed only by the intrepid. Online photo sharing sites offer everything to everyone, good and bad, to view and tag as they please. Looks like we might get the best of both worlds at last.

Comments

SIV | January 16, 2008, 7:03pm | #

808 x1024 on the first one I checked

I feared these would be extra lo res

They could do worse with my tax dollars.

drawnasunder | January 16, 2008, 7:04pm | #

Sweet boneless christ that's cool.

TLB | January 16, 2008, 7:12pm | #

Wow, golly gee, that's just peachy keen and cool! I love it when Reason brings us these neat-o things just like BoingBoing, but infused with a libertarian sensibility.

Of course, were I running one of flickr's competitors I might be a bit peeved, but don't worry about that.

Dynamism, away!

P.S. See this.

SIV | January 16, 2008, 7:16pm | #

Disproportionately color photos. All the FSA stuff was in color.

There are some good ones at the end from Bain News Service, ballplayers, war and such.

Bring on the 14 million.

Kolohe | January 16, 2008, 7:24pm | #

There is a site I came across the other day "100 years of photography" or something like that, that has a bunch of photos from the 10's, 20's, and 30's, many of which are from New Deal program photographers, or their city antecendants.

The Wine Commonsewer | January 16, 2008, 7:28pm | #

Thanks Kerry, I love this stuff. Americana, particularly Roadside Americana is the hot ticket. It's a slice of where we came from and will never be again.

Brandybuck | January 16, 2008, 7:35pm | #

I love it when Reason brings us these neat-o things just like BoingBoing, but infused with a libertarian sensibility.

While I have no beef against the Library of Congress, I still fail to see how this is infused with libertarian sensibility. It's definitely cool, but I don't see how it relates to libertarianism.

J sub D | January 16, 2008, 7:37pm | #

The Libertarian in me says "close the Smithsonian down" or "transfer it to a private entity". The golly gee kid in me, who likes wow, neato, cool stuff says "My tax dollars have been wasted on worse thing than America's attic" or "let's put axing the Smithsonian on the bottom of the to do list". I suspect I'm not the only libertarian who feels that way.

J sub D | January 16, 2008, 7:40pm | #

I know it's Library of Congress not the Smithsonian, but I think the LOC gets a free pass, doesn't it?

Neu Mejican | January 16, 2008, 7:54pm | #

Everyone has a government program that they feel meets the definition of a public good that is the proper role of government.

It just takes a little backward rationalization to come up with how it is consistent with a libertarian world view.

The flip-side is also true...I can come up with a libertarian argument against any government program.

As someone who is a political moderate/pragmatist...I like programs like this that have a good result.

Kolohe | January 16, 2008, 8:01pm | #

Ah here's the site I was talking about above.

SIV | January 16, 2008, 8:10pm | #

I'd be happy if the Smithsonian and Library of Congress held a deaccession sale tomorrow.
No minimum, no reserve, no buyers premium, and bundle the crap into box lots.

That ain't gonna happen, so I commend them for making digital facsimiles of their holdings available to anyone.I appreciate their choosing a service like flickr rather than some academic or other institutional gatekeeper.

alisa | January 16, 2008, 8:12pm | #

Man this is cool.

Malto Dextrin | January 16, 2008, 8:18pm | #

Joe: At least one: me.
I don't think being libertarian requires never criticizing Ron Paul or how his campaign is run, even if he wins the presidency. And I'm a fan of Ron Paul.

Episiarch | January 16, 2008, 8:21pm | #

Joe, not everyone at reason jumped hard on Paul with both feet. I know it seems that way, but if you look closely, it's not the case. Look more carefully at Weigel and Jesse, for instance.

Kochtopus | January 16, 2008, 8:34pm | #

Look more carefully at Weigel and Jesse, for instance.

Oh we are.....

Sullum is behaving a bit counter-revolutionary as well. There is going to be a lot of criticism and self-criticism at the next cocktail Party.

JW | January 16, 2008, 9:00pm | #

I'd be happy if the Smithsonian and Library of Congress held a deaccession sale tomorrow.
No minimum, no reserve, no buyers premium, and bundle the crap into box lots.

Every time my very liberal family starts carping about how "Bush is destroying the arts," as if the federal funding of arts is the only way art could exist, I suggest that the Smithsonian could charge $1 for admission. I get some grumbling from them, but even they have to admit it's not a bad idea. Of course, that is why it will never be implemented.

It gets millions of visitors every year and this token cost would go a very long way to deferring the overhead and who knows, maybe they won't suck so hard on the public teet. Heck, NYC museums charge $10 and up. It took me 30 minutes to get through the Natural History line the last time I was there, so I don't see that as a deterrent to attendance.

Ventifact | January 16, 2008, 9:03pm | #

J sub -- I can confirm your suspicion. Philosophic considerations aside, in a practical manner it's not as natural for certain government activities like museum operation to explode into massive levels of regulation, expenditure, privacy invasion, and entitlements. So, even if a rigorous libertarianism requires acknowledging that government-run museums are bad, I think it would be particularly imperative on a rigorous libertarian to agree with your sense of prioritization.

shecky | January 16, 2008, 9:11pm | #

Thanks. Just what I need: another excuse to sit in front of the computer wasting time.

Les | January 16, 2008, 9:24pm | #

The story of Reason's betrayal of the most popular and influential libertarian in our lifetimes has been widely disiminated.

I think that's a little melodramatic. Reason has stated why they believe Paul handled this problem poorly. They have done so in good faith and reminded us, in the process, that loyalism is the cornerstone of the two dominant political parties and a good thing, practically and morally, to avoid.

Nick, Matt and Radley are fast becoming pariahs and they well deserve to be.

You are a silly person.

Malto Dextrin | January 16, 2008, 9:33pm | #

(Totally OT)

I don't expect they'll be airing this spot in Germany anytime soon.

Nutter | January 16, 2008, 9:55pm | #

Malto, Bruno Ganz is fucking amazing.

Now someone needs to take that clip and subtitle it as "Ron Paul Newletter Editorial Meeting"

Juan | January 16, 2008, 10:08pm | #

Oh, I've seen that clip around here, only the subtitles are based on (who else...) Lord Hugo.

Hurrr | January 16, 2008, 10:15pm | #

I would like Shane Brady's opinion on this article! His thumbs up could make or break this piece.

Brandybuck | January 16, 2008, 10:16pm | #

I think that's a little melodramatic. Reason has stated why they believe Paul handled this problem poorly.

If that's all they did, no one but a few mindless conspiracists on the fringes would have cared. But instead Reason kept bringing this up. Over and over again. It's been over a week now and there were still three stories related to this posted on H&R today. The media has moved on, but Reason keeps beating this pile of dog food that was once a dead horse.

Andrew | January 16, 2008, 10:25pm | #

If that's all they did, no one but a few mindless conspiracists on the fringes would have cared. But instead Reason kept bringing this up. Over and over again. It's been over a week now and there were still three stories related to this posted on H&R today. The media has moved on, but Reason keeps beating this pile of dog food that was once a dead horse.

I'm so glad that commenters here have resisted the urge to drag the dead horse into unrelated threads.

Troy | January 16, 2008, 10:29pm | #

Ugh....back to the pictures. I think my libertarian sensibilities could deal with a "Library of Alexandria" sort of depository of information predicated that it is equally accessible by all.

Click 'n' Learn | January 16, 2008, 11:24pm | #

Semi-OT: Reason's bedmate is back!

Observe the tortured attempt to call someone an anti-Semite!

Marvel at the link to Reason's favorite far-left group!

Will his bloodlust be sated, or will he turn on Reason contributors next, picking them off, one by one? Stay tuned.

Syd | January 17, 2008, 12:41am | #

I'm not a libertarian (except on a lot of civil rights issues), so I don't have to go through contortions. This is an unalloyed good thing. The Library of Congress and Smithsonian are invaluable, and they do wonders to preserve our nation's heritage.

The Library of Congress also has a collection of historical film clips. That's how I got to see "The Great Train Robbery" for the first time.

I also got to listen to a speech by Calvin Coolidge, and you know what? It was the most boring speech I ever heard in my life. It's a good thing he didn't have television in his era.

jkii | January 17, 2008, 1:04am | #

These professional photographs are boring. Distant shots of mining equipment?

I prefer amateur shots taken from commodity Brownie cameras.

The backgrounds of photos are usually more interesting to me than the intended subjects. One of the professional Flickr photos shows a cute young girl standing in front of a world map. This map has the 2D world sliced at the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean in the middle. An amateur Brownie photo would more likely show a not-so-cute boy or girl in front of a tilted map that sliced Asia in half, with the US/Canada and Western Europe featured at the center...more information about the time and place.

Mad Max | January 17, 2008, 1:56am | #

The Library of Congress has a photo of a group of survivalists picking out guns at a miltiary surplus sale. They're all wearing Ron Paul T-shirts.

Mad Max | January 17, 2008, 2:08am | #

"Carefully trained women inspectors check and inspect cargo transport innerwings before they are assembled on the fuselage, Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, Calif."

http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2179926500/

Discussion question: How many jokes can you come up with about this picture and caption?

Theophanes | January 17, 2008, 6:01am | #

Why do I have feel guilty for enjoying the gallery or go through contortions to justify the library of congress? I used to really like hot dog bar day for my free school lunch but I don't have to argue that state-sponsored lunches are libertarian or that I wouldn't ax it tomorrow.

J sub D | January 17, 2008, 9:37am | #

Heck, NYC museums charge $10 and up. It took me 30 minutes to get through the Natural History line the last time I was there, so I don't see that as a deterrent to attendance.

Detroit, for all of its faults, is home to one of the finest art museums in North America. The Detroit Intstitute of Arts has been weaned off the city teat, and is now self sufficient. The collection and museum still belong to the city, but operations are no longer funded by taxpayers. $8 to enter and worth double that. If your in town and don't visit the DIA, I have but one word for you, philistine.

P Brooks | January 17, 2008, 10:04am | #

I wonder how frequently the exclamation, "Hey! I know that guy!" will occur as people sift through these photos.

Vincent Gigante | January 17, 2008, 11:05am | #

is anyone else fascinated by looking at old pictures? I dont know why but I always was very curious about how life was back then...

Matt J | January 17, 2008, 12:58pm | #

Amazing stuff. There's a couple of shots of Jack Johnson that are destined for my game room. As soon as I have one that is.

The thing that always gets me about old photos is how much tougher, and shorter, people used to look. Even the old ladies look like they could have kicked my ass.