Color Photos from the Depression Era in the US

[Jules]

These are some of the only color photos that exist from the Depression Era in the United States. The color helps illuminate that very dark time. They are absolutely gorgeous. Enjoy.

America in Color from 1939-1943

[AndreaDraco]

They are, indeed, gorgeous. I didn't know that color photos existed in that period. Or were they digitally colored later?

[BBP]

Oh no, colour images existed even back then. I'm surprised at the colour quality though, they look so vibrant!
Most images on that page are from the early 40s, WW2, and there is not much colour photography and film from that era.
I did find this lovely website. It's in Dutch, but the images still say a lot. The colours are much less bright.
http://www.beeldbankwo2.nl/result.jsp?page=1

Third photo on this page is from Rotterdam in 1941. Rotterdam was heavily bombed on 14 May 1940 when the Germans invaded The Netherlands. Dutch capitulation was six days later.

[therogue]

Colour gives these images more of a ''lively'' and recent feeling.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/0 ... y_ago.html

Another gallery of coloured pictures from a picture survey of the Russian Empire between 1909 and 1912

[Jules]

BBP, the website says there’s no photos to be found?

Andrea, I was suspecting colored black and white photos too but they are too detailed to be that. My pappy has a few painted photos and you can tell they’re a little flat compared to these multi-hued photos.

I love how you can see in #66 her bright red nail polish, and in #20 how we can afford 10 pairs of shoes each and that half of the kids in that photo aren’t wearing any.

[Collector]

Various color processes existed much earlier than the Depression era, but some were not very durable. One of the best is the separation method, where the image was split three ways, each going through a different color filter. The resulting images were stored by traditional silver film, each representing one of the RGB colors. It was a much more durable method than by dyes.

[DeadPoolX]

They are, indeed, gorgeous. I didn't know that color photos existed in that period. Or were they digitally colored later?

Like some others have said, color film (both still camera and movie) was around then. Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz are good examples. The reason color film didn't become standard until later was due to the high cost of using it.

[AndreaDraco]

Like some others have said, color film (both still camera and movie) was around then. Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz are good examples. The reason color film didn't become standard until later was due to the high cost of using it.

But both these films are from 1939. Isn't the Depression ten years before?

[DeadPoolX]

Like some others have said, color film (both still camera and movie) was around then. Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz are good examples. The reason color film didn't become standard until later was due to the high cost of using it.

But both these films are from 1939. Isn't the Depression ten years before?

Sort of.

The stock market crash in 1929 brought about the Great Depression; however, the GD lasted until the very early 1940s. So yes, the GD started about ten years before 1939 (the year both of those movies were made), but it wasn't over quite yet.

In the US, WWII sparked the recovery from the GD. I'm sure it's similar for other countries (except, perhaps, those nations that were on the losing side of the war).

[Collector]

Color photography is much older than that. The first known color photo was taken in 1861. The Time-Life Library of Photography, which I have, has a number of them.

[MusicallyInspired]

Nice photos! So cool to see that era in something other than hazy brown which is how you actually start seeing the era as. Strange to see it almost as a modern-day quality photo.

My dad said that when he was a kid he thought that black and white photos were black and white because the world hadn't turned colour yet .

[Jules]

Colour gives these images more of a ''lively'' and recent feeling.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/0 ... y_ago.html

Another gallery of coloured pictures from a picture survey of the Russian Empire between 1909 and 1912

Those photos are truly gorgeous, rogue. Some of them are so clear, they almost look digital.

[Maiandra]

Wow. They really do give it a far more immersive and vibrant feeling. Thanks for posting the photos! I love being able to glimpse other places and times like that.

[BBP]

Sorry about that Jules: the link looked kind of strange to me, but every time I clicked it, I arrived at the right site.
http://www.beeldbankwo2.nl/
Scroll down a little and check the "Specials" tab, click the top left photo (with the Kleurenbeelden Hustinx text)

[Datadog]

That last picture is incredible. The shades and features on that man's face are almost impossible to look away from.

Incidentally, just yesterday, I was linked to some of the very first color footage shot in 1922. Here's the link.