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Monitor

Date: 1898

This item has no description.

Date: 1917

Caption: "Chicago Fair, Sept. 23, 1934." Three elephants performing in a circus ring at Chicago's Century of Progress Exposition. The Exposition, a world fair attended by thirty-nine million people, celebrated Chicago's one-hundred year anniversary of incorporation. Originally planned to only run from May to November in 1933, it was such a success that its organizers decided to keep it running for a second season from May through October the following year. The central theme of the Exposition was technological innovation, with a motto of "Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Conforms."

Date: 9/23/1934

Caption: "San Diego Fair Grounds." and "39-6, 3,400 Men, Naval Training Station, Balboa Park, San Diego Cal.," c. 1917. With the advent of World War I, the U.S. Navy needed additional training grounds for sailors. In 1917, the City of San Diego offered to lease the Navy a portion of Balboa Park as a temporary training site until a new, more permanent facility could be constructed. This postcard shows 3,400 sailors lined up to form a Navy flag while at the temporary training ground.

Date: 1917

Caption: "Camp Curry- Yosemite," c. 1917. Yosemite's Half Dome Village, established by David and Jennie Curry in 1899, was originally called Camp Curry, and later Curry Village. It was designed to provide cheaper accommodations for Yosemite tourists than the resort hotels. The couple rented out furnished tents and provided amenities such as a dining tent. As time progressed, the amenities increased, and some hard-sided cabins created. This photograph shows a bustling scene around a large wood cabin with a wide covered porch. As a result of a legal dispute over trademarked names in the park, Curry Village changed its name to Half Dome Village in 2016.

Date: 1917

Caption: "Sutter [sic] Fort. Sacramento.," c. 1920. A gun tower at Sutter's Fort, and a gate bracketed by two cannons. John Sutter established the fort in 1839, calling it New Helvetia. After the discovery of gold at one of Sutter's mills (at Coloma, on the American River), almost all of the fort's inhabitants left for the gold fields in the foothills. The fort deteriorated until being restored from 1891-1893. The fort is now the site of a State Historic Park. See also 96-07-08-alb05-118.

Date: 1920

Caption: "Studebaker Factory. South Bend, Indiana. Sept. 13, 1934." Two buildings of the Studebaker Factory in South Bend are visible in this photograph. The Studebaker brothers started operations in South Bend in 1852, when they established a blacksmith shop and foundry. They soon began building wagons and carriages, demand for which soared with the advent of the Civil War and an increase in migration toward and into the American West. The company gradually phased out wagon production in favor of automobile manufacture in the early twentieth century. Sales declined after World War II, leading to the eventual closure of the factory in 1963.

Date: 9/13/1934

Caption: "Empire State Bldg. 1250 Ft. High, 102 Stories. 34th St. New York. Aug. 13, 1934." View from the sidewalk, looking up at the Empire State Building. Construction began on this iconic 102-story building, designed by William F. Lamb, in 1930. Completed by early 1931, it held the title of world's tallest building for almost 40 years, until being surpassed in 1970 by the construction of the World Trade Center's North Tower. It is now the fifth-tallest building in the U.S., and the 28th-tallest in the world.

Date: 8/13/1934

No Caption: The photograph has a hand-written inscription stating: "Portola Electric Bell Copyright 1909 Pillsbury Picture Co. No. 800." Installed on the intersection of Third and Market Streets in San Francisco, the Portola Electric Bell contained two thousand bulbs and rose 125 feet above the street. It was part of the Portola Festival of 1909, a grand celebration devised to commemorate the discovery of San Francisco Bay by Gaspar De Portola, and for the public to celebrate the future of the rebuilt city after the 1906 earthquake and fires.

Date: 1909

Magic

Date: 1884