The Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division

Teletype Photographs

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The online catalog of the Library of Congress' Prints & Photographs Division is remarkable. Indeed, its only real problem is that once you start browsing and searching it you're likely to vanish from the present world for days. (Try the Prokudin-Gorskii Collection; it is disconcerting to realize that Tsarist Russia happened in color.)

The Notebook here collects various images from these collections which deal with Teletypes. Since these images are all available online, it is reasonble to ask why this Notebook is warranted. Basically, it is a matter of my own convenience. There are hundreds of thousands of images in the L of C collections, and not all of them are conveniently flagged with the word "teletype." Having found them, collecting them all in one place is convenient for me.

Note:

Many of these images come from the FSA/OWI collections. These collections contain over 170,000 negatives, not all of which were printed or have captions. Uncaptioned negatives won't turn up in searches on keywords (such as "teletype"); the suggested procedures is to find a negative of known interest and then browse call numbers near it. There are, therfore, almost certainly additional relevant images in this collection which I haven't found.

Useful terms to search for include: "teletype", "telegraph", "wire room", "western union", "railroad yard", and "yardmaster".

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Commercial Teletype Service (other than railroad)

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The New York Times & Syndicate, 1942

Photographs by Marjory Collins of The New York Times operations (Teletype aspects) taken for the Office of War Information.

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Western Union, 1943

Photographs by Esther Bubley of Western Union operations, taken for the Office of War Information. Teletype operators, a switchboard, and pneumatic tubes.

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Postal Telegraph Company, 1940

A photograph by Jack Delano of a Teletype in service with the Postal Telegraph Company, taken for the Farm Security Administration.

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Railroad Teletype Use

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ATSF Railroad Operations, 1942

Photographs by Jack Delano (and one by John Vachon) of railroad teletype operations, taken for the Office of War Information. The ATSF at various locations.

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Chicago Railroad Operations, 1943

Photographs by Jack Delano of railroad teletype operations, taken for the Office of War Information. Chicago and Northwestern (CNW), Illinois Centeral (IC), and Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR).

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Weather

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Weather Bureau at Municipal Airport, Wash., 1941

Photographs by Jack Delano of weather reporting (Teletype aspects) at the National Airport, Washington, taken for the Farm Security Administration.

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Weather Bureau at National Airport, 1943

Photographs by Fred Driscoll of weather reporting (Teletype aspects) at the National Airport, Washington, taken for the Office of War Information.

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Weather Bureau, Washington, 1943

Photographs by Esther Bubley of weather reporting via Teletype taken for the Office of War Information.

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Military and Government Teletype Use (other than weather)

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Teletype Radio Plane Set, 1922

Photograph in the National Photo Company Collection.

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Archie Lockhead's Teletype, 1939

Photographs from the Harris and Ewing Collection of the office of Archie Lockhead, Department of the Treasury. One Teletype and two Western Union tickers. One of the photographs shows the Rectifier unit in the Teletype Table, along with an improvised cooling fan.

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Teletype Training, 1943

Photographs by Frank Delano of Teletype training activities taken for the Office of War Information.

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OWI News Bureau, 1942

Photographs by Roger Smith of Office of War Information News Bureau, taken for the Office of War Information.

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Teletype in Civilian Defense, 1941

A photograph by Howard R. Hollem or Alfred T. Palmer of a Teletype in Civilian Defense service, taken for the Office of War Information.

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War Production Board, 1942

A photograph by Howard Liberman of War Production Board facilities taken for the Office of War Information.

Other:

The following image appears in a thumbnail version only on the Library of Congress website; its copyright status is unevaluated.

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