Want to Bring History to LIfe? Add a Little Color...

I've had a pretty long teaching day today, so I'll keep my own comments brief and link to the most interesting thing I read today: John Hinderaker at the Power Line blog responds to an age-old question with what I believe is the proper answer:

Why does the past seem so far away? In part, because we so often see it in black and white.

I think that lots of us have seen so many old pictures--taken during a time when black-and-white photography was the norm--that it's easy to forget that the world itself really was in color back then.

If you have a lot of time, go visit this collection of color photos of various places in America from 1939-1943; the pictures bring that era to life in ways that black-and-white simply can't do, so you're seeing that point in time through new eyes--through the eyes of those who were there, for that matter. (And if you have just a little time, go to the Power Line post linked above, where he's included a few of the pictures as well. But really, the big collection is worth your time if you're into such things.)

And of course, if you do like the old black-and-whites, there's no better place to go than Shorpy, perhaps the best vintage photo blog ever.