Category: design

Vintage landscape: Lake Mohonk, N.Y.

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nypl.digitalcollections.Lake Mohonk HouseThe flower gardens of Lake Monhonk Mountain House, Ulster County, New York, ca. 1902, a postcard by Detroit Publishing Co., via The New York Public Library Digital Collections.

Lake Mohonk Mountain House is a resort founded in 1879 by Albert Smiley, a “passionate gardener,” and a Quaker deeply concerned with the cause of world peace. (From 1895 to 1916, he convened annual conferences on international arbitration at the hotel.) The main building, shown on the postcard above, has 259 guest rooms and is now a National Historic Landmark.

Life in gardens: elephant ride

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Zoological Park, Lisbon, Bibliotheca de Arte, Lisbon, flickr.Jardim Zoológico, Lisbon, Portugal, 1927, by Mário Novais, via Biblioteca de Arte / Art Library Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian on flickr (used under CC license).

The Lisbon Zoo was founded in 1884 and moved to its current location in 1905. This may be a photo of the zoo’s first African elephant, which it received in 1926, a gift from the King of Italy.

Life in gardens: a capital view

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field trip, WashDC, 1899, FB Johnston, Library of CongressThird grade school pupils on field trip, standing on the west terrace of the U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C.,” ca. 1899, by Frances Benjamin Johnston, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

In 1899, Johnston became interested in progressive education and made a photo survey of students at public schools in Washington, D.C.

The Sunday porch: Iowa view

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Dubuque Iowa, J. Vachon, Library of CongressView from front porch of house on the bluff, Dubuque, Iowa, April 1940, by John Vachon, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Dubuque is located along the Mississippi River, at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin. It is Iowa’s oldest city and one of the few with hills.

At the time of the photo, mill working was an important industry in Dubuque. Vachon, on assignment in Iowa for the U.S. Farm Security Administration, wrote home, “This is the biggest sash mill and door center in the U.S. Little things fly around and get in your eye all day. Lots of smoke too.”

He may have taken this photo on April 18, when he wrote again, “Today was a good day. I walked miles and climbed awfully steep hills and got terribly tired.”

Life in gardens: the nap

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Woman taking nap in D.C. Botanical Garden, 1942, Library of Congress“Washington, D.C. Government employee taking a nap on a bench in the [U.S. Botanic] Garden,” September 1942, by John Ferrell, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.