French Tanks

I know a lot about black & white printing processes, color printing, and color transparencies. This sort of thing, not so much. I think, and I encourage anyone who can either verify or contradict that opinion to do so, that this is a rotogravure. I'm also going on guess work as to the source of this image. Marked "U.S. OFFICIAL" and "SIGNAL CORPS U.S.A." on the front, it is my opinion that these are press release photos used to publicize the first world war. President Woodrow Wilson was so committed to a total war effort, that even the press was conscripted into the fight. Captioned "French tanks ("Chars d"Assault") moving to the support of French troops operating on the left of the 32d Div., Aug.29, 1918."

Crashed Plane World War 1

It's been awhile since I've put up any of these World War 1 press photos. Again, I know a lot about photo printing, but not much about press imagery. I think, but am not certain, that the originals are rotogravures. When I worked in the photo lab, I made a black & white copy neg from the one image and made a regular black & white print. The crashed plane is labeled, "German plane C.L. 111 a 3892-18 brought down between Montfaucon and Cierges." The other image is labeled, "A Breguet bomber. While the ground soldiers were pushing back the Germans through the Argonne bombing planes went forth each night to increase the enemy troubles. These bombers destroyed railway lines, supply bases and munitions dumps behind the lines. Photo by U.S. Air Service." Note the U.S. Official and Signal Corps U.S.A. logos.

World War 1, The Argonne

Again, I think these images are rotogravures. I have a pretty good background in conventional photography and can id anything from a daguerreotype to a modern digital print, but obsolete commercial printing ...a bit beyond me. The caption for the image with the shot up helmet, "How the Argonne was won. Like their Indian fighting ancestors the Americans fought from behind trees and bushes, digging a "fox hole" for cover whenever they paused. This photograph was taken by a Signal Corps operator during the advance of the 18th Inf., 1st Div., up the slopes of Hill 240, near Exermont, Oct. 11, 19198. These soldiers fought their way to the top in the face of heavy machine gun fire and drove the enemy from the position. The bullet-torn helmet in the foreground tells the story of a "buddy" who lies "over yonder." The men in the brush, "Hill 240, scene of desperate fighting." The guys with the machine gun, "Machine gunners, 1st Div., in action near Exermont. Oct. 4, 1918." The one with the tank, "Tank and supply wagon blown up north of Fleville." And the one with the wagons on the town street, "Artillery of the 1st Div. entering Fleville. Oct. 12." Not the signal corps. logos.

Yale Aviation

Another of the old rotogravures (I think) from World War 1. The caption, "General view of the Yale unit's aviation station at Huntington Beach, L.I. ) I would guess that the L.I. stands for Long Island, New York.

U.S.S. Wyoming, World War 1

As I noted in my post of 9/26/09, I have a number of these images from World War 1 that I think are rotogravures. Normally I wouldn't buy pictures cut out from a magazine or newspaper, but these intrigued me. Whatever printing process was used, the images are not screened. Take a close look at photos in newspapers and magazines, and you'll see tiny dots. Because of that, I knew that I could get some nice copy negs, and eventually make conventional black & white prints. I'm also interested, because in World War 1, Woodrow Wilson practically took over the media and turned America's newspaper and magazine into propaganda organs. Something that wasn't done in World War 2, or Vietnam. The first image shows both images as they appeared on the paper. The other two are separated, and a little bigger. The caption for the image on the left is, "Full steam ahead. View of the U. S. S. Wyoming." The right image is, "Coaling ship."

Getting 75's Ready, World War 1

I know quite a lot about photographic printing, but not a lot about commercial printing. Anyway, I bought a stack of these at one of those antique malls, and after some research, I think, but won't promise, that they are rotogravures. When I was working at the photo lab, I had copy negs made, and then printed black & white photos of some of them. The real question I have is, what was their purpose, and what were they from? With the official U.S. logo in the bottom right corner of the image, two things come to mind. 1.) Photos passed by a military censor. 2.) Images released by the government, and if you know anything about the way Woodrow Wilson practically took over the American press for the war effort, that's the more likely of the two explanations. Too, did they come from a magazine or from some sort of government, propaganda campaign? Over the next couple of months, I'll be publishing a lot more of these images. The caption, "Getting 75's ready to move into position. 313th F. A. supporting 80th Div. Near Nixville."