Dirty Talk

A dustman chats up the ladies, 1935, London.  Photographer unknown.

Meat Men

So-called meat porters, 1935, London, carrying pork.  Interestingly enough, the photographer is one E. Bacon.

I've been Working on the Railroad

Track workers, Paris, 1911.  Photo by Roger Viollet.

We are the Dustmen

Ash removal, Potsdam, Germany, 1928.  Photographer unknown.

Paint Your Wagon

Trolley painters, Scotland, 1911.  Photographer unknown.

Prop Men

Workers grease the way for a new ship (the SS Strathaird) to hit the surf, July 19, 1931, Barrow-in-Furness, England.  Photo by Douglas Miller.

Big Wheel Keep on Turning

Construction crew with massive gear.  London, 1930.  Photographer unknown. 

Strike!

Workers protest the Waterman Repair Division, Maryland, 1935.  Photo by Harold M. Lambert.

After the Fire

Firemen, exhausted and beaten, after the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, March 25, 1911, New York.

Take Out the Papers and the Trash

Paris, 1910. Photo by Albert Harlingue.

There's One on Your Shoulder

Rat hunter, Paris, 1910.  Photographer, Roger Violett.

Subterranean Homesick Blues

Maintaing the sewers in London.  Date and photographer unknown.

Roadwork Ahead

Working on Route 40, Ohio, 1935.  Photographer unknown.

The Pit Brow Girls

Girls and women working a coal production line in the U.K., exact location unknown.  Commonly referred to as "pit brow girls."  Circa 1912, photographer unknown.

For Those Who Labor on this Day

A migrant farm worker in Belcross, NC, 1940, takes a short break.  Photo by Jack Delano.

After the Gold Rush

Dawson City, Yukon (present day Nome, Alaska), circa 1890.  Photographer unknown.

Street Sweeping

Street sweeper takes a break.  London, East End, 1965.  Photo by Steve Lewis.

Florence, Italy, circa 1940. A trucker stops to refuel. Photo by Alberto Lattuada.

Before Rosie

Long before America's Rosie the Riveter represented women in the workplace during war, the French were already in the game.  Women like these worked in munitions factories from 1914 through 1918 to support the war effort while troops fought under the hellish conditions of trench warfare at the front.  Photo by Roger Viollet, 1914. 

Scraping the Sky

Steel beam workers in New York City, 1925.  Photographer unknown. 

Catch of the Day: Abalone

Abalone fisherman sort the catch.  California, 1940, photographer unknown.

Checking the Plaque

After completing the Williamsburg Bridge (New York City) workers check the finish on the plaque. Circa 1903, photographer unknown.

Boiling Sausages

Boiling sausages at the sausage factory.  Photographer and location unknown.  Circa 1920.

French Opera Parking

New Orleans, circa 1955. Photographer Roger Viollet.

Workers on the Silent Highway

 From the series "Street life in London,"  1877.  Photo by John Thomson

Youngsters in Harlem

Youngsters play in the street, Harlem, 1920s.  Photo by New York Daily News.

"London Contrast"

Circa 1860, published by London Stereoscopic Company, photographer unknown.  Staged split-screen to illustrate the difference between rich and poor children in London, England. 

Roadhouse

Roadhouse in the southern United States.  Exact location not listed.  Photographer, Michael Ochs. 

Lunch Break

Workers take a break, London, 1920s.  Photographer unknown.

Spring Clean

Docker cleans figurehead at Chatham Dockyard in Kent, 1931.  Photographer unknown.

Glass Factory kids

Outside the glass factory, Alexandria, VA, 1911.  Photographer unknown.

Tow Rope

Dock worker hoisting tow rope, London, 1912.  Photographer unknown.

Street Scene

Street scene in Harlem, 1920s.  Photo by New York Daily News. 

Last Call

Last call - Covington KY, 1919, the day before Prohibition was enacted.  

Welding at the Shipyard

Two female welders at the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards in Baltimore, MD.  Photo by Arthur Siegel.

The Purple Sage Tavern

The Purple Sage Tavern, Texas, 1939.  Photo by Carl Mydan.

Aftermath

Day after Harlem riots of 1943.  Photo by New York Daily News. 

On the Waterfront

Dock workers in New York, circa 1920s.  Photographer unknown.

Liverpudlian Neighbors

Neighbors sit on a stoop in Liverpool, July, 1949.  Photographer unknown.

Park College Diner, Open 24 Hours

College Park, MD, 1930s. Photo by Nancy Foutz.

Man it's hard...

Baltimore,1940.  Photo by Frederic Lewis.

Drinking at Art's

Art's Sportsmen's Tavern, Colchester Connecticut, 1940.  Photo by Jack Delano

Children and wagon

Children with bucket and wagon in Washington, DC, 1911.  Photographer unknown.

Albert Docks

Loading the Arawa.  London, circa 1885, photographer unknown.

"A Rope Walk"

From Wild Life on a Tidal Water, 1890.  Photograph by Peter Henry Emerson.

"Breydon Smelter"

From Wild Life on a Tidal Water, 1890. Photograph by Peter Henry Emerson.