We’re kicking off a short series to provide some pro-tips for identifying photos in our collection. To begin, we’ll talk about where these photos came from and the various factors that come into play when some users experience difficulty when searching for a specific photograph.
Way Back When
In the early 1950s, cottage aerial photography businesses began to form around the country. Their goal was to photograph rural homes and farms and sell framed enlargements door-to-door. They started by hiring pilots to take photographs of areas they thought to be ripe with prospects.
The pilots created flight path maps and marked their location mid-flight each time they took 35-37 pictures, or consumed a roll of film. As soon as their film was developed, a salesman could begin peddling framed enlargements using the map as a reference to the location of the film.