[Photo Courtesy of PhillyHistory.org]
The City of Philadelphia’s photo archive contains over 2 million images that date back as far as the late 1800s, i.e. the last time a Republican won in this town. In all seriousness, this is an INCREDIBLE visual record of the city’s evolution and a relatively new web site, PhillyHistory.org, is making it available for online consumption and purchase. To date, some 22,000 images have been digitally scanned, at a rate of roughly 2,000 images a month. So, if you’ve been wondering why the line at Kinko’s is so goddamned SLOW, well, now you know. Phawker will be showcasing images from the PhillyHistory archive and their respective backstories on a regular basis. And to just to make local history fun, let’s have a WRITE YOUR OWN CAPTION contest right fuckin’ NOW! So lend us your wit, send in your idea of a makes-milk-shoot-out-yer-nose caption for the above image to Feed@phawker.com. First prize is a pair of tix to see Yo La Tengo At The Troc On February 10th. Second prize, a set of steak knives. Third prize, YOU’RE FIRED!