Snapshots of the Past

Central Automotive Repair Shop, Salem, Virginia. July 27, 1940. E.E. Williams in charge of the electrical and fuel system department instructs Thomas L. Pulley of Victoria, Virginia in the method of undercutting an armature commutator on a steel turning lathe which is especially equipped for this electrical department – Antique Print

Central Automotive Repair Shop, Salem, Virginia. July 27, 1940. E.E. Williams in charge of the electrical and fuel system department instructs Thomas L. Pulley of Victoria, Virginia in the method of undercutting an armature commutator on a steel turning lathe which is especially equipped for this electrical department — historic photograph
Central Automotive Repair Shop, Salem, Virginia. July 27, 1940. E.E. Williams in charge of the electrical and fuel system department instructs Thomas L. Pulley of Victoria, Virginia in the method of undercutting an armature commutator on a steel turning lathe which is especially equipped for this electrical department. Historic photograph from the Automobiles collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Few images capture their era like this historic photograph of Central Automotive Repair Shop, Salem, Virginia. July 27, 1940. E.E. Williams in charge of the electrical and fuel system department instructs Thomas L. Pulley of Victoria, Virginia in the method of undercutting an armature commutator on a steel turning lathe which is especially equipped for this electrical department. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.

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Central Automotive Repair Shop, Salem, Virginia. July 27, 1940. E.E. Williams in charge of the electrical and fuel system department instructs Thomas L. Pulley of Victoria, Virginia in the method of undercutting an armature commutator on a steel turning lathe which is especially equipped for this electrical department

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Salem, Virginia's Central Automotive Repair Shop is the setting, where E.E. Williams, in charge of the electrical and fuel system department, shows Thomas L. Pulley of Victoria how to undercut an armature commutator on a steel turning lathe equipped for that work. Hands-on instruction like this was a common part of vocational training in auto mechanics in the late 1930s and early 1940s, as the country built up a skilled workforce ahead of wartime demand. The photograph was made by the Office for Emergency Management, and its July 27, 1940 date comes from a caption card that has not been independently verified.

Medium1 photographic print.
Notes[no date recorded on caption card]
SubjectsPhoto by Office for Emergency Management. This record contains unverified, old data from caption card. Caption card tracings: BI; Va.--S-; Vocational ed.; Auto. mechanics; Civilian C- C-; Shelf.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,536 × 1,229 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-135891

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