Beer Parlor Photograph

Beer parlor photograph by American FSA photographer John Vachon, 1914-1975. This gelatin silver print photograph is formally titled “Men in beer parlor at Finnish settlement of Bruce Crossing, Michigan.” It originally dates to August 1941, through the Farm Security Administration’s records – Office of War Information Photograph Collection (Library of Congress), and corresponds to photographs of the United States, Michigan, Ontonagon County, and Bruce Crossing.

Library of congress number LC-USF34- 063502-D. This gelatin silver print photograph by John Vachon dates to the 1960s-1970s and is stamped “Reproduced from the collections of the Library of Congress” with the handwritten artist name in pencil of “John Vachon. Aug 41 Beer parlor in Finnish settlement Bruce Crossing, Mich.” American photographer John Vachon took this photograph on behalf of the FSA- Farm Security Administration. One of the group of renowned FSA photographers, Vachon worked as a filing clerk for the Farm Security Administration before Roy Stryker recruited him and a small group of talented photojournalists to document rural and small-town America and the effects of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl through the plain states.

His crisp black and white photographs offer a glimpse into the early 20th-century American experience. In this light-hearted image of men enjoying a beer, the gentleman to the right raises his glass to say “cheers” to the camera, a world war two poste

The sheet measures 8 x 10 inches. The image measures 7.16 x 9.45 inches.

The photograph displays circular edge loss to the margin edges. The photograph surface displays minor abrasions and surface imperfections with markings and notations on the reverse.