Believe it or not, this color photograph was shot in 1910. It's one of over 2,600 images captured by Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii between 1905 and 1915 that are now part of the Library of Congress collection.

Many of Prokudin-Gorskii's photos were captured as three-color B&W separations, allowing them to be reproduced a century later as surprisingly high quality digital color images. The result is an eerily formal depiction of the Russian Empire in the bittersweet years leading up to World War I and the October Revolution.

The Library of Congress explains how this priceless collection made its way to the United States:

"The photographs of Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863-1944) offer a vivid portrait of a lost world--the Russian Empire on the eve of World War I and the coming revolution. His subjects ranged from the medieval churches and monasteries of old Russia, to the railroads and factories of an emerging industrial power, to the daily life and work of Russia's diverse population.

In the early 1900s Prokudin-Gorskii formulated an ambitious plan for a photographic survey of the Russian Empire that won the support of Tsar Nicholas II. Between 1909-1912, and again in 1915, he completed surveys of eleven regions, traveling in a specially equipped railroad car provided by the Ministry of Transportation.

Prokudin-Gorskii left Russia in 1918, going first to Norway and England before settling in France. By then, the tsar and his family had been murdered and the empire that Prokudin-Gorskii so carefully documented had been destroyed. His unique images of Russia on the eve of revolution--recorded on glass plates--were purchased by the Library of Congress in 1948 from his heirs."

The Empire That Was Russia [LoC]

Browse The Prokudin-Gorskii Collection

Head Study (between 1905-1915)

View of Kasli, 1910

Mugan. Settler's family. Settlement of Grafovka (between 1905-1915)

My earliest memories of using cassettes was in grade school. We had these shoebox shaped Bell + Howell tape recorders that were chunky enough to take a pounding from children and panicked teachers alike. This was a bit before you could get a tape player that had cartoonish "kid safe" proportions and friendly colors. Everything was either gray, or a much darker gray. When my father bought a similar shoebox, it at least had some silver detailing, but for the most part these tape recorders were not only monophonic, but monochromatic as well.

In 1972 it seems that B+H was interested in catering to a new kind of portable taping enthusiast. I found a newspaper article discussing rolling out the 4350 TRM tape recorder, saying that portables were a growing market for cassette consumers. I suppose that catering to homes rather than institutions, B+H told teir designers to create something a bit more Space:1999. Check out the plasticky curves on this thing, to say nothing of the choice of avocado green & almond plastic. In fact, let's agree to say nothing about the avocado green...

For those of us who grew up suffused in avocado green appliances, the tape recorder the same shade might be a bit much. Though I still like the "futuristic" lines of the device. The lugs on the side are probably for a shoulder strap. Not that you would sling it over your shoulder as a proto-Walkman (especially if you only had one of those pink bud things to listen to your tapes), but it was handy for on the move reportage or nature recording. After close to 40 years, it's perhaps unfair to judge the audio quality, let's just be amazed that it still works. Just like the avocado stove, fridge, washer, dryer and blender that are still at my mother's house...

related:
Montgomery Ward projector in avocado green
Tom's Tiny tape recorders
Pre-iPod shiny plastic earbud

Since Retro Thing has been going so well for a number of years, maybe it's time to spin off and create "Giant Japanese Fighting Robot Thing". I've always had a soft spot for this sort of television. As a kid I was always excited by live action and robots. Today I still celebrate the earnest cheapness of these shows. I have no idea what the title is of this one - just that there's a big robot, and I'm guessing someone's going to get a cyber smackdown.

I have to admire the visuals in this intro alone. This is pre-computer I'm guessing, so those morphing effects had to be hand animated. Amazing stuff. It's likely there's more concentrated production value in this 30 seconds then there is in the whole series. The vehicles that parade by make me think that there might also be some exciting chase scenes between toy cars with wings glued on... bliss. Any idea what show this is?

Video intro of fighting robot TV show

related:
Zanbot 3 die-cast toys
Qonto: 1970's Japanese robot mystery
DVD Wishlist: Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot