Fascinating narrative lot of five (5) original mid-century vintage snapshots detailing a heavy civil engineering construction site. These photos feature a massive Lima Power Shovel / Crawler Crane actively excavating a rocky hillside, along with close-ups of the operations crew and visiting spectators.
Provenance & Location Details:
- Source: These photos were acquired directly from a vintage family photo album originating from Sutton, West Virginia.
- Location and Date Note: While the album is from Sutton (heavily suggesting these images capture the early site clearing and excavation phases of the Sutton Dam project), please note that the exact location and dates are not definitively marked or officially verified on the photos. They are sold as-found.
Lot Breakdown & Condition:
- Photo 1 (Group Portrait): Features three visiting spectators posing in front of the Lima shovel cab. Classic late-1940s fashion. Back stamp: 731R. Deckled edges. Good condition.
- Photo 2 (Crowd/Machinery Close-Up): Spectators watching the crew work near the cab entry. Features a sharp view of the iconic Lima diamond logo. Back stamp: 932. Deckled edges. Good condition.
- Photo 3 (Active Excavation Wide): Shows the full boom arm, cables, and raised dipper bucket clearing blasted shale rock. Back stamp: 934 (sequentially matching Photo 2). Deckled edges. Good condition.
- Photo 4 (Worker Close-Up): A great industrial portrait of a greaser/mechanic wearing an engineer's cap, oil-stained clothes, holding a long-spout railroad-style oil can in front of the bucket assembly. Back stamp: 613. Deckled edges. Good condition.
- Photo 5 (Crew Portrait - Polaroid): Four muddy crew members posing in the excavation pit. This is a rare, early peel-apart Polaroid Land Camera instant print (introduced late 1948). Back stamp: POLAROID L11107. Features authentic vintage yellow-brown chemical oxidation fading on the borders, typical of early instant film. Deckled edges.
Perfect for collectors of vernacular photography, industrial machinery history, Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton ephemera, or West Virginia regional history!
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