Selections from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Coolidge-Consumerism Collection

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Some 175 photographs from the albums of the National Photo Company Collection and other pictorial sources in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress anchor members of Coolidge's administration and other key figures in the sense of concrete historical reality that photographs can uniquely confer.

The Library of Congress purchased the three Coolidge volumes or albums in the National Photo Company Collection, also known as the French collection, in 1947 from the owner, Herbert E. French. They contain a total of approximately 1,100 photographs, already captioned, of Coolidge's time in federal office. Volumes 1 and 2 in Lot 12283 bear the title "Calvin Coolidge First Administration." Volume 3 is titled "Calvin Coolidge Second Administration."

Volumes 1 and 2 cover Coolidge's first four years in national office (both as vice president and president). Volume 3 covers his full term as president through spring 1927 only. (He did not leave office until March 3, 1929.) There are no photographs in the Coolidge albums for 1928.

Possibly the preponderance of the Coolidge album photos were taken in the early period, through late fall 1924, because that is when Coolidge was campaigning and therefore trying to meet, in a highly visible way, with as many and as various groups as possible. President Harding had established the precedent of the "photo opportunity" by posing for photographs several times a week, and Coolidge continued the tradition.

In addition to the three Coolidge volumes, selections from four volumes of Lot 12299, also the National Photo Company Collection, provide relevant Coolidge administration photos for the period January 1927 to February 1930, although many of the photographs do not picture the Coolidges even when the subjects are shown at the White House, calling upon the president. A few additional selections come from volume one of Lot 12284 of the National Photo Company Collection, focusing on Herbert Herbert's administration.

The National Photo Company photographs feature the president, members of his family, and family pets (including Rebecca the raccoon); cabinet members; leading congressmen; businessmen; and citizens and interest groups that visited the White House during Coolidge's administration. Other photographs from the Prints and Photographs Division show exterior store display windows, particularly windows of fashionable clothing and electrical goods, as well as drugstore interiors, offices workers, automobile models and auto touring scenes.