The cynic in me thinks that some of them look recreated, though I know that's not true. My grandfather was a chemist and worked with Eastman Kodak from the 1930's - employees used to be sent home with rolls of film while they were working on color film. Sometimes all the pictures would turn out shades of green or red. We have interesting family photos!

I've seen a couple of the photos elsewhere; I think they're from the Library of Congress. It's great to see old photos in colour, but I'm not sure if it makes them more or less real to me.

I was lucky enough to see many of the original prints at the Library of Congress a few years back. The color is just amazing, very saturated. Through the LoC's content partnership project with Flickr, you can see many of them online easily. And by putting them online they've had amazing things happen in the comments section - family members or others who had some connection identifying people and places.

Awesome photos. This one of a state fair really struck me - the same scene today would be awash with neon colours and lighting. Not to mention the decorative, rather than functional fence around the ride.

I love these. Old color photos are just magical to me.