things fall apart

Sources of noise in New York City, as catalogued by the Noise Abatement Commission in 1930. 

Source: The New York Times

She Done Him Wrong (1933)

Vivex colour print, 1932 (by dovima_is_devine_II)

Red dahlias at Lambert Gardens (now defunct) in Portland, Oregon, 1938.

Norris Dam State Park, Lake City, Tennessee (1938) -- A ranger rides on the running board of a car in order to direct the visitors inside to their cabin.

A poster created by Alexander Dux between 1936 and 1939 for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Art Project.

Romeo and Juliet (1936)

Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer in Romeo and Juliet (1936).

Cary Grant photographed by George Hoyningen-Huene for Vanity Fair, 1934.

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Joan Crawford, photographed by Edward J. Steichen in 1931.

Fairbanks and Crawford met on the set of Our Modern Maidens and were married on June 3, 1929 in New York City. He was 19 and she was 24; they came from very different backgrounds. Fairbanks' father and stepmother, Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Mary Pickford, were huge stars, and his biological mother was heiress to a cotton fortune. Consequently he led a charmed life and attended the finest schools. Crawford, on the other hand, had to work her way up from near poverty; her father had abandoned the family before she was born.

Pickford disapproved of their marriage, perhaps out of jealousy towards Crawford's rising stardom, and Crawford would not be invited to the Pickford-Fairbanks home, a 56-acre estate in Beverly Hills, for some time. Only Fairbanks' mother attended their wedding; Pickford and Fairbanks Sr. were not in attendance. Though it was definitely a love match, there was some speculation that Crawford was also motivated by a desire to further her career. The couple honeymooned in England, where they were entertained by the likes of Noël Coward and Prince George, Duke of Kent. However, Crawford subsequently had an affair with Clark Gable and the couple divorced in 1933.

Actor William Haines, 1930.

Haines starred in a string of hits in the 1920's and was for several years a top-five star, but when MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer discovered Haines's homosexuality, Haines was given an ultimatum: enter into a sham marriage or end his relationship with partner Jimmie Shields. Haines chose his partner and Mayer subsequently fired him and terminated his contract, giving the roles that had been planned for him to Robert Montgomery. Haines made a few minor films afterwards but soon retired; his last film was made in 1934.

Haines and Shields stayed together until Haines's death and together they became a successful interior design duo and also dealt antiques. Their first clients included their friends Joan Crawford, Gloria Swanson, Carole Lombard, Marion Davies and George Cukor. Crawford described them as "the happiest married couple in Hollywood." Their clients even included a future president; Ronald and Nancy Reagan used their services when he was Governor of California.

Edward J. Steichen and Lilyan Tashman at a beach party in Hollywood, 1931.

Bridge over the River Great Ouse, Bedford, Bedfordshire, c. 1930's. 

FDR seated in front of Springwood-- his home in Hyde Park, New York-- with his mother Sara, daughter Anna, and two grandchildren, Anna and Curtis.

1936. (by elinor04)

Kirsten Dunst at the Met Costume Institute Gala 2012