Hi everyone, thanks for reading. I forgot to mention in my post for our friend Max, if you want to check out the uncompressed high resolution copies of the slides as I digitize them, I'm (gradually) putting them all up on the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/@sambiddle
this rules so fuckin hard i can hardly believe it. preserving rare and historically significant human knowledge is basically a holy mission and as much as you downplay it as an insane obsession (an assertion which entire academic fields would find insulting), i think you must know you're doing something genuinely cool and good.
I was just trying to be self deprecating, trust me I have incredible admiration for the people who do this for a living (and not just because some of them were so patient and generous with their time when I asked!)
Sadly, I grasped under understood every word of this piece. Keep that girlfriend. I am not like you but we may be related. No, they are not worthy of TIFF format because there is no archival benefit to that which cannot be seen. You do realize, there are far worthier pursuits.
Related, you should see the pile of old passports, strange business ledgers, and various cold war era coupon books I've been collecting from fleamarkets here in Berlin. These two collections would be friends.
One of the microfilm/microfiche scanners at the university library where I work can also be used for scanning these slides. People often bring in boxes of them they've found in an attic, usually an elderly or deceased family member's vacation photos and the like. The scanner (model name is ScanPro 3000) can be a bit finicky at times, but is still easier and faster than what you've described in the note above. So if you're near a research library with significant microform collections, that could be a good option to consider in the future.
I think the slides were produced as a press kit to supplement and herald publication of the booklets. Not sure if it was every year or just a select few. I believe the ones I had were from 1985.
Here's a couple pics I found in my back catalog of one of their original boxes and of a few slides laid out:
Recently I spent wayyyy too much money paying somebody to poorly scan my old photo negatives. But I went through a lot of these stages of indecision (should I buy a vintage negative scanner that once lived in a one-hour photo shop?) before I got there. I sympathize with Sam on a very deep level.
My wife and your girlfriend have a lot to talk about. That said, if she's grudgingly willing to suffer the slides the way my wife suffered a Jaguar hubcap I found on the street (Just lying there! Can you believe it?) being set up in our kitchen as the perfect wall decoration, then there's a future there.
Also I have a slide projector I inherited from my father, and now I'm wondering what treasures I might find on eBay...
TIFFs rule, they’re the ONLY way to print, and some day these may need to be printed. Danny McBride makes this point very well in the second season of Eastbound & Down: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6kXKwi5qGs Don’t let those new-fangled, screen-oriented file formats get in there and further blur The Slides!
as someone who worked in the archives in college - love this shit!! my scanning time was more "19th century crumbling letters" and "photos of women with dogs" but there's an audience for all of it.
This is wonderful, for the illustrations mostly, of course. You also write wonderfully! “onboarding materials for a violent imperial hegemon at the height of its 20th century superpower”. Wow!
There's a very nice book (whose name escapes me at the moment) that collects rare ephemera from NASA. It's also amazing and a slice of lost knowledge from the late 50s and early 60s.
Hi everyone, thanks for reading. I forgot to mention in my post for our friend Max, if you want to check out the uncompressed high resolution copies of the slides as I digitize them, I'm (gradually) putting them all up on the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/@sambiddle
I'm also putting them on my site if you don't need giant TIFF files: https://sambiddle.com/35mm-scans
Thanks very much for your interest, your comments make it worthwhile to me
this rules so fuckin hard i can hardly believe it. preserving rare and historically significant human knowledge is basically a holy mission and as much as you downplay it as an insane obsession (an assertion which entire academic fields would find insulting), i think you must know you're doing something genuinely cool and good.
I was just trying to be self deprecating, trust me I have incredible admiration for the people who do this for a living (and not just because some of them were so patient and generous with their time when I asked!)
Sadly, I grasped under understood every word of this piece. Keep that girlfriend. I am not like you but we may be related. No, they are not worthy of TIFF format because there is no archival benefit to that which cannot be seen. You do realize, there are far worthier pursuits.
Good luck.
^^seconded. A holy mission, indeed.
You have a historical treasure trove. I would assume these slides are gold for military historians.
First off, you never know when you'll need that Dreamcast.
Second, hobbies are weird and futile. I suspect that's part of what makes them rad.
This is the best email I have ever received.
Related, you should see the pile of old passports, strange business ledgers, and various cold war era coupon books I've been collecting from fleamarkets here in Berlin. These two collections would be friends.
One of the microfilm/microfiche scanners at the university library where I work can also be used for scanning these slides. People often bring in boxes of them they've found in an attic, usually an elderly or deceased family member's vacation photos and the like. The scanner (model name is ScanPro 3000) can be a bit finicky at times, but is still easier and faster than what you've described in the note above. So if you're near a research library with significant microform collections, that could be a good option to consider in the future.
I believe these are from a series called SOVIET MILITARY POWER.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Military_Power
I am a book, photograph, ephemeral trash, etc... dealer and had a large trove of them a few years back.
Wow, would love to have a copy of that—seems similar in substance at least
I think the slides were produced as a press kit to supplement and herald publication of the booklets. Not sure if it was every year or just a select few. I believe the ones I had were from 1985.
Here's a couple pics I found in my back catalog of one of their original boxes and of a few slides laid out:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/YJyvEnwzDijqG51p7
https://photos.app.goo.gl/nX1Br3h3VXEc9N4u8
There are copies of the booklets on the usual online book outlets. Not sure how common the slides are to find.
This is so cool, thank you for sharing
I've recently begun collecting kodachrome images of the trolley that used to run through our neighborhood. The Slides... how I cherish them...
As a long time Defector subscriber, can confirm it’s the best ~$10 per month you’ll ever spend on quality content.
Recently I spent wayyyy too much money paying somebody to poorly scan my old photo negatives. But I went through a lot of these stages of indecision (should I buy a vintage negative scanner that once lived in a one-hour photo shop?) before I got there. I sympathize with Sam on a very deep level.
My wife and your girlfriend have a lot to talk about. That said, if she's grudgingly willing to suffer the slides the way my wife suffered a Jaguar hubcap I found on the street (Just lying there! Can you believe it?) being set up in our kitchen as the perfect wall decoration, then there's a future there.
Also I have a slide projector I inherited from my father, and now I'm wondering what treasures I might find on eBay...
TIFFs rule, they’re the ONLY way to print, and some day these may need to be printed. Danny McBride makes this point very well in the second season of Eastbound & Down: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6kXKwi5qGs Don’t let those new-fangled, screen-oriented file formats get in there and further blur The Slides!
as someone who worked in the archives in college - love this shit!! my scanning time was more "19th century crumbling letters" and "photos of women with dogs" but there's an audience for all of it.
This is wonderful, for the illustrations mostly, of course. You also write wonderfully! “onboarding materials for a violent imperial hegemon at the height of its 20th century superpower”. Wow!
OMG these are AMAZING!!! Whoa. I am dying of envy. You have to do a book or something.
“My audience is bored programmers with disposable income” ugh busted. Amazing article, given all the ufo hearings in congress this week
There's a very nice book (whose name escapes me at the moment) that collects rare ephemera from NASA. It's also amazing and a slice of lost knowledge from the late 50s and early 60s.