These 36 Colour Photographs Show Life in the USA During World War Two

Between 1939 and 1945, photographers working for the United States Farm Security Administration (FCA) and the Office of War Information (OWI) took hundreds of photographs in brilliant colour. Most of their colleagues in the photography business were still working in black and white. We are most used to seeing black and white photos of wartime America, giving these shots a proto-futuristic quality.

The photographs’ subjects are mainly rural life and communities and industy achievements. This is why you’ll see lots of shots of machinery, women’s labor, railroads, aviation training and factories.

It’s wonderful to see the fashions at the time in bright colour, too. We love these red socks!