Rural Life Collection

Backyard carnival, 1800s
Children putting on a circus in the backyarrd, 1800s. Hand-colored halftone reproduction of a 19th-century illustration

Dutch skaters on the Zuider Zee, 1800s
Skaters enjoying a winter Sunday on the Zuider Zee, Dutch island of Marken, 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Confederate soldier romancing a young woman, 1800s
Confederate soldier declaring his love for a young woman, 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Victorian era picnic
Families having a summer picnic, England, 1870s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Plowing rice paddies with water buffalo
Using water buffalo to plow rice paddies in China. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

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Freed slaves wedding dance in a cabin, US South, 1870s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Irish children carrying peat to pay for school
Children in western Ireland carrying peat to pay for their schooling, 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Washboard for scrubbing laundry in the 1800s
Woman reenactor doing laundry with a washboard, living history demonstration, Shiloh National Military Park, Tennessee. Digital photograph

Colonial farmers in New Sweden, 1600s
Swedish settlers harvesting wheat in Delaware, 1600s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

A crowded Boston skating pond, 1800s
A skating scene in Boston, Massachusetts, 1850s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

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Skating on a pond in winter, 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Meeting the new postmistress, early 1900s
Townspeople meeting their new postmistress, about 1905. Hand-colored halftone reproduction of a 1905 illustration

Boys playing marbles, 1800s
Boys playing a game of marbles in a small town, early 1900s. Hand-colored halftone reproduction of an illustration

Rural courtship, early 1900s
Young couple seated by a brook, early 1900s. Hand-colored halftone reproduction of an illustration

Game of mumblety-peg, 1800s
Boys playing mumblety-peg in the grass, 1800s. Hand-colored halftone reproduction of a 19th-century illustration

Family storyteller
Old woman telling folklore to young girls in a cottage kitchen, England. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Ice-skating on the Schuylkill River, 1800s
Skating party on the Schuylkill River near Philadelphia, circa 1880. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Chinese farmers planting rice
Transplanting and irrigating rice in China. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Hay harvest, 1800s
Farmers haying, a calendar illustration for June, 1850s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th century illustration

A hay ride, 1800s
Children riding atop a hay wagon pulled by a pair of horses, 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Georgia Cracker family tending their cookpot, 1890s
Cracker women cooking outside their poor, rural cabin in Georgia, late 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Country life in medieval Europe
Country life in France in the late Middle Ages. Hand-colored 19th-century woodcut reproduction of a 1517 edition of Virgil published in Lyons

Wedding of former slaves in the South, 1870s
Freed African-American couple getting married in a cabin during Reconstruction. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Funeral of a former black slave, Reconstruction Era
Negro funeral in Virginia, 1870s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

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African-American boy reading to his family of former slaves, 1870s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

New Hampshire village, 1800s
Village of New Boston, New Hampshire, in the 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Colonial churchgoers in Sleepy Hollow, New York
Parishioners leaving church at Sleepy Hollow in colonial New York. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

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Rural newspaper editor considering farm products as payment for a subscription, 1800s Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Rider arriving with the mail on a post road
Old-time post-rider trumpeting the arrival of the mail. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

HOUS2A-00020
Boys scaring their friend with a jack-o lantern, a Halloween prank, 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Barefoot boy
Barefoot country boy carrying toy tops. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th century illustration

Fashionable couple outdoors, early 1900s
Well-to-do couple on a hillside, early 1900s. Hand-colored halftone reproduction of an illustration

Courtship in a woodland setting, 1800s
Young man and woman on a walk in the countryside, late 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Traveler on a hillside
Man resting on a grassy hillside. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Christmas singing in a church, 1800s
Churchgoers singing Christmas carols from a hymnbook, 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a Caldecott illustration

Rural Christmas gathering of neighbors, 1800s
People going to a neighbors Christmas party in the country. Hand-colored woodcut of a Caldecott illustration

Summertime activity for a country boy
Barefoot boy crossing a stream. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Summer afternoon for a boy and his dog, circa 1900
Boy lying under a shade tree with his sleeping dog, early 1900s. Printed color halftone reproduction of an illustration by F.E. Schoonover

Farm near Tinicum, Delaware, 1800s
Pasture and hayfields along the Delaware River at Tinicum, Delaware. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Homemade jam, pickles, and canned tomatoes
Traditional homemade pickles, tomatoes, and fruit jam. Photograph

Homemade pickles and canned tomatoes
Traditional home-preserved pickles and tomatoes. Photograph

Fruit for home canning
Fruit and berries with old-fashioned home preserving jars. Photograph

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A country store in an American village, 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

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Farm girl bringing a basket of eggs to sell to the country store, 1800s. Hand-colored halftone reproduction of a 19th-century illustration

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Cluricauns of Irish folklore leading a traveler astray. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Irish farmers harrowing poor soil, 1800s
Irish family harrowing rocky soil on a mountain farm in County Mayo, 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th century illustration

HUSG2A-00026
African-American outdoor prayer meeting in the South, 1870s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

PART2A-00066
Rural traveler resting under a tree. Color halftone reproduction of a 19th-century Howard Pyle illustration

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