The Sickles Photo-Reporting Service

The Sickles Photo-Reporting Service archive documents the American advancement of industry spanning from, 1938 to 2007. 

The photographs were commissioned and meticulously taken by one company, to be used for advertising and marketing purposes, on behalf of other companies.

The archive depicts America’s growing need for the photographic perspective. With a wide range of rare and unique imagery, this collection provides a historical panorama of the advertising and promotional needs of American businesses. This treasure provides a stroll through the entire spectrum of America’s industrialization, and labor.

The Sickles Photo-Reporting Service archive does not showcase the achievements of the world’s greatest photographic artists nor does it celebrate the medium’s history.  It is an archive created over time by hundreds of professional photographers.  The Sickles photo-reporters documented on-site product performance reports, new product applications, special events, and supplied images for illustrated case studies and consumer advertising. Many of the assignments feature products in use, or services, others are human interest stories relating to dealers, distributors, contractors, retailers and consumers.  The archive spans a length of time in history from 1938 to 2007. 

The photographs were taken in factories, offices, and other locations where America’s daily work was done.  The entire spectrum of American labor was documented by the Sickles photo-reporters. For example, the manufacturing of storage bags, furniture, and a mammoth ship’s propeller, quality-control testing of mattresses and toy trains, etc.  It documents people at work in factories, restaurants, and health clinics; all in all, a panorama of American prosperity well-suited for the advertising and promotional needs of American business.