Industrious Collection

Great Eastern
September 1865: The laying of the Atlantic Telegraph Cable on board Brunels steamship the Great Eastern. Original Publication: Illustrated London News

Cheap Labour
circa 1930: Labourers pulling carts piled high with good wrapped in straw in a Peiping (Beijing) street. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Local Bank
circa 1930: Panning for gold in the Rio Das Velhas (River of the old women), Marianna Brazil which has produced gold since 1730. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Basket-Making
circa 1930: A blind peasant making baskets in Syria. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Wordsmiths
circa 1930: Caption writers at the General Photographic Agency busy at their desks, supported by reference books and a pack of cigarettes. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Cheerful At Work
circa 1930: Four smiling bushmen saw down a kauri tree. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images)

School Panto
December 1929: Pupils at Crouch End High School for Girls painting scenery for their pantomime. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

British Tobacco Farm
September 1926: At a tobacco farm near Fleet, in Hampshire, workers strip tobacco leaves in readiness for grading. Over 80 acres of land are being used for the cultivation of tobacco

Dam Construction
Foundations and masonry in construction at the Asyut Barrage of the Aswan Dam. (Photo by Spencer Arnold Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Telephonists
circa 1930: Operators at the switchboard of the American Telephone and Telegraph Companys long distance exchange. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Spit And Polish
Workmen giving the LNER Pacific engine Pretty Polly a good polish. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Dam Builders
circa 1900: Excavation and construction under way in the deepest part of the foundations at Bab-el-Kibir during the construction of the Aswan Dam. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Racket Makers
circa 1930: Workers making tennis rackets for Lilywhites store. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Poplar trees planted as windbreaker, New Zealand
Row of poplar trees planted as windbreaker on farmland, fall evening, Southland, South Island, New Zealand

Root-Washer
A worker operating Crosskills Archimedean root-washer. It was exhibited at Crystal Palace and Hyde Park in London. Original Artwork

Men At Work
14th December 1850: Builders at work on the upper part of a column at Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, in preparation for the Great Exhibition

Hatting Factory
Women working in a crowded hatting factory in Manchester. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

pasture with sheep grazing, New Zealand
High country pasture with sheep grazing and Southern Alps in background, fall, Makaroa, South Island, New Zealand

Building St Pancras
February 1868: The large vaulted roof has taken shape and dominates the skyline during the construction of St Pancras station in London. (Photo by Edward Gooch/Edward Gooch/Getty Images)

Irrigation Methods
A frieze depicting Egyptians using the water from the Nile for irrigation, circa 2000 BC. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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