The Lively Morgue, as the new Tumblr is called, launched Monday with a black and white photo of news images being sorted in the paper's physical photo "morgue," where millions of pictures are stored in filing cabinets and manila folders.
A post to the Times' on-site Lens photo blog introducing The Lively Morgue said the project was "many months" in the making. Which archival images will cross the border from physical photo morgue to online immortality?
"There is little rhyme or reason to our selection, other than the obvious: We’ve chosen images that delight us," reads the introductory post on Lens.
Images added so far include a close-up of Yankees catcher Yogi Berra's gnarled hands, shot in 1965 (see thumbnail); a policeman, nightstick in hand, watching his beat after a recent nearby double homicide in 1959; and a pair of Philadelphia police officers proudly showing off a captured liquor-smuggling mannequin in Prohibition-era 1930.
The Lively Morgue also features an option to buy prints for $169, as well as another very cool twist: images of the marked-up reverse side of each physical photo. The reverse sides of the photos are home to a photo-nerd bonanza of information, including how much freelancers were paid for shots, published captions and photos' sequence numbers.
But don't think you'll be able to see anywhere close to the majority of the Times' collection of old photos. According to the introductory post on Lens, the paper could publish 10 archival images each day and still possibly have more to spare by the year 3935.
The Times launched its first Tumblr blog, which covers the paper's style and culture focused T Magazine, last April.
Will you follow The Lively Morgue on Tumblr? Let us know in the comments.