Best collection of digital images EVER

For the past 24 hours, I've been held hostage by the most amazing collection of online images, published by the New York Public Library. I can't stop browsing, searching and downloading. It's crack for a collage artist. 


The images are grouped into different searchable collections. My favorite so far is the Cigarette Card collection, which includes almost 50,000 images. Seriously!

Starting in the mid-19th century, the cards were included in cigarette packs, inviting smokers to collect complete sets, from the mundane to the truly exotic. Like "Hindoo Gods."

There are lots of "Beauty" cards, like this one.

Right now I'm working on an artist book that features images from the "First Aid" card set. 

I've just begun exploring some of the other collections. This colorful figure is part of "Theatrical correspondence and ephemera."

And this comes from a collection of Russian book jackets.

There are thousands of photos as well. This woman was one of the millions of immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island in the early 1900s.

I wish there were a way to save my favorite images or collections on the site itself, but beggars can't be choosers. The search function works pretty well, once you find it (inside a collection, click the "Filter" tab to display the Search box). There's a "public domain" check box to limit the images even further.

Have fun exploring!