I thought in 1939 they didn't have color yet?
This was all explained by Calvin's (of Calvin and Hobbes fame) Dad:
C: Dad, how come old photographs are always black and white? Didn't they
have color film back then?
D: Sure they did. In fact, those old photographs ARE in color. It's just the
WORLD was black and white then.
C: Really?
D: Yep. The world didn't turn color until sometime in the 1930s, and it was
pretty grainy color for a while, too.
C: That's really weird.
D: Well, truth is stranger than fiction.
C: But then why are old PAINTINGS in color?! If the world was black and
white, wouldn't artists have painted it that way?
D: Not necessarily. A lot of great artists were insane.
C: But... but how could they have painted in color anyway? Wouldn't their
paints have been shades of gray back then?
D: Of course, but they turned colors like everything else in the '30s.
C: So why didn't old black and white photos turn color too?
D: Because they were color pictures of black and white, remember?
-gary