In the eighth appearance of our popular annual feature, little-known but impressive works shed light on our past from the great days of New Bedford’s whaling industry the edge days of the Cold War. As in earlier years, each picture has something telling to impart about how Americans lived their lives, but this time there’s a new dimension: We’d like to invite you to come and see the show in the flesh, as it were. For details, please turn to the editor’s letter in this issue.