This scarce Depression-era ephemeral publication resulted from an assignment by the American Can Company, for whom Margaret Bourke-White spent two months in Brazil, photographing the coffee industry. Coffee Through the Camera's Lens contains eleven of Bourke-White's photographs and was distributed to American schoolchildren in an attempt, one might assume, to shape their future drinking habits. Also included are sheets with classroom assignments on the history, cultivation, and production of coffee and a card that asks: 'Is Mother Interested in Coffee too?' Giving the option to order a further publication titled Coffee Facts for Homemakers.

First edition; printed green card small folio (175 x 128 mm, 7 x 5 in) with a pocket holding a post-paid business reply card and sixteen loose leaves (165 × 95 mm, 6½ x 3¾ in); 11 of these cards reproduce captioned photographs by Margaret Bourke-White printed in relief halftone, the others feature a map of Brazil, information on the coffee industry in the United States, instructions for making a 'Coffee Project Book', a 'True-False Test', and a Multiple-Choice Test', minor crease to opening and upper corner, close to fine.

The Photobook: A History III, p184.