Many of us love taking photos of all the little joys in life—the goofiness of a pet, the not-so-good-looking cookies you baked for the first time, or the unexpected flowers you received. It’s fascinating how smartphones have made it so easy for us to capture precious moments forever. But this was not always the case. In the past, not many people had the luxury of clicking photographs at any time. So, it’s interesting to see past photos that reflect a rich tapestry of historical events, cultural norms, and everyday life from a bygone era.
1. Anne Frank’s Father Otto, Revisiting The Attic Where They Hid From The Nazis
2. 87 Years Ago Sylvan Goldman Invented The Shopping Cart
3. Vietnamese Babies Being Airlifted To The Us For Adoption In 1975
4. Morning Bathers In Las Vegas Watch A Mushroom Cloud From An Atomic Test 75 Miles Away, 1953
5. Jim Thorpe. He’s Wearing Different Socks And Shoes. 1912 Olympic. From U.S. Track And Field
6. Miss Idaho Potato, 1935
7. Cleaned Up Image From Shackleton’s British Antarctic Expedition, (1907-1908)
8. Colorized Pic Of Princeton University Students After A Snowball Fight, 1893
9. A Lipstick Tester From The 1950s. Hired To Test Durability And Color Of Lipstick
10. Joe Arridy, The “Happiest Prisoner On Death Row”, Gives Away His Train Before Being Executed, 1939
11. Ed Clarity’s Photo Of A Woman About To Snatch A Kid From Water With A Net At Rockaway Beach ,ny,1958
12. 80 Yrs Ago Today (D-Day) My Great Grandma Wrote This Letter To My Granddad Who Was In The Navy
13. 9-Year Old Eunice Winstead Johns And Her Husband, 24-Year-Old Charlie Johns, Tennessee 1937
14. He aims to please. (1954)
15. A family portrait. Gainesville, Florida – 1900
16. Honor Amidst the Waves
This is a mass burial at sea, on the USS Intrepid in 1944 following a kamikaze attack. I’ve never seen this photo, and I figure most of you probably haven’t either. I posted so people can see, and remember the incredible sacrifices made on our behalf.
17. This simple moment is brought to you by 1930
18. There is modern beauty in this photograph of Lota Cheek taken 99 years ago
19. And then there was the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918
20. 104 years ago this fountain in Detroit, Michigan was left running allowing it to build layer upon layer in to this 30 foot icy spectacle
21. Fred Messer’s life spanned three centuries. He was born in 1792, 16 years after the United States became a counrty and lived to see automobiles roll along roads, dying in 1907. (North Carolina)
22. The Cornelia Vanderbilt wedding portrait. (1924)
23. The right day to hang laundry in New York. (1900)
24. Arizona Migrant Family, 1940
25. The Grand Staircase At The Paris Opera, 1948
26. Viola LaLonde And Elizabeth Van Tuyl Pose Beside A Ford Automobile, 1922
Viola LaLonde and Elizabeth Van Tuyl pose beside a Ford automobile before making their cross-country drive from Washington, DC to San Francisco. (June, 1922.) In a time before sophisticated freeways, staggered convenience stations and gps, this must have been a wild adventure for these two young girls.
27. A Moment Of Daily Life In Whitby, England Otherwise Forgotten, Recorded Forever
28. A Nostalgic Look At Christmas Preparations In London, 1915
29. A Quiet Moment Of Rest In The Heart Of The Great Depression (Library Of Congress)
30. The Ladies Of The Family, 1912
31. Fetching Groceries With Mom Meant Dressing The Part Too On This Day. (1940s)
32. The Early Days Of The Selfie. (1900)
33. A Gaze Into Paris, 101 Years Ago
34. When Snow Was Our Best Friend. (1929, Chicago)
