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History is not just about significant time periods, inventions, famous figures, or events of mass destruction. In the midst of all that, there is human life: silent moments of everyday life that can tell us more about a place in time than any textbook or historian ever could.
Many of us have seen photographs of world leaders at historical summits, gut-wrenching shots from military zones, and cool images of what ancient buildings looked like a couple of years prior. But this time, Bored Panda invites you to see photographs such as the hands of a homesteader from 1936, the space dog Chernushka, and the home of a rural switchboard operator in 1950s Sweden. They may not be of global importance, but they still say: we were here.
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#1
Russell Lee, Man At The Bar On Saturday Night, Craigville, Minnesota, September 1937. Posted The Photo Back In The Day, But It Has This Lonely Desperate Feeling Of Existential Crisis
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#2
Maison Kammerzell, Strasbourg, Alsace, 1895
#3
Ismo Hölttö, Man With His Cat, Norway 1967. Sad Day For Me. My Cat Is Missing Second Week. Happy Hunting In Afterlife My Dear Friend
#4
Rural Switchboard Operator With Her Cat In Örsundet, Sweden 1953
#6
A Wounded Canadian And A Wounded German In The Mud Of Passchendaele Sharing A Smoke. November, 1917
#7
In 1940, The Marc Aurel Stein Expedition Took This Extraordinary Picture Of The Arch Of Roman Bridge Still Standing Near Mosul
#8
Baby Camel On A Camel In Western Australia, 1916
#9
Interior Of U-Boat 110, 1918
#10
A Lone Woman Picketing Against Immigration Raids, Los Angeles 1937
#11
Ballard Mill, 1958
#12
An Austro-Hungarian Soldier Descent Into The City Of Ice Underneath The Marmolada Glacier, 1916. Stunning And Otherworldly Photo
#13
Two Men By Monumental Elephant Statues, China 1870's
#14
Man In His House In Pipe City, Oakland, 1932. Roughly 200 Men Were Allowed To Lived In Sections Of Unused Sewer Pipes By The American Concrete And Steel Pipe Company
#15
The Original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel In New York. Demolished In 1929 To Serve As The Site For The Empire State Building
#16
Blackfoot Piegan Native Americans In Northern Montana, 1908
#17
Inflation King, Germany 1923. Outfit Made Out Of Worthless Coins
#19
Dog Child, A North West Mounted Police Scout, And His Wife, The Only Handsome Woman, Members Of The Blackfoot Nation, Gleichen, Alberta, 1890. Interesting That He Is Holding Japanese Sword
#20
Sam Hood, Soldiers Goodbye & Bobbie The Cat, Sydney Ww2 Period
Breadcrumb. 13 hours ago
I'm so happy womens fashion is mostly sneakers now for everyday wear.
#21
George A. Van Biesbroeck, Astronomer At Yerkes Observatory Observing Mars When It Approached Close To The Earth In 1926, And Using The 40 Inch Refracting Telescope, The Largest Of Its Kind In The World
#22
Boy Painting A Face On The Back Of His Father’s Bald Head, 1877
#23
Russell Lee, Hands Of Old Homesteader, Iowa 1936
#24
Man Catches Alcohol To The Cup Pured Down From Window By Prohibition Agent, USA 1925. Great Photo
#25
Russell Lee, "Boys On Easter Morning, 1941, Southside Chicago”
#26
Bandages Retrieved From The Kit Of A British Dog, 1915
#27
Funeral Ceremony For Victor Hugo At The Arc De Triomphe, 1885
#28
Turkish Soldier Returns From 1st Balkan War, 1912/1913
#29
Portrait Of Japanese Archer, 1910s
#30
Last Kiss Before Going Off To Korean War, USA 1950
#31
John F. Kennedy Campaigning In West Virginia, 1960
Tabitha 1 hour ago
Now THIS is campaigning. Getting out amongst the people—-not just at fancy dinners with the elites, but right in the middle of where people live, even if it’s not pretty. How else could a candidate really understand what needs to be done, if they aren’t talking to the people instead of their own tone deaf echo chamber.
#32
The British Concorde Fleet At London Heathrow Airport, January 21, 1986
#33
Porcelain Shop, Japan 1900
#34
The Esso Hibernia Under Construction, Wallsend Shipyard, 1970
NightOwlPanda 12 hours ago
And then one day that massive wall of steel was just gone and the view changed.
#35
Unemployed Men Outside A Soup Kitchen In Chicago, 1931
#37
Lunch Hour At The Raphael Weill Public School, San Francisco, California 1942
#38
The Uzbek Republic’s Leading And Most Decorated Winegrower, Rizamat Musamukhamedov, Bred A New Grape Variety (Bayan Shirey), 1939
#39
"Near The Forbidden City, A Simpleton Whose Job Is To Assist Brides In A Sedan Chair, Beijing, December 1948."
#41
Marvin Koner, A Nun Watches Orphaned Children Sleep At Casa De Beneficencia Orphanage In Havana, 1940s
#42
Hydraulic Press In Krupp Works At Essen, Germany 1928
#43
Unloading Rations For Soldiers During Ww1
TotallyNOTAFox 21 minutes ago (edited)
Long before normed freight containers were a thing and made logistics easier
#45
Portrait Of Native American Couple With A Child, 1900s
random_froggg (she/they 86/47) 11 hours ago
Never forget, talk about Native & Indigenous people more
#46
Manchester United vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers, 26th March 1949
#47
Inuit Girl, Nancy Columbia, And Dog Taken At The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, Missouri, 1904
#48
Los Angeles, 1950's
Laszlo Larthlanc 4 hours ago
♫♪ Who wears short shorts? We wear short shorts!" ♪♫ From the song by the Royal Teens, 1957. The store in the background was on the southeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills, California. Beverly Hills is a separate city from Los Angeles even though it's in L.A. County.
#49
Los Angeles Courthouse. Built In 1891
#51
Glasgow, 1870
#52
Cabbage Instead Of Roses At St. Isaac's Square, Autumn 1942
#54
Workers At A Brewery Unload Thousands Of Crates Of Beer, Getting Ready For The End Of Prohibition. April, 1933
#55
A Korean Lady Prepares To Be Carried Through The Streets In Her Sedan Chair, 1890-1923
#56
No Dog Biscuits Today, London 1939
random_froggg (she/they 86/47) 12 hours ago
Outrageous.Give that doggo its biscuit at once. Just look at that face
#57
Stuttgart, 1931
#58
Kyoto, 1960
#59
Lebaudy Brothers Dirigible Over Paris, 1903
#60
Ernest Henry Wilson, Men Laden With Tea, Sichuan Sheng, China 1908. Posted The Photo In The Past, But Found Great Article About 1917 – 1919: Expedition To Eastern Asia
random_froggg (she/they 86/47) 11 hours ago
Can we all band together to eradicate poverty already?
#62
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. With Eli Yale, A Hyacinth Macaw, In The White House Conservatory, 1902
Laszlo Larthlanc 3 hours ago
Today the average price for a Blue Hyacinth Macaw is $15,000 – $38,000 USD, and can bring up to $70,000 depending on breeder, age, and location. They are extremely smart.
#63
Hiroo Onoda, Japanese Soldier Who Refused To Surrender Until 1974. After The War Ended Onoda Spent 29 Years Hiding Out In The Philippines Until His Former Commander Traveled From Japan To Formally Relieve Him From Duty By Order Of Emperor Shōwa
Tabitha 53 minutes ago (edited)
You know, that really says something about the durability of military uniforms, if his lasted 30+ years like that, with no chance at replacing any of it. Also, I remember when this happened. If memory serves, I think he initially fought the men who found him, believing they were the enemy, and even when they started talking to him nd telling him how long the war had been over, he didn’t believe them. I don’t remember any follow-ups about him. Did he manage to successfully reintegrate into modern society after 30+ years in the jungle? Did he ever fully accept that those he thought were still enemies were now allies? Did he live a good long time, hopefully with his family, or did he d*e shortly after being liberated? I know I could probably Google my questions, but if anyone has any tidbits of info to pass on to me, I want to thank you in advance! (Update: Well this teaches me to look at ALL comments before writing my own!)
#64
Policeman Dumping Alcohol Into The Gutter, New York 1922
NightOwlPanda 12 hours ago
An Irish legend tells us that when you die, St. Peter puts you face down in a vat full of all the alcohol you wasted during your life. If the vat has enough drink to drown you, then you’re sent to hell.
#66
Soviet Space Dog Chernushka Before Her Flight In 1961
#67
Soldiers In Bunk Bed, 1915
#69
Empire State Building During Construction With Zeppelins In The Background, 1930
nottheactualphoto 8 hours ago
The Empire State Building is an Art Deco icon. If you're ever in town, have a look at the lobby.
#70
An Austro-Hungarian Patrol In The Carnic Alps, 16 July 1916
Laszlo Larthlanc 4 hours ago
Not something I'd ever do even with climbing gear, and that man doesn't even have a rope. What are they patrolling for?
#72
Woman With Slabs Of Bacon Tied To Her Feet Standing In A Giant Skillet Holding An Enormous Wooden Spatula, Chehalis, Washington 1929
random_froggg (she/they 86/47) 11 hours ago
Context? If there is none that’s cool too, excellent use of free will
#73
Soldiers Of An Australian 4th Division Field Artillery Brigade Walk On A Duckboard Track Laid Across A Muddy, Shattered Battlefield In Chateau Wood, Near Hooge, Belgium, October 29, 1917
#74
A View Of Castle Garth With Dog Leap Stairs, 1890s
Janissary35680 12 hours ago
The BP title is misleading. I found this explanation: "Dog Leap Stairs are a historic, narrow stone stairway in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, that connect Castle Garth to the Side near the Quayside. Originally named "Dog Loup", the name comes from an old local term for a space so narrow that a dog could leap across it."
#77
Gordon Parks, Department Store, Mobile, Alabama 1956
random_froggg (she/they 86/47) 11 hours ago
And to think there’s people who want to bring this back. Disgusting
#78
Scene From Siemens Factory, 1900-1930
#79
Mammoth And Giant Octopus Department Of Ethnology Interior Of Anthropology Building, 1893. From Portfolio Of Photographs Of The World's Fair By The Werner Company
#80
Virna Haffer, Old Tacoma Hotel Fire, 1935
Multa Nocte (she/her/86 -> 47) 11 hours ago
1935 - "TACOMA, Oct. 17.—The historic Tacoma Hotel, one of the famous hostelries of the Pacific Northwest, was destroyed by fire today with a loss of $500,000. The building was designed by Stanford White and was erected under his supervision in 1884 during the railroad boom days. Seven persons were injured in the blaze, but all the 128 guests were believed to have escaped. The fire, which began at 6 A. M. in the basement carpenter shop, still was burning this evening. It was impossible to enter the seething shell of the five-story building. Most of the guests and employes escaped down firemen's ladders or by sliding down ropes of bed sheets, after flames had swept up the stairways and elevator shaft. Many lost their belongings and nearly all were compelled to flee in their night clothing."
#81
Loading The Copper Bars Into The Ship, USA 1905. Stunning Quality And Resolution
#82
Lewis Hine, Junkies Breaking Up Old Looms To Be Sold For Scrap-Iron And Said To Be Sent To Japan For Munitions, 1936
Multa Nocte (she/her/86 -> 47) 11 hours ago (edited)
From the original entry: "I had to do a bit of research on this but the term 'junkie' existed for addicts in general, apparently since the 1920s, but could also mean people who traded in scrap/junk metal, as used in the official title of this photograph"
#83
Lobby Stairs To Waiting Room And Concourses, Chicago & North Western Railway, Chicago, 1912
#84
Richard Jenkins, Group Of Men With Romford & Evershed Ltd Pershorf 1885 Steam Engine, First Half Of 20th C
David Loeffler 8 hours ago
Title is mis-transcribed: Bomford & Evershed of Pershore. Pershore is a town in Worcestershire, England.
#86
Bronx, 1970's
Tabitha 38 minutes ago (edited)
Yeah, in the seventies the Bronx looked like a bombed out wasteland. The former residents moved t9 the suburbs during the “Great White Flight” after WWII. Then the slumlords moved in and bought up the old unoccupied buildings, and never kept them up. I knew someone who grew up in the Bronx pre-war, and he said the neighborhoods were working class, and really nice back then, also safe to live in.
#87
American Soldiers Writing Their Names On Top Of Taj Mahal, Ww2
#88
Star Reporter Rick Brennan Argues With Gas Station Owner Neil Shepherd Who's Refusing To Gas Russian-Made Lada Cars, Canada 1980
#91
A Cowboy Stands In Front Of His Cabin, Hot Springs, Arkansas 1901
#92
Anchor Men With Mauretania Chain And Anchor, 1910s. Man On The Right Is Absolute Unit Looking Like Dishonored Character
#93
Pilots From Lafayette Escadrille With Two Mascots Lions Whiskey And Soda, 1916/1917
nottheactualphoto 8 hours ago (edited)
I'm having a whisky and soda (the beverage) as we speak. What a co-inky-dink! Edit: Seriously, we're censoring "dink?"
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