50 Photos From The Past That Can Only Be Labeled As “Cool”

Cool Old School and Cool Past Pics have both been around the block for a while. They’re not as old as the photos they share, of course, but they both launched on Twitter in 2013. Since then, each page has amassed about 100k followers and shared over 1,000 tweets. From featuring photos of celebrities in their youth to snapshots of cultural events that rocked the world, these accounts are always entertaining.

From perusing the pictures on this list, you might learn more about your favorite film, what it would have been like to be in high school at the same time as your parents, or what you would have worn if you lived in New York City 50 years ago. Although times change rapidly, these photos are great reminders that people are just, well, people. We go to the same places today, and we enjoy the same activities, like attending music festivals and grabbing a meal with our friends. So enjoy the nostalgia of these pics, and put on some tunes from your favorite decade to really set the mood. 

To gain some insight from an expert on vintage pics, we reached out to Maureen Taylor, the Photo Detective. Maureen specializes in helping clients understand their family history and themselves through investigating old photos they bring her. “I start by studying clues within a picture — a hairstyle, a sign in the background, or the shape of a shirtsleeve — in order to identify a person, place or era,” Maureen writes on her website. 

“What follows from my genealogical expertise is uncovering the story behind the images of the past.That could mean shedding light on how those pictures fit into your family tale. Or discovering the history of the area in which those people lived — even if that’s locally in my small state of Rhode Island or around the world in Australia.”

First, we wanted to know what inspired Maureen to become a photo detective and expert on vintage photographs. “I worked for a historical society and while folks came in to look at books about their family history, hardly anyone asked if there were photos,” Maureen told Bored Panda. “It surprised me. It’s true that every photo tells a story.”

“Some are amazing tales like the ones on Cool Old School, and some represent more mundane moments (for instance, the sitter bought a new hat),” she explained. “All photos capture a moment in time—what were the people thinking, why did they have a picture taken, and how do those images fit into the historical context of the times. The details add up to fill us in and the lives of the individuals help fill out the story.”