It’s not just dusty old books that lend us insights into the past. Photography can be an incredible tool when helping us understand the context of modern history, from fashion and style trends to the technological and architectural quirks of the time.
The ‘Lost in History’ Instagram page is a project that is dedicated to showcasing rare modern historical photos. We’ve collected some of the most impactful ones to share with you, Pandas. The odds are that these images will give you a fresh new perspective on our recent past. You’ll find them as you scroll down.
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You're A 19 Year Old Kid. You Are Critically Wounded And Dying In The Jungle Somewhere In The Central Highlands Of Viet Nam . Its November 14, 1965 . Lz (Landing Zone) X-Ray. Your Unit Is Outnumbered 8-1 And The Enemy Fire Is So Intense From 100 Yards Away, That Your Co (Commanding Officer) Has Ordered The Medevac Helicopters To Stop Coming In. You're Lying There, Listening To The Enemy Machine Guns And You Know You're Not Getting Out. Your Family Is Half Way Around The World, 12,000 Miles Away, And You'll Never See Them Again. As The World Starts To Fade In And Out, You Know This Is The Day. Then - Over The Machine Gun Noise - You Faintly Hear That Sound Of A Helicopter. You Look Up To See A Huey Coming In. But.. It Doesn't Seem Real Because No Medevac Markings Are On It. Captain Ed Freeman Is Coming In For You. He's Not Medevac So It's Not His Job, But He Heard The Radio Call And Decided He's Flying His Huey Down Into The Machine Gun Fire Anyway. Even After The Medevacs Were Ordered Not To Come. He's Coming Anyway. And He Drops It In And Sits There In The Machine Gun Fire, As They Load 3 Of You At A Time On Board. Then He Flies You Up And Out Through The Gunfire To The Doctors And Nurses And Safety. And, He Kept Coming Back!! 13 More Times!! Until All The Wounded Were Out. No One Knew Until The Mission Was Over That The Captain Had Been Hit 4 Times In The Legs And Left Arm. He Took 29 Of You And Your Buddies Out That Day. Some Would Not Have Made It Without The Captain And His Huey. Medal Of Honor Recipient, Captain Ed Freeman, United States Army, Died At The Age Of 80, In Boise, Idaho. I Bet You Didn't Hear About This Hero's Passing, Medal Of Honor Winner Captain Ed Freeman
A Victorian Couple Trying Not To Laugh While Getting Their Portraits Done, 1890s
The photographer: "One day this picture will be publicly available to the whole world for them to see your pretty smiles"
In 1922, A Group Of Scientists Went To The Toronto General Hospital Where Diabetic Children Were Kept In Wards, Often 50 Or More At A Time. Most Of Them Were Comatose And Dying From Diabetic Keto-Acidosis. Others Were Being Treated By Being Placed On An Extremely Strict Diet, Which Inevitably LED To Starvation. These Children Were Essentially In Their Death Beds, Awaiting What Was At That Time, Certain Death. The Scientists Moved Swiftly And Proceeded To Inject The Children With A New Purified Extract Of Insulin. As They Began To Inject The Last Comatose Child, The First One To Be Injected Began To Wake Up. Then One By One, All The Children Awoke From Their Diabetic Comas. A Room That Was Full Of Death And Gloom, Suddenly Became A Place Of Joy And Hope. In The Early 1920s, Frederick Banting And Charles Best Discovered Insulin Under John Macleod At The University Of Toronto. With The Help Of James Collip, Insulin Was Purified, Making It Available To Successfully Treat Diabetes. Both Banting And Macleod Earned Nobel Prizes For Their Work In 1923. In The Same Year, Banting, Collip, And Best Decided To Sell The Insulin Patent To The University Of Toronto For $1. Banting Famously Went On To Say, “Insulin Does Not Belong To Me, It Belongs To The World.”
The commercialisation of this essential drug today is so, so sad.
At the time of writing, the ‘Lost in History’ social media project had 60.6k followers on its Instagram page. According to the founder of the page, the account focuses on sharing “the wonderful” fashion, makeup, people, and culture of the 20th century.
And it has been doing so since June 2016, when it was founded. However, the project also sometimes also features interesting photos from the 19th and 21st centuries as well.
During Military Training In Ww2, Gilbert Bradley Was In Love And Exchanged Hundreds Of Letters With His Sweetheart Who Would Only Sign The Letters With The Initial "G". 70 Years Later, When The Letters Were Transcribed, It Was Discovered That G Actually Stood For Gordon. Gilbert Had Been In Love With A Man. They Had To Keep Their Relationship A Secret Because Homosexuality Was Illegal At The Time And A Soldier Could Get Even Get Shot For Engaging In Homosexual Behavior. In One Of Their Letters Contained The Lines: "Wouldn't It Be Wonderful If All Our Letters Could Be Published In The Future In A More Enlightened Time. Then All The World Could See How In Love We Are."
Married Couple Mildred And Richard Loving Answer Questions At A Press Conference The Day After The Us Supreme Court Ruled In Their Favor In Loving V. Virginia. June 13, 1967
Sued the state of Virginia in the US Supreme Court and won, overturning the laws that had made interracial marriage illegal. In doing so, all such laws in every state in the Union were also overturned.
Members Of The Owls, A Black Women’s Softball Team In The 1930s
The images that are shared on the account are a gorgeous mix of black-and-white snaps and color photography. Through them, the curator of the page doesn’t just document what life was like back then. They also show how photography advanced and changed as an art form during the past century.
Us Athlete Jesse Owens Salutes During The Presentation Of His Gold Medal For The Long Jump After Defeating Nazi Germany’s Lutz Long During The 1936 Summer Olympics In Berlin
Cats That Sailed On Ships Until The Mid-20th Century To Catch Rodents Had Passports Signed With Their Paw Prints
"There's No Hogwarts Without You, Hagrid." Rest In Peace Robbie Coltrane, Thank You For Being Part Of Something So Special
Recent advances in technology mean that many of us have a smartphone with a powerful camera sitting in our pockets. This has made photography a very approachable form of art, when compared to two centuries ago.
However, despite this, some photographers—professionals and amateurs alike—still choose to take pictures the ‘old-fashioned’ way, with film.
Insane To Think Charles Darwin And Steve Irwin Both Owned The Same Turtoise
A Little Boy Has A Surprise For His Girlfriend.. :)
1938
“Film cameras offer a more hands-on and in-depth approach,” professional photographer Dominic Sberna, from Ohio, shared his thoughts about old-school photography with Bored Panda during an interview earlier.
“Film cameras offer a more hands-on and in-depth approach,” he explained to us.
Cheri, A Great Dane Puppy, In Deep Sleep Moments After Stealing 5 Lbs Of Ham Off The Kitchen Counter, 1953
Life Magazine, July 25, 1949
1953: Cairo Mary, A Bouncer At Shanghai Reds (5th And Beacon In San Pedro) Escorts A Customer To The Door
"Sure, it [film photography] won't be used commercially, but artists will always find a way to keep a medium alive and I think that's great," Sberna said.
According to the expert, photographers should focus on what they genuinely want to do, when it comes to their work and how they share it with others, instead of bowing to social pressure.
Sharpshooter, Annie Oakley Shooting Over Her Shoulder Using A Hand Mirror, 1899
A Girl And Her Kitten, 1931
Marilyn Monroe, 1939
"Just do your thing. If you want to share your work, share your work. If not, keep it to yourself," he said that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. "I went to high school with a great photographer whose work I rarely saw. He didn't have any interest in sharing things on social media or online. At the end of the day, you need to do what you're comfortable with and what's best for you and your situation. If your goal is to show your work to a wider audience, over time you will get there by creating a following,” he urged photographers to do what’s right for them.
Film Actress Fay Webb With Her Pet Goose, Which Is Wearing An Attractive Pair Of Glasses, 1925
Carrie Fisher On Vacation In Europe, 1971
The Picture Is More Than 80 Years Old And The Quality Grainy But The Scene Is Incredibly Significant In The History Of The British Monarchy. For This Is The First Moment Princess Elizabeth Met Her Future Husband. When King George Vi Visited Dartmouth College In 1939, A Promising Cadet Called Philip Was Assigned To Entertain His Daughters. The 18-Year-Old Obviously Made A Lasting Impression On The 13-Year-Old Elizabeth. The Extraordinary Photograph, Discovered In Archives, Shows The First Meeting Between The Future Monarch And Her Husband-To-Be, Over A Game Of Croquet. The Picture Was Unearthed While Researching Prince Philip
No matter how impressive a historical photo might be, nobody should believe everything that they see blindly. It helps to have a healthy dose of skepticism. Some people manipulate photos for personal or political gain, others might want to make certain theories seem more reliable. The more important a news story or historical event, the more likely it is that someone might want their biased opinions to seem mainstream.
The Teeniest Tiniest Stylist. 1950s
Mailman N. Sorenson Poses With His Heavy Christmas Deliveries In Chicago, 1929
Letter From John Steinbeck To Marilyn Monroe
“He is already your slave. This would make him mine.” …followed by deep villainous laughter 😈😈…
‘Deutsche Welle’ suggests checking the origin of the image before resharing it. You can use reverse image search tools for this if you suspect that a photo might have been tampered with.
There are also various tools available to check whether an image has been altered by looking at differences in pixel density. Of course, no online tool or program is perfect, but they’re better than nothing.
This Photo—taken At The Turn Of The Century—shows Jack Daniel (In The White Hat) Seated Next To George Green, The Son Of Nathan "Nearest" Green Who Was The First Black Master Distiller In America
Engineer Karen Leadlay Working On The Analog Computers In The Space Division Of General Dynamics, 1964
Women took humans into space and to the moon. They were responsible for all the programming for all spaceflights through the Apollo program. And don't forget Admiral Grace Hopper, the inventor of COBOL computer language.
The Futuro Was A Prefabricated House Built Between The Late 1960's And 1970's. Fewer Than A Hundred Were Made
We’d love to hear which of these photos you enjoyed the most, dear Pandas. Were there any that stood out to you in particular? Do you prefer black-and-white or color photography? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
Meanwhile, for some more powerful historical pics, take a peek at Bored Panda’s previous features about the ‘Lost in History’ Instagram page.
Boy With His Boar, 1930
USA, Nevada, 1977. Wild Horses
An Ad From The 1930's
"beer yeast now concentrated 7 times and combined with energising iron". That's Vegemite!
Good Morning By The Daily Mirror, England, April 4, 1944
"Remember to drink your ovaltine" ... "Get your vaccines" ... "Be kind and loving to your children, animals and fellow peer" ... "vote for free healthcare and to phase out CO2 producing things" ... "That was it for todays announcements, but remember take care of the insects!"
Cleaning Women Washing A Crucifix, 1938
This Session Was To Be The Last One Between Marilyn Monroe By Andre De Dienes, Even Though He Asked To Take Photos Of Her Several Years Later. Marilyn Suffered From Insomnia Throughout Her Adult Life. One Night Yet Again In 1953 When She Couldn’t Sleep She Called Andre De Dienes Who Came And Took These Poignant Photos
A V-Shaped Bed Invented In 1932, Supporting The Body Perfectly At Every Point And Thus Promotes Better Rest. When Unused The Bed Is Straight Like Every Other Bed. However, One Pull On A Chain At The Side Of The Bed Immediately Changes It To A V-Shape. Another Advantage Claimed For The Bed Is That The Covers Are Held Substantially Away From The Person, Thereby Allowing The Free Circulation Of Air To The Body
New Orleans, Summer Of 1970
Cow Shoes Used By Moonshiners In The Prohibition Days To Disguise Their Footprints, 1924
Christmas, 1974
An Edwardian Woman Dressed The Part Of A Handsome Dandy Writes A Message To Her Lover, “Hello Kid:- How You Be? I Am Fine Don’t I Look It. You Know You Must Not Set This Card On The Switch Board Where You Do Your Others”. What An Intrepid Romance It Must Have Been
“Crash Diet” For Women Published By Vogue In 1977
Pelé Dining With His Parents, In 1958
Causes Of Death In London, 1632
I find this extremely interesting, and occasionally amusing. I had to ask google for help for some, no many, of the causes. Jawfaln, or jawfallen refers to lockjaw (trismus) seen in Tetanus, who knew? 😀😀
Stroboscopic Photograph Of The New York City Ballet’s Production Of Jewells, 1967. Photo By Gjon Mili
Danish Arctic Explorer Peter Freuchen With His First Wife, Navarana Mequpaluk In 1912. She Would Pass Away From The Spanish Flu In 1921. Freuchen Went On To Participate In Several Arctic Explorations, One Including A 1,000 Mile Dogsled Trip Across Greenland. Freuchen Also Wrote More Than A Dozen Books (Fiction And Non-Fiction), Participated In The Danish Resistance Against Germany During World War 2 And Was Imprisoned By The Nazis And Sentenced To Death, But Managed To Escape To Sweden. He Eventually Came To Hollywood And Worked As A Consultant And Scriptwriter, But Also Starred In The Oscar Winning Movie "Eskimo" (1933). In 1956, He Won $64,000 On "The $64,000 Question", An American Quiz Show. But Perhaps His Most Famous Feat Was Barely Escaping Death When He Once Got Trapped In A Snow Cave Due To The Warmth Generated By His Own Breath, Which Created An Impassable Frozen Crust That Blocked The Entrance. He Writes About The Experience In One Of His Memoirs: “What A Way To Die…i Gave Up Once More And Let The Hours Pass Without Another Move. But I Recovered My Strength While I Rested And My Morale Improved. I Was Alive After All. I Had Not Eaten For Hours, But My Digestion Felt All Right. I Got A New Idea! I Had Often Seen Dog’s Dung In The Sled Track And Had Noticed That It Would Freeze As Solid As A Rock. Would Not The Cold Have The Same Effect On Human Discharge? Repulsive As The Thought Was, I Decided To Try The Experiment. I Moved My Bowels And From The Excrement I Managed To Fashion A Chisel-Like Instrument Which I Left To Freeze…i Was Patient. I Did Not Want To Risk Breaking My New Tool By Using It Too Soon…at Last I Decided To Try My Chisel And It Worked!” While He Managed To Escape, He Was Forced To Amputate Several Of His Toes And Eventually Lost His Left Foot Entirely To Frostbite. In 1957, Freuchen Died Of A Heart Attack
To Appear Headless While Taking A Photo, Aka "Horsemanning" Was A Popular Way To Pose In The 1920's
Hop Pickers On Stilts In Faversham , England, 1920
So that's why beer makes you high--the hops are high to start with!
A Dinner Party At The Hotel Astor In New York City In 1904
Luis Camnitzer, The Photograph, 1981
Missionary Being Eaten By A Jaguar (By Noé León, 1907)
This Is What Hanging Out In A College Dorm Room Looked Like In 1910. (University Of Illinois)
Stylist Andrew Richardson Caressed By A Russian Circus Performer, Photographed By Steven Meisel As Part Of The Madonna Photo Essay ‘Flesh + Fantasy’ For Rolling Stone Magazine, 1991
Note: this post originally had 144 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
I'm Having Trouble Reading All The Entries That Have Every Word Capitalized
I had to stop after a half dozen or so. I know that the first letter of most words should be capitalized in titles, but who thought it was a good idea to capitalize the first letter of every stinking word in the stories?
I'm Having Trouble Reading All The Entries That Have Every Word Capitalized
I had to stop after a half dozen or so. I know that the first letter of most words should be capitalized in titles, but who thought it was a good idea to capitalize the first letter of every stinking word in the stories?
