People Are Sharing Pics Of Life 50-100 Years Ago And They Might Put Things In A New Perspective (New Pics)
How would you describe normal, everyday life? Well, for a modern person, it’s anything from brushing their teeth to… commuting to work. Oh wait, not anymore. Coronavirus has shaken up quite a few things, and made us work from home, stay in more, keep distances and whatnot. The change is dramatic and it’s only been like two years (almost three!, o-m-g) since it first started in late 2019.
So yep, time is flying like a hadron collider, changing things beyond recognition on the way. But today would look nothing like a day 20, 50, or even 100 years ago. And we mean it. Thanks to the miscellaneous corner of Reddit “The Way We Were,” which is home to a stunning collection of old photos, scanned documents, articles, and personal anecdotes, we can all secure our seat belts and travel to the past.
The community was created back in 2012, and will celebrate its ten-year anniversary in less than a month. As of today, it had 549k time travelers, I mean devoted members who, just like us, share a fascination with things that have gone with time. Upvote your favorite pics and be sure to check out part 1 of the post right here.
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Young Woman Dressed For An Evening Out, Detroit, 1968
My Kitty ... Harlem, NY, 1949
"Sits Down Spotted"- Crow Nation, Fort Keogh, Montana, 1881. Photo By L.A. Huffman
What a beautiful, characteristic face :O (that probably sounds weird but I feel this person's charm through the screen and I mean that in a non-creepy way :') )
To find out more about the cultural and societal significance of old photos, as well as the meanings behind them, we reached out to Lisa Yaszek, a Regents Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech where she researches and teaches science fiction as a global language crossing centuries, continents, and cultures.
Lisa explained that old photos affect our perception of time in unique ways. They do that “by making abstract historical events visually concrete, giving us an emotional connection to eras we might not otherwise know very much about, exactly, through books or family stories. For instance, when I was looking over the photos for this article I was really taken by images of Japanese-Americans in WWII U.S. internment camps, young people protesting low wages for teachers in the Great Depression, female engineers working for the Space Race, and little kids protesting Daylight Savings Time—my own son especially appreciated that one…”
My Dad Died This Week, And I Was Going Through Photos For The Memorial Slideshow. Here Are My Parents In A Very Early 70's Kitchen, But Mostly I Really Like How They Are Looking At Each Other
A Young Woman Posing For A Studio Portrait, Kentucky, Circa 1890-1910
My Grandfather And His Horse, Ruby. 1940’s
The professor at Georgia Tech added that all the subjects of these photos look so alive and have such a range of emotions on their faces—“from determination to silliness to fear to hope. It reminds us that historical events don’t just happen on their own—they involve real people taking real action, for better or for worse.”
She continued that old photos also remind us that people in the past led rich and complex lives, just as we do today. “For instance, we tend to assume that in the past, women were limited to work as wives and mothers, and we certainly see a number of images here celebrating women’s work in the home. But we also see women doing all sorts of work in the public sphere as well—everything from attending school graduations and working on supercomputers to taking back the streets of postwar London and bouncing drunks out of bars!”
"Cairo Mary," Bouncer At Shanghai Reds (5th And Beacon In San Pedro, Ca) Escorts A Customer To The Door. 1953
This Is My Great Aunt In Front Of Their House In Boston, 1964. The House Was Bought On A Milkman's Salary
My Grandma And Uncle In Iran, April 1971
Religion is not the problem, extremism is. Hardcore atheists who call anyone who disagrees with them stupid are certainly not the solution either.
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Yeah kjorn, I was thinking exactly that. I hope they got out before the fall of the Shah.
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And then the religious zealots (Texas, SCOTUS, looking at you), took away personal freedom.
The comments about religion is prejudice. The religions in Iran has not changed since 656, but people change. If you want to give a comment start to learn the history of extremism and the reasons why is started. Then maybe you can recognise the reason is not religion but money and power. By the way atheissm is a religion too. If you believe "there is no god" then still you believe something.
This Iranian American atheist agrees with you. These people blame Islam. And I hate Islam just as much as anyone else but we’ve had Islam in Iran for a long time. This is a political issue, not an Allah issue. The only thing you’re wrong about is atheism being a religion. That’s stupid because the definition of atheism is predicated on it not being a religion. You need to rethink that part.
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Oh it's a typical American 'blame Islam' hate fest here as usual. It's obviously more convenient to blame Islam or the Islamic revolution in Iran than acknowledge the fact that the revolution happened not because of religious reasons at all but because of the fact the US and Britain overthrew a democratically elected president of Iran and, replaced him with their own puppet. Sure, it doesn't matter to Americans how ruthless and dictatorial the Shah was because all they need is to see a few women in skirts or pants to declare that society free. Even under the Shah the vast majority of Iranian women weren't donning skirts as its evidently believed in the US. I absolutely believe in the freedom of women to choose their clothing as a Muslim woman but to use such images to condemn Islam and Iranian leaders while deliberately obscuring the fact that a democratically elected president of Iran was overthrown because he refused to be a western puppet against the interests of his own people is disgusting.
Before the U.S. got in there to "fix" a culture we knew nothing about (Or cared to)...
In this day and age, how can anyone still believe in a magical sky fairy? Look what this woman and her children could have been without such trash!
Politics is the cancer of society. Islamic revolution happened because of imperialism
It's not religion, it's politics. They only use religion as an excuse. The Catholic Church is exactly the same, right wing, aquisitive, misogynistic and controlling.
All religions are cults!!!! Funny how all "gods" of all religions are men!!!
When most of the Middle East women were in sync with the modern times and not regressed to the ancient religious repression of today. How a few men can take control of whole societies is not right.
I become sick when women in the western worlds promotes wearing hijabs, it makes them "so free", when we know all girls and women in todays Iran are forced to wear them. If they don't obey, they can be arrestede and even tortured. Check out the FB-page "My Stealthy Freedom", please
Ayatollah Khomeini liked raping little boys but hated women. It was he who made all women completely cover up (which was then slavishly followed by all other muslim countries). Not the quran.
I'm gonna need all babies to start wearing sunglasses right now, as of today. It's what the world needs.
Just putting down a horrible comment that I don't understand how it got so many upvotes.
I was a young child living in Iran at that time (my father was a US diplomat). I remember the houses with the flat roofs - the snow had to be shoveled off of them to prevent collapse.
I'm in love with those fabulous sunglasses on lil man! What a stylish lady and son!
i have no idea why people are so against religion, if its not your thing so be it, if it is, so be it,
Because they treat women and many others like cattle. How can you defend religion seeing this picture and knowung how women live in Afghanistan nowadays?
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Lisa also enjoyed the photos of everyday people aiming to look their very best from all over the world. “Whether they are wearing traditional ethnic finery to celebrate a special event or all dressed up in contemporary fashion for a night on the town,” she added. According to the professor, “It’s touching to realize that no matter how different we seem to be from each other in terms of race or class or nationality, we all want to leave a good impression for posterity!”
“And that is what old photos do best: they remind us that people in the past have had many of the same challenges and triumphs as we have, and that we can look to them for inspiration regarding how to make sense of the present and build new futures,” she concluded.
Children In A Traditional Minobashi Raincoat Going To A New Year's Event, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, 1956
An Elderly Woman Reading A Book With A Cat On Her Lap, 1944
Adelaide Springett, Who Was So Ashamed At The State Of Her Boots She Took Them Off, Stand For A Photograph In London, 1901. Photo By Horace Warner
When asked whether we tend to idolize the past and vilify the present, Lisa said that it’s true and that old photos can indeed play a part in that process. She explained: “Even as some photos help us put a personal face on big historical events, others give us very unrealistic understandings of what everyday life was really like in the past. Before the advent of digital cameras that could take and store hundreds of photos without costing users very much in terms of effort or money, photos were more expensive and difficult to create—in the 1800s, subjects had to stand still and pose to create good images; throughout the early and middle 20th century, good cameras were often complicated to master; and even when instant cameras made it easier for people to take decent photos at the drop of a hat in the 1970s, users had to have the money to purchase expensive film cartridges!”
Three Young Ladies Posing With A Friend. Circa 1930
My Great Grandmother In Her 50s Probably Taken Around The 70s Or 80s
Four Generations, Circa 1905, Location Unknown
“So, it’s no surprise that photos were often taken to document special occasions like weddings, births, and funerals rather than the minutiae of everyday life,” the Regents Professor said and added that “it’s also no surprise that since photography was associated with special events, people worked hard to present themselves in the best light possible, regardless of their real situations.”
“So ultimately, the record we have of the past tends to focus on significant milestones rather than everyday life. Oddly enough, this is exactly what we say about social media these days! So maybe the more things change, the more they really do stay the same,” Lisa wondered.
My Mother Rose, June 16, 1959
My Grandfather And Friends In The Amache Internment Camp In Colorado, Circa 1942. He Was About 15 When This Photo Was Taken; He Passed Away Last Month At 94
Most of the Japanese imprisoned here were also US citizens, and this was one of about ten prison camps for the Japanese.
A Young Man Demonstrating Against Low Pay For Teachers, Ca. 1930. “I Left School To Earn $21 A Week. My Teacher’s Pay Is $17.78 A Week.” Photo: Paul Thompson
Isaac And Rosa, Emancipated Slave Children From New Orleans, 1863
1930 - My Second Great Aunt Sara (Right) And Her Mother Manuela (Sitting) And Aunt Emilia. Caja Espíritu, Huancavelica, Perú. The Only Photo That Exists Of Mama Manuela.
Butterfly Boy, New York City, 1949
(1964) Engineer Karen Leadlay Working On The Analog Computers In The Space Division Of General Dynamics
I saw this pic before I put my glasses on and thought "who needs that much spaghetti"
A Man With His Cat, Early 1900s
A Casual Portrait Of A Woman Smiling, 1880
I Went My Whole Life Not Seeing Photos Of My Mexican Family, Until Today. Hope You Enjoy These Photos Of My Family In Nayarit, Mexico, In The Early 1900s As Much As I Do!
Young Dutch Mother With Her Baby In A Wooden Pram. Netherlands, 1929
Creole Woman C. 1860
I WOULD SAY LOOKS DEMURE. SHY. BEAUTIFUL TOO. WOULD LOVE TO KNOW HER STORY.
Two Women At A Bar, New York C. 1945. Photo By Weegee
Little Girl Roaring At A Stuffed Grizzly Bear At The Sportsman's Show In The Chicago Coliseum. Chicago, Illinois, 1967
This Kid Is A Water Heater For Halloween, Circa 1979
Teddy Girls In 1955 - Their Subculture Centred Around A Still-Bomb-Damaged London
"World’s Largest Log Cabin". Portland, Oregon, USA, 1938. Built In 1905, Burned Down In 1964
Teenage Sisters Gertrude And Ursula Falke. Germany, 1906
My Parents In The Mid 1940s. I’ve Always Loved This Picture
My Aunt Estie, Who Passed Away Today, High School Graduation, The Bronx 1945
Rescuing A Horse That Fell In The Canal. Amsterdam, 1929
Glorious Kodachrome Shot Of A Lady All Dressed Up On Her Car. Guessing It To Be 1950s?
Kids Protesting The Dst. New York, 1939
Me Circa 1965 In A Suit And Bow Tie Made By My Mom. She Made All Our Clothes Back Then
Portrait Of A Young Woman From Denmark. Photographed In 1895
The Fate And Feet Of Three Chinese Girls - A Bare Footed Slave, A Girl With Bound Feet, And A Christian With Unbound Feet - Ca. Early 1900s
Not entirely accurate in the description. The girl in the centre is a noblewoman, the two unbound feet girls are her maidservants - the one on the right being a friend and personal maid, the one on the left a cleaner for the girl's room. Their parents would be servants of the household too. The girl in the middle is likely in agony and won't be able to walk well, horrific stuff. Thing is too, when this photo was taken, foot binding was ILLEGAL. It was declared illegal six times throughout the Qing Dynasty, beginning right at the start of the Dynasty, but was unenforceable due to lack of manpower. The rulers of the Dynasty found it horrifying too, but couldn't stop it.
Mother And Son. Lisdoonvarna, Ireland C. 1890
'i Love You So Much!' Boy And Dog Circa Mid 1950s
A Photo Of Central Park In NYC During The Great Depression (1933)
Rural American Life In The First Half Of The 20th Century, By Mike Disfarmer, Whose Life Was A Mystery, And Whose Work Was Only Discovered Posthumously
In Paris, 1966. Photographer: Jack Garofalo
Me Circa 1968-1969. Those Sideburns Though
Jaws Inspects The Halloween Loot, 1976
My Sister And I With A Friend's Pet Dik-Dik, 1968
Oh, I love those little critters! The dik-diks I mean. Although I'm sure the children are lovely, too.
My Jute Weaver Great-Grandmother And Children (Including My Granny Standing At The Back). Dundee, Scotland 1915
Note: this post originally had 125 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
My Aunt Angela with my dad's dog Pungie. She held down the fort at the family lock shop in South Boston while her brothers were all off to WW2. The Boston Globe did a story on her of how feminine she was working as a locksmith. The business is still there, run by my siblings. Aunt-Angie...47032a.jpg 
Angie looks like a cool chick, all 5'2" of her. Note the In the Service board. My dad and two of his brothers all in the armed forces.
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My grandparents stopping to gather fall leaves on Steven's pass, mid-60s. PICT0279-6...239414.jpg 
So many of these are just plain awesome photographs. Astounding quality.
My great grandfather (right) just outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba pepers-2-6...67f48c.jpg 
Four Generations of my family 1956- My dad is the baby, held by his great grandma, his grandma and father are standing Mabel-Col-...94bcf6.jpg 
I just love old photos like this, thank you! The oldest one I have is one of my Grandmother, Eva, from 1917. She used it as a postcard and sent it to her father. Alas, that's all I know, but isn't she lovely? 1917-Eva-H...2266fa.jpg 
"The change is dramatic and it's only been like two years! (Almost three!)" So it's late 2022?
Now I feel very ancient, as I have photos that look like almost all of these in albums, from my great great grandfather and his child wife, his son in the Civil War, all the way to me. Photos from the 50s-90s don't feel 'historic" to me, they just feel like life. I'm not sure why they titled this 50-100 years ago, when many are significantly older.
Beautiful Topic! I´d like to have a google earth for old Pics from the very past to reunite people and give people the chance to see the environment in former times ...
There is something magical about old photos. They capture the moments that are long gone.
17$ a week for being a teacher? oh come on........ they're worth at least 18 if they don't teach business practices 8yrs out of date that are no use to anyone.
should maybe have put the /s at the end...... but surely they'd get the sarcasm before angrily typing back.
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I'm just so glad I didn't live in an earlier time. The 'good ol days' may make for great pictures, but would have sucked to live in.
Or ugly people didn’t pay to get their portraits done?
Load More Replies... My Aunt Angela with my dad's dog Pungie. She held down the fort at the family lock shop in South Boston while her brothers were all off to WW2. The Boston Globe did a story on her of how feminine she was working as a locksmith. The business is still there, run by my siblings. Aunt-Angie...47032a.jpg
Angie looks like a cool chick, all 5'2" of her. Note the In the Service board. My dad and two of his brothers all in the armed forces.
Load More Replies... My grandparents stopping to gather fall leaves on Steven's pass, mid-60s. PICT0279-6...239414.jpg
So many of these are just plain awesome photographs. Astounding quality.
My great grandfather (right) just outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba pepers-2-6...67f48c.jpg
Four Generations of my family 1956- My dad is the baby, held by his great grandma, his grandma and father are standing Mabel-Col-...94bcf6.jpg
I just love old photos like this, thank you! The oldest one I have is one of my Grandmother, Eva, from 1917. She used it as a postcard and sent it to her father. Alas, that's all I know, but isn't she lovely? 1917-Eva-H...2266fa.jpg
"The change is dramatic and it's only been like two years! (Almost three!)" So it's late 2022?
Now I feel very ancient, as I have photos that look like almost all of these in albums, from my great great grandfather and his child wife, his son in the Civil War, all the way to me. Photos from the 50s-90s don't feel 'historic" to me, they just feel like life. I'm not sure why they titled this 50-100 years ago, when many are significantly older.
Beautiful Topic! I´d like to have a google earth for old Pics from the very past to reunite people and give people the chance to see the environment in former times ...
There is something magical about old photos. They capture the moments that are long gone.
17$ a week for being a teacher? oh come on........ they're worth at least 18 if they don't teach business practices 8yrs out of date that are no use to anyone.
should maybe have put the /s at the end...... but surely they'd get the sarcasm before angrily typing back.
Load More Replies... I'm just so glad I didn't live in an earlier time. The 'good ol days' may make for great pictures, but would have sucked to live in.
Or ugly people didn’t pay to get their portraits done?
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