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
And she knows it. Somehow that confidence makes her look even better.
Load More Replies...I wish I could pull off a dress like that like she does.
Load More Replies...A classic beauty. And what I like too is, she can take a picture without hanging her tongue out.
am i the only one that thinks she vaguely resembles janelle monet
And I'm jealous btw..my granny had the ENTIRE couch covered in that awful plastic!
Load More Replies...My OCD: the lintel the lintel the lintel DUDE SERIOUSLY THE LINTEL. Pffff sorry had to let that out. The picture itself, though, is borderline magical! You'd swear you could sweep your hand past it and the ruffles would MOVE! Chapeau, Paul Belgium!
It would be amazing to see that photo in colour, dresses from the '60's were often the most striking colours. And she looks amazing in black and white so it should be even better in colour.
I wish people still dressed like this- so sick of jeans and sweatshirts being the norm, and if you wear something nice, you feel overdressed.
Not only is she beautiful, but she is classy. Not like girls today that go out almost naked.
Save that sexist bullshît for your own frumpy body.
Load More Replies...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
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
The Goofy Family, Circa 1910
When The Whole Town Poses For A Photograph.... (Pa, USA) (~1895)
My Grandfather, The Oldest, And His Siblings (1926)
The Ladies Of The 1960’s
Bride And Groom In Traditional Attire. Delsbo, Sweden Ca 1890's
Two "Cigarette Girls" At A Tallahassee, Florida Nightclub In 1956
My Great Grandmother Being Held By Her Mother, My Great-Great Grandmother Circa 1919
Teenagers Dressed For A High School Dance In The 1920s
A 'Knocker-Up' In London (1929). Before Alarm Clocks, People Were Paid To Wake Clients Up For Work By Knocking On Their Doors And Windows With A Stick
Big Hairdos, 1960s
These Kids Were Fashion Leaders, Circa 1969
‘Closed-Beds’ Were Popular In The 19th Century, Especially In Brittany, Here’s What They Looked Like (C. 1880s)
A Couple Of Hippies On Haight St. In San Francisco, 1967
A Worker Paints The Golden Gate Bridge, 1956
Collection Of Homemade Photo Christmas Cards, Circa 1930-1960
I love the way Bob Ford added himself almost as an afterthought to his cats
Children In Newcastle Upon Tyne’s West End Play On Piled-Up Mattresses. England, 1981.
Back in the good old days, when kids played in dangerous abandoned buildings at the behest of demonic dolls
Child Soldiers Of The Us Civil War C. 1861-65
This Would Have Been ~1970… Me In My Favorite Outfit…
1.) My Great-Grandparents (Age 24 And 18) Circa 1949, In Front Of The General Store My Great-Grandfather Had Just Purchased
Wow, a business owner at 24 and a wife at 18, today such things are unheard of.
My Great Great Great Grandma In The 1910s
Cat: "No, she doesn't want to buy any brushes. Now get the hell off our property"
My Great Grandmother And Her Little Sister, Circa 1890
A Michigan Farmer Standing With His Crops, 1910
First Day Of School On E 3rd St, NYC (September 1976)
Hanging Out In The 1970s
Bill With Cat. 1968. Love The Late 60's Style!
Children On The Streets Of New York, Photographed By Helen Levitt, 1940s
Lots Of Love For My Mom's Car Pic Last Month. Here She Is Welcoming In December/Winter In A Nice Red Dress. This Is 1958, The Day After Their Wedding.
1901 Beach Attire
Reginald (left) later threw caution to the winds and removed his shoes and socks
Sears (1956) (From Pfs-Fb)
Some of this furniture is so amazing. That coffee table front center, and that pink chair on the left. Just great. Why did we stop making stuff like this?
70's Kitchen
Oh God - I can remember when people aspired to have a kitchen like this
My Dad In 1974 On His Yamaha. He Worked All Summer Cutting Steel To Save Up For It
Pics like this make you realize you were never as cool as your father at the same age and reconsider how you always thought of him as a boring old man.
Just Another Fun Day In The Neighborhood, Anytown, USA, 1970s
Traffic On The Sunset Strip, Los Angeles - 1979
My Beautiful Great Aunt. I Believe In The Late 60s Early 70s.
High School Life In The 1970’s. All My Credit Goes To The Photographer: Joseph Szabo, Check Out His Other Work On Teenage Life. It’s Amazing!
My Family On A Road Trip (Kodachrome, 1958)
New Yorkers Learn Of The D-Day Invasion On June 6, 1944
Everyone used to look so good. They all got dressed up when they went out.
Me Sitting In My Nearly Completed Soap Box Derby In 1951. I Raced For Three Years In This Car
How We Rolled In 1980. Dad Driving My Birthday Party Across Town To See The King And His Court. Lucky Riders Sat On The Wheel Wells, But We Also Had Lawn Chairs In The Back
Television Shopping In 1974
Rockaway Beach, Queens, New York, 1946 / Photo By Sam Shere
Look at everyone in the image. Before the days of High Fructose Corn Syrup added to everything we eat.
Unknown Hair Goddess At The Daytona Beach Bike Week Gathering. Circa 1977
Man Pushing A Little Girl On A Swing. Original Colour Photograph. Sweden In 1939
A Kodachrome Picture Of A Family Having A Picnic In France. 1969.
An Aircraft Worker Dancing With His Date At The Lockheed 'Swing Shift Dance' In 1942
An Unknown Group Of Women, Possible Friends Or Fellow Students Pose For An Undated Photograph, With One Clearly Keen To Show Of Her Chunky Hairbrush. Possibly Late 1890s To 1900s
Welsh Coal Miners Having A Round After Their Shift. C.1912
People Of New York City At Lunchtime, Photos Taken Circa 1977-1980 By Charles H. Traub
There Is A Story Here But Not Sure How It Involves Formal Dress And A Toaster. 1950s Kodachrome
If this toaster is a wedding present it was better than anything my parents got in 1956
My Dad And Sisters, 1945 Washington Dc
My Great-Grandfather’s Mugshots, After He Was Arrested For Bigamy. December 1926, Australia
A Clearly Staged, But Interesting Time Capsule Of A Circa 1964 General Foods Corporation Publicity Photo
A Young Lad Stands Behind His Winning Sandcastle In The Whitley Bay Sandcastle Competition On 19th August 1908
Couple Laughing At Something Lost To Time. Circa Mid 1950s
Photos Of New Yorkers, By Vivian Maier. 1950s/60s
An Elderly Woman In Front Of Her Modest Dwelling And An Interior View Of The Same House. Torsås, Sweden In 1904
I'm concerned about the lean on that chimney, but perhaps the grass on the roof will help to shore it up
A Michelin Mascot Stands Next To An Advertising Vehicle In Santa Clara, 1926
The Relatives Came To Visit. Boston, 1966
Everyone praying that Uncle Bob will refrain from making inflammatory comments during the meal
Postcard Sent To My Grandma From A Navy Sailor Asking Her On A Date When He Returns. Postmarked April 17, 1945
The Housewife, 1974
Young Man Watching Whatever His Date/Girlfriend Is Doing. Circa 1959
Taken thirty seconds before he was rendered unconscious by hairspray fumes
1910 - A Boy And His Erector Set
Saluting This Young 22-Year Old As He Is Dropped Off By His Family In South Texas For Naval Flight Training In 1957
My Grandparents In High School, Early 1950s
People aged before their time. Looks like they are both in their 30s.
Yearbook From 1929. The Way High Schoolers Were.
Halloween, Rochester, NY, Circa 1912
A Family Living In Shanty At The City Dump In Herrin, Illinois, January 1939 - Photos By Arthur Rothstein
With any luck shanty towns will become the new season hit again as the fallout from Covid continues. Soon no one but the ultra wealthy will be able to afford to have a decent roof over their heads. Considering we have been on the "Spanish Flu continues" part of this train wreck for a while now, we seem to be planning to rework "the Great Depression" MkII section in a little bit
My Sisters And Me Mid 70's
1971 Bathroom (Sears Ad)
1960s Jack In The Box
Me (A Bum) And My Date At A Halloween Party In 1955
Lovers At The Movies, New York, Ca. 1943
The Treasury Discount Store And Supermarket, Circa 1971, As Photographed For Parent J.c. Penney Company’s Annual Report. Photo Courtesy Of Pleasant Family Shopping On Facebook
A Clown “Barker” Hustling Customers For A Strip Club On Broadway In San Francisco’s North Beach (1950) Photo By Fred Lyon
Well I wasn't in the mood to see naked women, but then this clown showed up...
Disneyland Hotel Room 1977
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?
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?
Load More Replies...