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50 Fascinating ‘Old-Time Photos’ That Show You Just How Much The World Has Changed
Interview With Expert
Taking a photo has never been easier than it is today. You can swipe up on your cell phone, snap hundreds of pics in only a few minutes and almost instantly upload them online for others to see. And while the convenience and accessibility of being able to document our lives is amazing, knowing how much work it took to develop film in the past makes photos from a century ago even more special.
One page that is dedicated to celebrating photography from history is Old-Time Photos on Facebook. This account shares digitized versions of photos from the late 1800s all the way up to the 1980s. So enjoy scrolling through these historical pics, pandas, and be sure to upvote the ones that you’re glad were captured decades, or perhaps even a century, ago. And keep reading to find a conversation with Ed Padmore, founder of Vintage Photo Lab!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Blackfoot Tribe In Glacier National Park, 1913
Michael Largey 1 year ago
You call yourself "Justin Tyme" and complain about something that's been used before?
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#2
A Smartly Dressed Lady From Kentucky, C.1900
#3
Tricycle Gang In Brooklyn. New York City (1930s)
#4
A Portrait Of Hollow Horn Bear, A Man From The Brulé Native American Tribe. 1907
#5
Unbelievably Stunning Couple (Love How Their Hands Are Clasped Together), 1960s
#6
Lota Cheek, Winner Of A NYC Beauty Contest In 1922
#8
Settler Family On The American Prairie In The 1880s
#9
A Japanese Woman Carrying Her Children In A Bucket On Her Head, Japan 1900s
#10
A Young Jimmy Carter Working As A Nuclear Engineer In The Us Navy In 1948
Ann Kapoxeet 1 year ago
He's such a wonderful human being. Honest. Compassionate. Hard-working. The absolute antithesis of Trump.
#11
Farmhouse Kitchen, Ireland, 1910
#12
Three Sisters, 1926, Portrait By James Van Der Zee
#13
A Skateboarder Zipping Through Central Park In The 1960s
#14
Teenage Sisters Gertrude And Ursula Falke. Germany, 1906
#16
Young Girl During The Great Depression, 1930s
#17
Men In Harlem Gather In Front Of A Shop To Listen To The Radio, 1940
#18
A Beautiful Couple From 163 Years Ago!
#19
Wilt Chamberlain At 17. 1954
#20
A Mother And Her Eight Sons, All Served, All Came Home
GrowingThruConcrete 1 year ago
A family local here had 13 go and 13 return, the oldest was almost 90 and showed me the news clipping
#21
San Francisco (1960)
#22
The Hindenburg Floating Past The Empire State Building In 1936
Richard Graham 1 year ago
The point at the top of the Empire State Building was originally designed as a Zeppelin mooring station. The prevalence of wind shears proved that idea impractical. Plus I'm not stepping out of an airship over 1000 feet off the ground.
#23
The Opening Of The Eiffel Tower During The 1889 World’s Fair
Justin Tyme 1 year ago
And there were already 27 scammers waiting for tourists at the base of it.
#24
A Cable Worker During The Construction Of The Empire State Building
#25
Behind The Scenes Photos From The Making Of The First Godzilla Movie, 1954
#26
This Farmhouse Once Stood In Manhattan Where 84th Street And Broadway Now Cross. (1879)
#27
This Bride And Groom Were Photographed In The 1860s
#28
John Candy And Dan Aykroyd Together On The Set Of The Great Outdoors In 1987
#29
Handsome Man From The Late 1800s
#30
Residents Of West Berlin Show Their Children To Their Grandparents Living In East Berlin, 1961
#31
The Great North Dakota Blizzard Of 1966
#32
Taken In 1924, Some Friends Enjoy Riding In This New Car, Which Could Travel At Mammoth Speeds Of Up To 25mph
#33
Harley-Davidson School For Motorcycle Mechanics, 1917
sofacushionfort 1 year ago
No nostalgia for the cuspidor that had a place in any room where men gathered
#34
Rare Photo Showing Niagara Falls Completely Frozen Over In The Year 1911
Kamal Hasan 1 year ago
Feast your eyes on this rare and mesmerizing sight: Niagara Falls completely frozen over in 1911! This incredible photo captures the raw power and beauty of nature, transformed into a frozen masterpiece. It's a chilly reminder of the breathtaking spectacles our world is capable of creating. ❄️🌊
#35
Miss Mary Mccandlish, 1840s
#36
Natalie Wood (1950s)
#37
A Family During The Great Depression
#38
New York City Street Life In 1954
Richard Graham 1 year ago
Right - 1953 Ford. The black sedan on the left is a 1948 Dodge. Behind it might be a 1950 Dodge or Plymouth.
#39
Charging An Electric Car In The Garage, 1911
#40
Department Store Workers, On Their Lunch Break, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 1900
Sara Frazer 1 year ago (edited)
Wow! I love the embroidery (?) on the dress of the lady on the far left
#41
Woman In Pants Going For A Bike Ride, 1897
#42
People Relaxing In The Sunshine During June Of 1922
#43
Woman Packinghouse Worker From Tennessee With Three Of Her Four Children Eating Supper Of Fried Potatoes And Cornbread And Canned Milk. Belle Glade, Florida
#44
One Of The Oldest Person To Have Been Photographed In 1840-1850
Richard Graham 1 year ago
Her identity is lost to history, but this was part of an exhibit of civil-war era daguerreotypes taken by Matthew Brady of people born during the 1700s. https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/oldest-photographs-in-the-world/
#45
Cowboys Enjoy Drinks At The Equity Bar In Old Tascosa, Texas, 1907
#46
King George Vi Of England Enjoying A Slide, 1925
#47
This Giant Sequoia Tree Was Estimated To Be Over 2600 Years Old When It Was Cut Down In The 1890s
#48
Gentleman Lighting A Street Lamp In Paris, 1905
#49
Winona Ryder, Late 80s
John Dilligaf 1 year ago
so the late 1980s is "old time" now? Just shuffle me off to the nursing home with the rest of the old geezers I guess.
#50
One Of The Last Photos Of Charlie Chaplin Taken In 1977
Sara Frazer 1 year ago
Huh, I never knew he was alive on this earth at the same time my mother was alive (in 1977 my mother would be 8). So strange how much has happened in such a short expanse of time...
#51
A Family At Their Cabin Home In West Virginia, 1900
#52
American Soldier Coming Home, 1917
Andy Frobig 1 year ago
I'm surprised to see a doughboy coming home that early in the war in one piece
#53
Former Sharecroppers, Just Before Moving To Southeast Missouri Farms. 1938
Smeghead Tribble Down Under 1 year ago
The kids are all cute but the littlest one is adorable!
#54
Suited Up For A Mid Day Stroll, 1915
#55
A 1920s Harley Davidson With Covered Sidecar
Richard Graham 1 year ago
Motorcycles then had an external gear-shift lever. (That big lever in the middle.) You had to take your hand off the handlebar to shift gears - dangerous.
#56
The Original Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Factory. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. 1903
#57
California Street, San Francisco, 1964
#58
A Woman Using A Spinning Wheel Outside Of Her Log Cabin, 1918
#59
Men Waiting In A Line For The Possibility Of A Job During The Great Depression
The Announcer 1 year ago
At the height of the recession in 2009 I was one of about 300 people to qualify for a job testing process. Incredibly overwhelming.
#60
Rural Americans, Circa 1935
#61
People Gathered In Front Of Stores In A Small Town. Eureka Springs, Arkansas, 1880
#62
High School Teenagers Drive In Des Moines, Iowa, 1947
#63
Rural Mail Delivery In 1914
#64
Young Girls Working At An Oyster (Shucking) Processing Plant, 1912
#65
1980, When Every Soft Drink Bottle On The Shelf Was Still Glass
#66
A Scene Of A Prisoner Escaping, United States, 1913
#67
“The Simpsons” Writing Room, 1992
#68
Victorian Women In Old Car
#69
Wild Bill Hickok, 1870s
#70
Mary Smith, A “Knocker-Upper” Who Earned Sixpence A Week Shooting Dried Peas At Windows To Wake People For Work (East London, 1930s)
#71
James And Amelia, Texas, 1867
Richard Graham 1 year ago
People in these old photographs always look so stiff and uncomfortable because film exposure times were as much as ten minutes. To prevent blurring of the image people were held still with clamps behind them.
#72
A Sorority Group Photo From The Early '70s
Steve Robert 1 year ago
I dated briefly a sorority girl in the early sixties. We got home late, and had to toss pebbles at the second story window, to wake someone up to let her in. Best decade ever!
#73
A Waitress On Roller Skates Delivers A Tray Full Of Food To Customers. 1940s
Smeghead Tribble Down Under 1 year ago
And here I'm lucky to get from the kitchen to the loungeroom with a plate in one hand and a glass in the other in my slippers without spilling anything :P
#74
Teenagers At An Elvis Presley Concert At The Philadelphia Arena, 1957!
#75
Photo Of Lumberjacks Cutting Trees In Pacific Northwest, USA 1915
#76
Ozark Mountain Family At Their Cabin In Arkansas
Janissary35680 1 year ago (edited)
"This is just our summer cabin. We actually live in The Hamptons."
#77
Newlyweds Lucille Ball And Desi Arnaz, 1940s
#78
Little Leonardo Dicaprio And His Parents George And Irmelin, 1976
#79
Farmers At A Well In Jefferson, Texas, 1939
#80
Victorian Women In Old Car
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What do you think ?
Helena 1 year ago
I love old photographs. It is fun to tell yourself their stories. Yet I see nothing whatsoever great that I would want to make again. These photos were a lot more interesting to look at before we had so many people trying to crawl back into them.
John Nelson 1 year ago
My father in law cleaned out his mother's house years ago, and saved me two large folders. They contained everything from an original postcard given out at the launching of the Graf Zeppelin and the commerative postcard sent by his great uncle as he boarded the Titanic to come to America, to the original plans and patent for the tire changing device his dad designed for Ford for their model T. I cringe when he complains about all the letters and ephemera he hauled to the dump.... Grrrr!
Helena 1 year ago
I love old photographs. It is fun to tell yourself their stories. Yet I see nothing whatsoever great that I would want to make again. These photos were a lot more interesting to look at before we had so many people trying to crawl back into them.
John Nelson 1 year ago
My father in law cleaned out his mother's house years ago, and saved me two large folders. They contained everything from an original postcard given out at the launching of the Graf Zeppelin and the commerative postcard sent by his great uncle as he boarded the Titanic to come to America, to the original plans and patent for the tire changing device his dad designed for Ford for their model T. I cringe when he complains about all the letters and ephemera he hauled to the dump.... Grrrr!
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