People Are Sharing Pics Of Life 50-100 Years Ago And They Might Put Things In A New Perspective
The easiest way for us to get a glimpse into the good old days is to open up our family's photo album. But what if we go through the images and instead of calming down our curiosity, they only fuel it? Easy. We open up the subreddit r/TheWayWeWere next.
It's a place where folks share pictures from 50, 100, and even more years ago to show what everyday life looked like in the past. Featuring old photos, scanned documents, articles, and personal anecdotes, this subreddit has become one of the biggest vintage archives online.
Continue scrolling and check out why 528K people subscribe to r/TheWayWeWere.
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Mary Wallace: First Female Bus Driver For Chicago Transit Authority (1974)
My Ridiculously Attractive Grandparents Sitting For A Portrait In The Early 1940s
The last 100 years have produced profound changes in human history.
Wars, technological developments, progress in civil rights, and breakthroughs in science and medicine, the old world has been swept away. Whether it's for better or worse.
Centuries-old empires crumbled as new ideologies – like communism and fascism – took over in many parts of the world. Wars in the early part of the 20th century put an end to the colonial world and gave birth to new nations. However, these wars also cost millions of lives and trillions of dollars.
My Mom On Her Wedding Day November 1951
Cats Blackie & Brownie Catching Squirts Of Milk During Milking At Arch Badertscher's Dairy Farm In Fresno, California, 1954
Throughout the past century, technological innovations have transformed our lives in ways we never dreamed of. Progressive ideas emerged and changed the world as women, African Americans, and the LGBTQ community demanded, and often won, equal rights; from the ratification of the 19th Amendment in the United States to the legalization of same-sex marriage in many countries. But recent civil rights conflicts tell us the fight for equality is not over.
A Native American Girl Of The Kiowa Tribe, Oklahoma, 1894
My Great-Great-Grandmother Sometime In The 1890s
The pandemic that began ravaging the world in 2020 reminds us that even though we can buy a ticket to go to space, we're still vulnerable to viruses that can shut down economies and disrupt society.
People are hoping science can save Earth from the devastating changes to the climate that continue to imperil the ecosystems of our planet. In the coming years, natural disasters may have an increasingly impactful role in the course of history. Who knows where we will end up in another 100.
Protesting The High School Dress Code That Banned Slacks For Girls, Brooklyn C.1940
Two Pals (1920)
Gay Men Pose For A Photo While Being Detained At A Police Station For Being Homosexuals In Mexico, 1935
1945: The Day Daddy Came Home. Gunner Hector Murdoch Had Been Gone Over Four Years, Most Of It As A Prisoner Of War In Singapore. His Wife Rosina And Son John Hadn't Known If He Was Dead Or Alive. He Got Home On His Birthday
Aaaaaw. Sweet homecoming. POW Singapore must have been a nightmare. Changi was brutal.
I wonder how long he'd been out of the camp and getting treatment before he made it back home. Because he almost certainly did not look that healthy when he was liberated.
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That time was so difficult. 4 years. Imagine not knowing if your spouse is dead or alive for 4 years! And they were lucky. Others were told their spouses died and got on with their life only to discover the truth some years later. So many poor men got home after being imprisoned for years only to discover their families are not their own anymore.
Just the look of pure adoration and love on that little guy's face...*sniffs*
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That's a prefab house of the sort that was built by German and Italian POWs in 1945-46 to house people whose homes were destroyed during the Blitz. Built with timber construction and tin roofs, they were expected to last a decade or so but almost 80 years later some still stand. Thousands were built but less than 200 still exist and some are still occupied by their original residents. Some have been given Class II Listing status as historically significant. article-10...b9cf1f.jpg 
His son would have been a baby when he left for the war but look how excited he is still to see his dad.
I'm sure the little guy had imagined this moment a million times in his mind, while listening to his mama tell him about his papa.... When the day came, he was ready!
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And he seems to be walking fine in the picture too he was lucky
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I came home from one tour in the middle of th e night and hadn't told my then missus that I had some R&R coming. I'd kept it secret from like the first week I was out there in Bosnia cause I wanted it to be a nice surprise - Come the day, and came the bad weather back home in the UK so we were eventually diverted to another base and my parent UK base sent out a driver to pick me up and drive me home and I didn't get back till about 03:00Hrs... didn't have my key and knocked on the door expecting some kind of joyous reunion.... totally misjudged the whole thing cause she just saw a silhouette of a guy in uniform outside the door and broke down in the hallway cause she assumed someone was coming round to tell her I'd snuffed it. Now there was a lesson in thinking things through fully. :)
That's an oops moment. At least your door wasn't answered by some other guy.
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Let's hope they were able to reconnect after all that he went through.
They hid PTSD better in those days. Therapy was the bar down at the legion hall.
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I can feel the joy and relief in this picture. I'm not tearing up.. aw hell yes I am.
They didn't know if he was dead or alive? How'd they know to put out " welcome home" signs?
Wow! This is just thundderbreaking! God bless person who grabbed this photo, for whole family, generations after, and fellow military patrons. Amen! Leigh from De
Brings tears to my eyes. These men and women and children sacrificed so much during that war. God bless them all.
My Gt. Uncle came home after 3 years and found his wife with a baby, work that out.
That's why they reconnaissance officers now who will warn soldiers going home about such things. It gives the soldier time to work through their emotions during the trip home, and decide what they are going to do about it.
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Honestly, four years as a Japanese POW probably shortened his life considerably. Not to mention the survivor's guilt
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They seem to be living in temporary housing. Must've lost their home during the war :(.
Wonderful story. But would a boy this young really “recognize” his father?
Maybe not by his looks, but by everything his mama had told him and by her reaction to the moment....
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A POW in Singapore. It's very unlikely that the family would've known he was alive. All that matters is that he was. Bless them all.
Load More Replies... Yes. He was a POW. They covered many of those homecomings in the papers back then, as they do now. No surprise at all that a member of the press was there.
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Dad Showing Off His Skill To The Surprise Of His Little Daughter In Melbourne, Australia, Ca. 1940s
London's First Black Police Officer, PC Norwell Roberts, On Point Duty Near Charing Cross Station, 1968
He's definitely on point duty. That's a fantastic point he's got there.
This 1955 Photo Is One Of Walter Chandoha’s Most Famous Shots. “My Daughter Paula And The Kitten Both ‘Smiled’ For The Camera At The Same Time. …but The Cat’s Not Smiling, He’s Meowing”
Sisters In Skirts, 1950s
My Great Grandmother In The Early 1900’s. Thought She Looked Too Awesome Not To Share
My Parents’ Wedding Photo, Okinawa, 1964
My Grandpa (Left) And His Best Friend Willie Hall During The Korean War. Those Smiles Say It All
My Grandfather, Great-Grandfather, Great-Great-Grandfather, And Great-Great-Great Grandmother, Ca 1918
My Great-Grandfather That Was Too Poor To Afford A Suit In Sicily, So He Had To Pose In Front Of A Cardboard Cut-Out, 1930s~
This Is Hazel, My Grandmother-In-Law. 1916
My Grandmother And Mom Circa 1974. My Grandmother Took My Mother To National Parks Over The Course Of A Few Months, Just The Two Of Them
“Our Michael”, 1938
A Sailor "Meets" His Baby For The First Time After Fourteen Months At Sea, 1940s
Okay, some parenting lessons may be needed. Day One: How to Hold the Baby.
Grandma And Papa In 1937. She Passed Away Today At 100 Years Old
Last Picture Of My Great Uncle Kennith, Before He Drowned In The Buffalo River, 1940’s. He Gave His Life Saving My Grandpa
My Mother Made Us Matching Dresses For A Fancy Party Back In 1954
Saw This Photo Posted Here.. Noticed I Have The Photo The Grandmother Took That Day. (Bought At An Antique Shop Years Ago In Phx)
A Parisian Woman With Her Cat In Her Cannabis Garden, 1910
I have a cat. All I need now is the garden (and some law changes please).
This Is My Grandma Dorothy. She Was A Dress Designer In The 50s Which Always Made This Photo More Funny To Me. She Passed Away Today At Age 89. A Life Well Lived
Vintage Photo From A Family Album, Freeport, Il
Besides the obvious that he is a black man and she a white woman in the 1900s, when this required a lot of guts, I love the fact he's wearing puttees as part of civilian dress. This was pretty common before WW1. After the war... not so much.
Me And My Best Friend Rocky Watching TV, 1959
Ladies At A Lesbian Club In Chelsea, 1953
A Mostly Happy Family Outing At Chicken Bone Beach, The Segregated Section Of Atlantic City's Beach Area, New Jersey, 1950s (Photographed By John W. Mosley)
1976 vs. 2018; 42 Years And We're Still Going Strong
Young Oyster Shuckers, Port Royal, South Carolina, 1909
Crikey - the “thousand yard stare” at that young age. Life must have been tough for these girls.
Reddit Seems To Love My Taita (Grandma), So Here Is Another One Of Her From 1950’s Beirut
The Wedding Rings Of My Ggm, Gggm, Ggggm, And Gggggm Oldest Dating Back To 1832!
Police Officer Unaware Of The Imminent Danger, Chicago, 1959
After Spending More Than Five Years In A North Vietnamese Camp, Lt. Col. Robert L. Stirm Is Reunited With His Family At Travis Afb, March 13, 1973
This photo, called "Burst of Joy" won a Pulitzer prize. It has an unhappy ending though. According to Wikipedia "Despite outward appearances, the reunion was an unhappy one for Stirm. Three days before he arrived in the United States, the same day he was released from captivity, Stirm received a Dear John letter from his wife Loretta informing him that their marriage was over. Stirm later learned that Loretta had been with other men throughout his captivity, receiving marriage proposals from three of them. In 1974, the Stirms divorced and Loretta remarried, but Lieutenant Colonel Stirm was still ordered by the courts to provide her with 43% of his military retirement pay once he retired from the Air Force. Stirm was later promoted to full Colonel and retired from the Air Force in 1977."
My Grandpa’s Schoolhouse In Texas Ca. 1930’s. He Was Always Embarrassed Of This Picture Because He Was Too Poor To Afford Shoes
My dad remembered going to school in Ireland in the early 1940s alongside kids with no shoes. Extreme poverty is more recent than you think.
Women Trainees Of The Lapd Practice Firing Their Newly Issued Revolvers, 1948
Dublin, 1962
Caught On The Firescape, 1946
Offerings To The Unknown Dead, Kyoto, Japan, 1963
The 70s Transition: My Parents In 1968 And Again In 1970
My American Grandmother Visiting Athens In The 1960s
Such style in a lot of these pictures! Too bad nobody really dares to wear anymore
Listening To The Radio On The Beach, Circa 1940s
The Rolled-Stockings Trend Of The 1920's Brought On A Fad Of Hand-Painted Knees
Class Divide In Britain, 1930's
Me Ready For Friday Night Lights, 1969
Note: this post originally had 117 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
I have all my grandparents and great grandparents old picture albums ! Come on over !
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It was my grandfather's birthday. This WWII "happy event" shows the wear and tear of the times on the faces of the participants. My mother - upper left - almost has a smile. Who knew in 1943 where the war would take us, how it would end? war-birthd...549034.jpg 
My other fave pic from that era. 1967, my Mum and Dad looking like freakin' movie stars at the Fortuna Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. In a band, they were fresh out of a night in jail because their shady agent forgot to renew their visas. Still no sign of their luggage, they had to borrow the hotel's bathrobes while they waited. Love the back story behind the "glamour" shot, lol! 1967-Dad-a...63e818.jpg 
My parents on their first date in 1963. I came along about a year later :-) 1963-Dad-a...c52148.jpg 
This is a reminder that parents / grandparents were once young people doing what young people do. My dad used to always say “of course I know what you’re up to, because I did the same things when I was your age” and I would always think “you were never my age age, you’re the dad”
Lastly, 'cause I could go on and on (you're welcome!), here I am with Mum and Dad at their "second" wedding in 1974 (big semi-scandal at the time, I'm the only one that didn't know it was their first). Wonderful example of my Dad's style and porn 'stache. And I look adorable. 1974-Mum-a...b84dae.jpg 
It genuinely saddens me that when people look at photographs 100 years from now, they'll see garbage like their grandmother's trout pout and not at all like the elegance and grace of 'our' 100 years ago.
I enjoyed the post, so different, I truly love old, styles as compared to today, is blah !!!
I have all my grandparents and great grandparents old picture albums ! Come on over !
Load More Replies... It was my grandfather's birthday. This WWII "happy event" shows the wear and tear of the times on the faces of the participants. My mother - upper left - almost has a smile. Who knew in 1943 where the war would take us, how it would end? war-birthd...549034.jpg
My other fave pic from that era. 1967, my Mum and Dad looking like freakin' movie stars at the Fortuna Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. In a band, they were fresh out of a night in jail because their shady agent forgot to renew their visas. Still no sign of their luggage, they had to borrow the hotel's bathrobes while they waited. Love the back story behind the "glamour" shot, lol! 1967-Dad-a...63e818.jpg
My parents on their first date in 1963. I came along about a year later :-) 1963-Dad-a...c52148.jpg
This is a reminder that parents / grandparents were once young people doing what young people do. My dad used to always say “of course I know what you’re up to, because I did the same things when I was your age” and I would always think “you were never my age age, you’re the dad”
Lastly, 'cause I could go on and on (you're welcome!), here I am with Mum and Dad at their "second" wedding in 1974 (big semi-scandal at the time, I'm the only one that didn't know it was their first). Wonderful example of my Dad's style and porn 'stache. And I look adorable. 1974-Mum-a...b84dae.jpg
It genuinely saddens me that when people look at photographs 100 years from now, they'll see garbage like their grandmother's trout pout and not at all like the elegance and grace of 'our' 100 years ago.
I enjoyed the post, so different, I truly love old, styles as compared to today, is blah !!!
