Strange History: Rare Vintage Photos You Might Not Have Seen Before
Since the invention of the camera, we have been able to document what life has looked like through the decades. These old photographs allow us to glimpse into the past to see just how much has changed in a relatively short amount of time. Take a look for yourself to see just how much our world has evolved over the years.
Not The Booze!
Although we may be surrounded by alcohol today, whether we’re at the grocery store, a restaurant, or other public places, consuming it used to be a crime.
Prohibition of alcohol in the United States happened between 1920 and 1933, but that didn’t mean people stopped drinking! Pictured here are New York City police officers pouring a confiscated barrel of liquor into the sewer.
Checkmate!
By World War II, chess had become such a popular game in the Soviet Union that it turned into a major sport that spectators would come to watch.
Not only that, but the competitors would play against each other on a large board and use humans as the game pieces!
Ahead Of The Curve
Here is a man who clearly thought that walking was overrated. So, instead, he decided to strap on some motorized roller skates that allow him to roll along with ease.
We’re sure that he certainly got some looks on his commute to work each morning. But hey, at least he’s traveling in style.
Visiting From Afar
The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that was erected in 1961. It separated the German Democratic Republic of East Germany from West Berlin.
The barrier created a physical divide between neighborhoods, families, and loved ones. Pictured here are parents holding up their babies so they can “visit” with their other family members.
No Air To Breathe
Believe it or not, there was a time when the Environmental Protection Agency didn’t exist, which meant that companies were able to do just about anything they wanted in regards to pollution.
This is a picture of New York City in 1966. That year, industrial smog covered the city, likely killing 168 people. The EPA was established just four years later.
Irony At Its Finest
The Great Depression, which lasted between 1929 and 1933 saw the “American way of life” shatter before the public’s eyes. Unemployment was at an all-time high and people were struggling just to put food on the table.
Here are two dust bowl refugees walking past a sign from a different life when people had the luxury of taking the train.
Fixing The Phone Lines At All Cost
Here, a man effortlessly balances on telephone wires as he makes a repair in London in 1940.
We’re not sure how he got up there or how he’s going to get down, but we tip our hat to his work. Clearly, this was before workers’ safety was ever really taken into consideration.
Even Men Of The Cloth Condemned The War
It’s no secret that a great number of the American public were against the Vietnam War. Priests weren’t excluded from this group, either.
This image was taken of two brothers, Daniel and Philip Berrigan, who were also priests, burning two baskets of stolen draft board records in Catonsville, Maryland, in 1968. Both were arrested for their actions.
Learning To Swim?
Today, learning to swim is something that most of us take for granted, whether it’s because we had access to a pool or some other body of water.
However, when pools weren’t as widely available as they are now, people had to get creative when it came to learning how to swim. Here, girls at a school in Oxford practice their stroke on dry land in preparation for the real thing.
Enjoying The Rare Luxury Of Ice
Believe it or not, there was a time that you couldn’t walk to your freezer and fill your glass with ice.
In fact, ice was an incredible luxury to have as it was expensive to make and keep frozen. Featured are a group of young boys in New York enjoying some ice on a hot day.
Work, (Maybe) School, Work
Unfortunately, there was a time in the United States when many children worked as soon as they were able to perform a job. They would usually work in the morning, go to school if they were lucky, then return to work.
This meant horrible working conditions, long hours, and minimal schooling. This is a picture of two young girls that work as shrimp pickers in Mississippi in 1911.
Duck And Cover Drill
While some schools on the West Coast of the United States may have duck and cover drills for earthquakes, back in the 1950s, there were duck and cover drills for air raids in the midst of the Cold War.
This image shows a teacher and her students performing the drill during New Jersey’s first state-wide air raid test in 1952.
Leave No Baby Behind
In this day and age, most parents would hire a babysitter to watch their baby while they went on a romantic ice-skating date, but not in 1937.
This is a picture of Jack Milford, the Wembley Monarchs’ forward player, with the device he designed so he and his wife could go ice skating with their baby. Don’t slip!
Beating The Heat
Currently, manipulating a fire hydrant like this would be considered to be breaking the law, but back in the day, this was a common activity during the heat of summer.
Taken in 1943 on the East side of New York City, this picture shows children playing in the water of a fire hydrant to cool off.
Getting Your Steps In No Matter What
As we see here, mothers have always been very serious about getting outside to take their babies on a walk.
This is a woman walking with a gas mask, with one on her child as well, in 1941. Clearly, she wasn’t going to let such an inconvenience stop her from her daily routine.
Daily Dose Of Sunlight
While everyone knows how important it is to get a regular amount of sunlight, apparently, people took this seriously back in the day, especially when it came to their children.
Featured here is a baby in a cage that allowed for the child to receive sunlight and fresh air when living in an apartment building in 1937.
Last prisoners Leaving Alcatraz
Although Alcatraz might be a popular tourist destination in the San Francisco Bay Area, back when it was in operation, it served as one of the most notorious maximum-security prisons in the United States.
These are some of the last Alcatraz prisoners being loaded on a boat before the prison’s closure.
Trying To Finish the Race
Unfortunately, there was a time when women didn’t have the right to do something as commonplace as competing in the Boston Marathon.
This picture was taken in 1967 as trainer Jock Semple (man in the suit) is trying to pull Kathy Switzer out of the race. Luckily, the other male competitors helped to form a shield around for her to finish.
