Seasons come and go. Fashion trends change and reemerge over the years. But parents, at their core, stay more or less the same no matter how many decades pass. They’re still the same caring, loving, and supportive people, whether we’re talking about 2022 or 1972. However, it’s also super cool to take a peek into the past and explore the vibes and style that our parents lived with and how they had fun and goofed around. That’s when you take out the family photo album to bring a smile to your face.
But what if you could take a look inside the albums of people around the entire globe? Well, that’s where the Old School Dads and Old School Moms Instagram projects shine bright. The work of Chase Banta, the two pages “toast and roast” the very best vintage parent pics, with all of the coolness and goofiness that you can expect. Now a dad himself, Chase was inspired to start the two feeds by his own dad.
Bored Panda reached out to the founder of the project and he was kind enough to answer our questions about parenting, nostalgia, and valuing our time with our loved ones. Because we never know how much time we truly have left with them.
Scroll down to check out the best photos and remember to upvote your fave ones, Pandas. Let us know which ones you absolutely adored. If you’re feeling up to sharing some of your or your parents’ old album photos, why not post them in the comment section or get in touch with Chase? Oh, and if you’d love to see some more totally rad old school dads and moms, then be sure to check out Chase’s earlier awesome feature on Bored Panda right over here. And be sure to check out his socials!
This is a gentle reminder to call your parents and everyone else you care about and tell them you love them.
More info: Instagram (Old School Dads) | Instagram (Old School Moms) | Facebook
#1 Bridget, My Stepmom
She came into my life when I was 5. Because of her I grew up with Alex Haley, Malcolm X, Richard Pryor, New Edition, Maya Angelou, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Prince, and countless other cultural figures. She never tried to replace my mother, but loved me like one. She died of sickle cell anemia in 2006. She had a PHD in sociology and worked in college admissions at UCSB and Cal State San Marcos. Bridget, my dad and I watched the Rodney King riots from the home that she grew up in in Pasadena. Her family accepted my father and me truly as family. He and I were the only white people at their church on sundays. I’m posting this because she’s on my mind a lot these days. This is hard. I don’t always know what to do. But I try to ask her in my mind. I believe in anti-racism, that when I see it externally or internally I need to fight it. I also know what I know about all this because Bridget was in love with my German, white AF dad. Love is at the core of the solution
Image source: oldschoolmoms
#2 Cutest Picture Of All Time Alert
Image source: oldschooldads
#3 That’s My Dad
I can already smell the Bensons and Hedges menthols, the Sta-Sof-Fro he’d put in his hair, the Fendi cologne he’d wear. Dressed to the nines with Armani shirts, Saks Fifth Ave slacks and Ferragamo’s on his feet. He had to know he was the flyest brother in the room. But he never did say much. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I’d wake up at night to grab a snack as a kid and he’d be up alone in the kitchen, smoking a cigarette. He’d look over, glare at me for a minute and ask, “Boy, you want to hear a story?” I’d sit up on the counter and he’d share bits and pieces from his life: You’d never know he was born in a barn in Tennessee. You’d wouldn’t think he and his mom fled north to Chicago during the great migration, lived in the boiler room of a housing project until he was twelve. He never talks about the days he had to enter through the back door or walk a little further to use the colored bathrooms. He hides the fact that he was a helicopter door gunner in Vietnam, loading the dead and wounded on board in between firefights. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
What he would say, on a good day, is that his names Melvin, he likes jazz, he’s from the midwest and, his favorite food has always been fried catfish.”
Image source: oldschooldads
#4 My Godsend Of A Mother Nursing My 2 Month Old Brother While Making Me Green Eggs And Ham Because I Was Right In The Middle Of My Dr Suess Only Food Phase
Image source: oldschoolmoms
#5 Thought He Was Sitting Me Down To Say He Was A Dungeons And Dragons Fan. What A Relief!
Image source: oldschoolmoms
#6 Dad
Image source: oldschooldads
#7 Boom. You’re Pregnant
Image source: oldschooldads
#8 Here I Am With My Mom, Backstage At The Tropicana On The Las Vegas Strip [circa 1989]. What A Life!”
Image source: oldschoolmoms
#9 Teamwork To Make The Dream Work
Image source: oldschooldads
#10 Quick Morning Team Meeting To Get An Update On The Sh*tuation
Image source: oldschooldads
#11 N This Family We Support We Do Not Judge. We Support We Do Not Judge. We Support We Do Not Judge
Image source: oldschoolmoms
#12 That Face When Child Protective Services Is Hot On Your Tail
Image source: oldschooldads
#13 Fatherhood Side Effects May Include Atypical Hair Loss
Image source: oldschooldads
#14 When You’re Responsible For So Much Life In The Universe That You Identify As The Big Bang
Image source: oldschooldads
#15 Making Precious Mammaries
Image source: oldschooldads
#16 Grateful Dad
Image source: oldschooldads
#17 Got To Have Sectional Healing
Image source: oldschoolmoms
#18 Going In To Labor
Image source: oldschoolmoms
#19 The Family That Hairsprays Together Stays Together
Image source: oldschooldads
#20 “Pops, I Am Who I Am Today Because Of You. You’ve Always Made It Your Job To Be There For Me And Show Me How To Do Things The Right Way. I Hope I Can One Day Become Half The Man You Are. You’re A True Hero. I Love You Old Man.”
Image source: oldschooldads
#21 Slidin’ In Your Dms Like
Image source: oldschoolmoms
#22 Clock In And Pass Out
Image source: oldschooldads
#23 She-Rex
Image source: oldschoolmoms
#24 Smoke Show
Image source: oldschoolmoms
#25 And They’re Obviously Packing
Image source: oldschooldads
#26 Drinkin’ Ale And Chasin’ Tail
Image source: oldschooldads
#27 Solar In The Streets, Boner In The Sheets
Image source: oldschooldads
#28 Damn Dad, Save Some Birches For The Rest Of Us
Image source: oldschooldads
#29 That’s Right, Deep Soothing Breaths
Image source: oldschooldads
#30 Reckon My English Better Than All Y’all Muther F*ckers In Here By A Long Sight
Image source: oldschooldads
#31 Peak Fashion
Image source: oldschoolmoms
#32 Boom!! You’re Pregnant!!
Image source: oldschooldads
#33 Don’t Need Life Jackets When You’ve Got Your Dinghy
Image source: oldschooldads
#34 Someone Call A Toe-Truck For That Pileup Down Around The Junction
Image source: oldschooldads
#35 The Next Stimulus Package Is Just This
Image source: oldschooldads
Follow Us
