Technology, and life in general, move so fast that it can sometimes be hard to keep up… Let alone imagine what the world was really like 50 or 100 years ago. We learn about the past through history textbooks, museums and documentaries. But there’s so much that goes unseen, especially when it comes to how ordinary people lived from day-to-day back then.
What did a gas pump look like in the 1930s? How did one apply to get into university in the 1920s? Did toasters work the same as they do nowadays? Thankfully, there are some incredible photographs available to answer all those burning questions. They’ve been preserved and digitized so that generations to come can get a glimpse of the former workings of the world.
Bored Panda has scoured the internet and found some of the most rare and interesting ones. Sit back, keep scrolling and prepare to be transported into a completely different lifestyle.
#1 This 1930s Era Gas/Petrol Pump
Image source: subtlysublime
#2 College Application From 1922
Image source: The_Panda_Of_Mexico
#3 This Teaching Contract From 1923
Image source: c0demancer
It might be hard to imagine life without the internet, social media, mobile phones, laptops, and all the other things that take up all our time nowadays. But before all that, the days were slower, the work weeks longer, and many tasks were a lot more tedious.
If you think you work hard now, spare a thought for those who came before us. There was once no such thing as a weekend.
“The weekend was invented in Greater Manchester in 1843 when Salford Lyceum Director and workers’ rights activist Robert Lowes (also Sir Ian McKellen’s Great Grandfather) campaigned to win workers the right to leisure time on Saturday afternoons,” reports We Invented The Weekend, the official site of a British festival that celebrates the joy of free time.
#4 How The Michelin Man Looked In 1915
Image source: RipperSplitter
#5 This H.g Fischer Fixed X-Ray System. Circa 1915
Image source: OutlawRugby
#6 An Old Woman Who Fled The Warzone With Her Cow, Sits On A Bench In Amiens, France, 28th March 1918
Image source: Omar Djaknoun
But back then, a weekend wasn’t as we know it now. The first taste of free time for British workers came in the form of Saturday afternoons off. Then, in 1908, a cotton mill in America introduced the first five-day workweek to allow Jewish staff to observe their Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.
Henry Ford followed suit in 1926, giving his staff Saturdays and Sundays off.
“He was also keen to set down a 40-hour working week,” reports the BBC. “An altruistic move in part, it also gave his workers the opportunity to spend their down time buying consumer products, keeping cash circulating through the economy.”
It was only in 1932 that the United States officially adopted the five-day work system.
#7 Tourists Take Tea Atop The Great Pyramid, 1938
Image source: Undiscovered History
#8 A Woman Mechanic At Atlantic Auto Service Working On An Engine In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1943
Image source: Omar Djaknoun
#9 Phototherapy Of Neonatal Jaundice Nurse Sister Jean Ward Invented This Kind Of Treatment Back In 1956
Image source: facebook.com
Nowadays, child labor is considered illegal in many places around the world. But that wasn’t always the case. Not only did rural American children work on their family’s farms, but kids in cities were also toiling away. Some worked in mines and factories. Others sold newspapers and food, and a few spent their days shining shoes to help put food on the table
#10 The Postman. Bulgaria, 1971
Image source: Ömer Aydınlı
#11 Marilyn Monroe Visiting Injured Troops In Japan. This Soldier Had A Broken Back But It Didn’t Stop Marilyn
Image source: broomshed
#12 A Rare Color Photo Of Nikola Tesla, 1928
Image source: ElvishBlackSmith
“Concerns over child labor found support among the Progressives—the growing number of people who believed government should take an active role in solving social and economic problems of society,” reports the Library of Congress (LOC) site. “In 1904 the National Child Labor Committee was formed to advocate for children in the work force.”
But it took a while before things finally changed.
#13 Rare Photograph Of Ulysses S. Grant Giving His First Inaugural Address At The Capitol, 1869
At 46 Years Old, He Was At The Time The Youngest Man To Ever Become President Of The United States, And Would Remain So Until Theodore Roosevelt Came Into Office In 1901 (At Age 42).
Image source: HawkeyeTen
#14 Stewardess Application Requirements (Circa 1945)
Image source: Siktrikshot
#15 The 1928 Toaster We Still Use Today
Image source: Zefirka174
“In the next few years, the federal government passed several laws to try to regulate child labor, but the Supreme Court declared them unconstitutional,” explains the site. “Not until 1938 did the federal government successfully regulate the minimum age of employment and hours of work for children.”
School life also looked different in the early 20th century. In fact, it wasn’t until 1920 when all American states required students aged 8 to 14 to attend school. But only for part of the year.
#16 I Found Some 1930’s Aspirin Inside Of An Abandoned Home, Original Pills Too
Image source: [deleted]
#17 This House Built In 1947 Has A Built In Seat For Their Telephone Nook
Image source: boho_chic
#18 Rang In The New Year With My Great Grandparents Noisemakers From The 1920s
Image source: suckseedtosucceed
“In rural areas, the school year was somewhat shorter because young people were still needed to work on the farm,” explains the LOC site. “Rural areas made the one room schoolhouse famous—in many of these, the grades studied together in a single room, and were taught by one teacher.”
It adds that in urban areas, schools were larger and students worked in separate classrooms according to their grade level.
#19 Prices In 1923 Found In My Great Grandma’s Memoir
Image source: CryptographerLost407
#20 My Great-Grandparents’ 1923 Phonograph Still Works… Hadn’t Been Tried Since WWII
Image source: MovingWayOverseas
#21 The Original Phone Still Installed Inside My 1930’s Apartment
Image source: StupidBump
Life was easy in the 20th century. There were two world wars, the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Holocaust in Europe, and it didn’t end there.
“Shortly after World War II ended, the Cold War began between the West and the Soviet Union. The 1940s also witnessed the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and the beginning of apartheid in South Africa, which continued long into the 20th century,” reports ThoughtCo.
#22 This Circular Playing Card Deck From 1929
Image source: Blitz139
#23 This Drivers License From 1926
Image source: HarambesEmbrace
#24 My Grandmother Still Uses This Stove From 1947
Image source: joedubbs119
It was only in the last decade of the 20th century that the Cold War ended, and apartheid ended with the release of Nelson Mandela from prison. It was a century with much hardship and suffering around the world. But people were resilient and made the best of it with what they had.
Today, thanks to those who came before us, we can scroll through this rare list of historical photographs and try to imagine what life was like back then.
#25 A Functional Cash Register From 1915
Image source: WilliamMcCarty
#26 A Doctor’s Office On My Delivery Route Has A Real Ww1 Medical Kit Framed Up On The Wall
Image source: Differential87
#27 Our Building (Circa 1910) Has A Toilet With Tiny Sink Built Into The Top That Runs When You Flush It
Image source: trevormead
#28 Military School Cadets Marching Down Parodos Street, 1920, Kaunas, Lithuania
Image source: Goharskiy
#29 Hese Early 1920s Photographs Of North American Indians Are Amazing, But Often Also Very Sad Faces
Image source: vintag.es
#30 Farmhouse Kitchen, Ireland, 1910
Image source: Undiscovered History
#31 A Family Of Six Milking The Cows. Photo By Alfred Eisenstaedt
Image source: Undiscovered History
#32 Harley-Davidson School For Motorcycle Mechanics, 1917
Image source: Undiscovered History
#33 Italian Grocery Store In New York. 1943
Image source: Undiscovered History
#34 Pioneer Woman Collecting Buffalo Chips For Fuel
Image source: Undiscovered History
#35 Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, Left, Explores The Completed Tower With A Friend, 1889
Image source: Undiscovered History
#36 A Married Couple Who Had Been Separated For 10 Months Were Reunited At A Women’s Camp In Lahore, Pakistan, In 1948
Image source: Zulfiqar Ali
#37 Main Building, Armour Institute Of Technology, Chicago, Illinois, CA 1920s
Image source: explore.chicagocollections.org
#38 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.
Image source: GaGator43
#39 Dad Showing Off His Skill To The Surprise Of His Little Daughter In Melbourne, Australia, CA. 1940s
Image source: TynShouldHaveLived
#40 A Street Scene In Kabul, Afghanistan, 1979
Image source: zadraaa
#41 This Is A Picture Of Katherine Switzer, The First Woman To Ever Finish The Boston Marathon
She Had To Try Harder Than Anyone Else To Complete The Race, Here You See The Race Organizers Trying To Stop Her From Competing In 1967. What The Hell?
Image source: Reporter_at_large
#42 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin On The Moon
Image source: NASA
#43 A Rare Picture Of 4 Us Veteran From Different War Era Pose Together. 1940’s? Original Black And White And Colorized
Image source: Future-Ad-4753
#44 My Robotics Teacher Has A 1948 Olympic Torch
Image source: mCheezee
#45 My Great Grandfather’s Oscar Nomination From 1944
Image source: TheIndigoCrafter
#46 Thrifted These Two 1930s Cameras Today For $15 Each
Image source: bookscoffeefoxes
#47 Plane Ticket Price In 1946
Image source: jollytoes
#48 National Geographic From January Of 1925
Image source: jsrobinson9000-2
#49 1925 Prescription Pill Box
Image source: CharlesGravey
#50 My Grandpa Has A Bottle Of Listerine From 1916 That Still Has Some Listerine In It
Image source: PnO_Mader
#51 How A 1943 First Aid Book Instructs You To Help Someone Whose Choking
Image source: Noname_Maddox
#52 Ww1 Trench Lighter Up And Running
Image source: nsteck10
#53 Loaded Freight Barge Passing The Russian Consulate, Huangpu, Shanghai
Image source: Hutchinson Family
#54 Plaza De Mayo 1920 , Argentina
Image source: serg145
#55 Lively Street In Tokyo Around 1900-1920
Image source: Alisa_Galaxia
#56 Visiting My Grandmother With My Cat Purse In Hand, 1957
Image source: dittidot
#57 In 1895, A Photographer Took A Picture Inside Of The Ferry In New York
Image source: jocke75
#58 Woman Inspecting This New Thing, The Security Belt In Her Car, Circa 1950s
Image source: Electrical-Aspect-13
#59 A Photograph Of A Little Boy Carrying A Newborn Lamb, In Scotland, 1932
Image source: WorldHub995
#60 A Christmas Eve Shopper With His Daughter And A Crated Rocking Horse Tries To Hail A Cab Outside Macy’s, December 24, 1946
Image source: Hooverpaul
#61 Victorian Poverty. A Disabled Match Seller Suffering With Polio Surviving The Streets Of London. C1900…
Image source: Russell Stephen Edwards
#62 Lost London. Chinatown. Limehouse. London. 1927. A Truly Atmospheric Part Of Town That Inspired The Likes Of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde, And Charles Dickens…
Image source: Russell Stephen Edwards
#63 Undiscovered History
Image source: High School Auto Shop Class in the 1950s
#64 Camping In The Early 20th Century
Image source: Undiscovered History
#65 Gentleman Lighting A Street Lamp In Paris, 1905
Image source: Undiscovered History
#66 Aboriginal Tasmanian Fanny Cochrane Smith Singing Into Her Phonograph In 1903. Without Her Efforts To Preserve Her Culture, We Would Have No Audio Traces Of The Tasmanian Language
Image source: Chandra Dewi II
#67 Dancing
Image source: imgur.com
#68 Two Boys Show Each Other Different Skills, Kenya, 1962
9-Year-Old Kevin From New York Had Come To Kenya To Join His Stepfather As A Guest Of A Maasai Tribe, Where He And The Chief’s Son Dionni Became Close Companions.
Image source: Genesis_001
#69 This Reading Room At The Royal Portuguese Cabinet Of Reading – Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Image source: rockystl
#70 Oldest Door In Rome Dated 115 Ad. It’s Also One Of The Only Two Doors In The World With A 2000 Years Old Lock That Is Still Working. It Was Cast In Bronze For Emperor Hadrian’s Rebuilding
Image source: screenshotofdispair
#71 Noodle Delivery Boy In Tokyo, 1935
Image source: StanicaCiprian
#72 This 1954 Camper With A Detachable Boat That Doubles As The Roof
Image source: SailAway56
#73 In 1989, 2 Million People From Estonia, Latvia, And Lithuania Formed A Human Chain That Stretched 420 Miles
They Wanted To Show Their Collective Desire To Escape The Soviet Union And Poverty.
Image source: Prestigious-Yam-8605
#74 The Hollywood Sign Might Be A Film Industry Landmark, But It Was Once A Beacon For TV
Image source: beforethe101
#75 Photography By Diane Arbus, New York 1959
Image source: simpleisbeautifulphotography
#76 Muhammad Ali Stands Over Sonny Liston After Knocking Him Out With The Controversial “Phantom Punch,” Which Unexpectadly And Awkwardly Knocked Out Liston
Image source: John Rooney
#77 Queen Elizabeth II Serving As A Mechanic And Ambulance Driver In WWII
Image source: [deleted]
#78 Nikola Tesla, With His Equipment
Image source: Dickenson V. Alley
#79 Earthrise
Image source: NASA/Bill Anders
#80 Cursed_bruin
Image source: Vertex138
#81 Creepy Doll Sitting Alone In A Child’s Chair, 1930
Image source: lampoluza
#82 Married Couple San Juan De Los Lagos Mexico 1940
Image source: Potential-Jury3661
#83 A Mother And Her 8 Sons, All Served, All Came Home, 1950
Image source: BodyGlimmer
#84 Dog With A Pipe In Its Mouth
Image source: Percy Benzie Abery
Follow Us
