When we get a chance to look at vintage photos, it always seems that things were completely different back in the day and it’s just so hard to imagine what life was like back then before modern technology took over.
25 years ago Bill Nelson, a vintage photography enthusiast, found a packet of negatives at an estate sale in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and has been trying to find as much information about these black and white photos as possible. “The negatives themselves are about 10 cm x 12.5 cm and are cut from roll film. The film stock is quite brittle and is, I believe, nitrocellulose, so I store them in a freezer. Because they are fragile and inevitably degrading, I took the time to scan these old photos at a high resolution. Still, it’s quite remarkable they survived at all, given their indifferent treatment for the first 90 years of their existence,” Bill told Bored Panda.
According to him, photos like these can give a palpable connection to the period in European countries and an opportunity to know it differently than you would from modern histories.
Scroll down to see these interesting photos yourself, and don’t forget to tell us what you think in the comments.
More info: Bill Nelson
#1 Four Boys From Volendam, Netherlands
Image source: Bill Nelson
#2 Cockington Forge, Devon, England
Image source: Bill Nelson
#3 Tourists At The Frauenkirche, Nürnberg, Germany
Image source: Bill Nelson
#4 Mother And Daughter On Mountain Top, Austria
Image source: Bill Nelson
#5 Two Gentlemen, London
Image source: Bill Nelson
#6 Market, Bayreuth, Germany
Image source: Bill Nelson
#7 Men And Girl On The Docks, Marken, Netherlands
Image source: Bill Nelson
#8 Net Mender, Étretat, Normandy, France
Image source: Bill Nelson
#9 Oldest Man In Clovelly, England
Image source: Bill Nelson
#10 Mature Woman On Bench
Image source: Bill Nelson
#11 Omnibuses, London, England
Image source: Bill Nelson
#12 Girls In Cottage, Marken, Netherlands
Image source: Bill Nelson
#13 Marken Girls, Marken, Netherlands
Image source: Bill Nelson
#14 Steigersgrachtwater, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Image source: Bill Nelson
#15 Fishing Boats, Volendam, Netherlands
Image source: Bill Nelson
#16 On The Charles Bridge, Prague, Czechoslovakia
Image source: Bill Nelson
#17 Steep Street, Clovelly, Devon, England
Image source: Bill Nelson
#18 Laundry On The Beach, Étretat, France
Image source: Bill Nelson
#19 Asparagus Sellers, Vienna, Austria
Image source: Bill Nelson
#20 Women In Market, Bayreuth, Germany
Image source: Bill Nelson
#21 Haying With Oxen, Austria
Image source: Bill Nelson
#22 Zwinger Palace, Dresden, Germany
Image source: Bill Nelson
#23 Cheese Market In Alkmaar, Netherlands
Image source: Bill Nelson
#24 Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria
Image source: Bill Nelson
#25 New Inn, Clovelly, Devon, England
Image source: Bill Nelson
#26 Horses, Carts, And Bobbies, England
Image source: Bill Nelson
#27 Farm Buildings, Normandy, France
Image source: Bill Nelson
#28 Organ Grinder And Daughter, London
Image source: Bill Nelson
#29 Woman With Heavy Basket, Location Uncertain
Image source: Bill Nelson
#30 Punting At Magdalen Bridge, Oxford, England
Image source: Bill Nelson
#31 School Children, Netherlands
Image source: Bill Nelson
#32 Old Fisherman, Netherlands
Image source: Bill Nelson
#33 Replica Windmill, Sans Souci Park, Potsdam, Germany
Image source: Bill Nelson
#34 Caveé Saint-Firmin, Montreuil-Sur-Mer, France
Image source: Bill Nelson
#35 Roadside Shrines, Austria
Image source: Bill Nelson
#36 Ornate Doorway- Eglise St. Maclou, Rouen, France
Image source: Bill Nelson
#37 Group Of Women On The Shore, France
Image source: Bill Nelson
#38 Chateau De Coucy In 1904, France
Image source: Bill Nelson
#39 Old Street, Possibly Montreuil-Sur-Mer
Image source: Bill Nelson
#40 Frenchwoman And Her Geese
Image source: Bill Nelson
#41 Alice, London, England
Image source: Bill Nelson
#42 The Boat Crush, Eights Week, 1904 Oxford, England
Image source: Bill Nelson
#43 Bavaria, Germany
Image source: Bill Nelson
#44 Linderhof, Ludwig Ii’s Palace In Bavaria
Image source: Bill Nelson
#45 Mrs. Dixon And Alice, London, England
Image source: Bill Nelson
#46 Men Killing Time, Germany
Image source: Bill Nelson
#47 Kibitzers, Etretat, Normandy, France
Image source: Bill Nelson
#48 This Is A No Longer Existing Windmill Called “De Maagd” In Dordrecht, Netherlands
Image source: Bill Nelson
#49 Men And Boat, Marken, Netherlands
Image source: Bill Nelson
#50 Museum Of Natural History, Vienna, Austria
Image source: Bill Nelson
#51 Market, Bayreuth, Germany
Image source: Bill Nelson
#52 Two Men On Road, France
Image source: Bill Nelson
#53 Laundry Day, Marken, Netherlands
Image source: Bill Nelson
#54 The Quay At Clovelly, Devon, England
Image source: Bill Nelson
#55 Street Vendors Below Josef’s Fountain, Vienna, Austria
Image source: Bill Nelson
#56 Cutting Hay With Oxen, Germany
Image source: Bill Nelson
#57 Quay, Clovelly, Devon, England
Image source: Bill Nelson
#58 Oxford, England
Image source: Bill Nelson
#59 Dining Hall At Christ Church University, Oxford
Image source: Bill Nelson
#60 Steep Street, Clovelly, Devon, England
Image source: Bill Nelson
#61 Market, Nürnberg, Germany
Image source: Bill Nelson
#62 Market, Nürnberg, Germany
Image source: Bill Nelson
#63 Women Gathering Hay
Image source: Bill Nelson
#64 The Cliffs At Étretat, Normandy, France
Image source: Bill Nelson
#65 Chateau De Coucy, Near Étretat, Normandy
Image source: Bill Nelson
#66 Man And Couple, Germany
Image source: Bill Nelson
#67 Doorways, Vienna, Austria
Image source: Bill Nelson
#68 Man With Dog Cart, Netherlands
Image source: Bill Nelson
#69 Laundry Day, Marken, Netherlands
Image source: Bill Nelson
#70 Spuiwater Canal, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Image source: Bill Nelson
#71 Two Windmills Along A Canal In Landsmeer, Netherlands
Image source: Bill Nelson
#72 Volendam Street, Netherlands
Image source: Bill Nelson
#73 Fishermen, Étretat, Normandy, France
Image source: Bill Nelson
#74 Marken, Netherlands
Image source: Bill Nelson
#75 Friedens-Engel Memorial In Munchen, Germany
Image source: Bill Nelson
#76 Vienna Burgtheater, Vienna, Austria
Image source: Bill Nelson
#77 Blue Ball Inn, Countisbury, Lynmouth, Devon, England
Image source: Bill Nelson
#78 Hoher Markt, Vienna, Austria
Image source: Bill Nelson
#79 Eights Crew At Keble College Barge
Image source: Bill Nelson
#80 Fishermen Launching A Boat, Étretat, France
Image source: Bill Nelson
#81 Château De Fréfossé, Normandy, France
Image source: Bill Nelson
#82 Helblinghaus, Innsbruck, Austria
Image source: Bill Nelson
#83 Tower And Wall, Nürnberg, Germany
Image source: Bill Nelson
#84 Building Shocks, Germany
Image source: Bill Nelson
#85 The Ship Inn, Porlock Weir, Somerset, England
Image source: Bill Nelson
#86 Stone Wall, Nürnberg, Germany
Image source: Bill Nelson
#87 Marken, Netherlands
Image source: Bill Nelson
#88 London, England
Image source: Bill Nelson
#89 Fishermen, Étretat, Normandy, France
Image source: Bill Nelson
#90 Fishermen, Étretat, Normandy, France
Image source: Bill Nelson
#91 Riga, Latvia
#92 Ireland
#93 Fishermen, Étretat, Normandy, France
Image source: Bill Nelson
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