Wow, you’d certainly need a head for heights to do this job! Back in 1908-9 when the Manhattan bridge was under construction there was no such thing as health and safety. You could wander the boards of the half-built bridge with your camera snapping photos of the workers without any questions being asked at all…(…)
Well, this is definitely the oldest movie I’ve watched, and it’s truly fabulous! It’s quite incredible that it was made way back in 1902. Only fifteen minutes long, Le Voyage dans la Lune was the first sci-fi film ever made and tackles the idea of a trip to the moon they way they thought it(…)
So, it’s Boxing Day and I’m sitting here (eating chocolates) waiting for it to snow. Apparently we are due to get snow tonight, but I fully expect to wake up in the morning and see cold grey drizzle rather than a beautiful white blanket covering everything. We didn’t have any snow last winter at all,(…)
Historical stage costumes are by their very nature fabulous. Rarely understated they needed to communicate the nature of a character as soon as they step onto the stage. Some are ridiculous intentionally, some not (I fear poor Andreas Dippel was supposed to look heroic but fell rather short of that), and some are simply wonderful(…)
So, you thought the selfie was something new? Apparently not! Here is the evidence that people have been taking selfies since the late 1800s – even naked selfies! It’s not just the celebrities of today who love showing off their bods! These photos range from the 1890s to the 1970s, some are self-portraits done with(…)
We all know the story of the ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic. At least I assume we do, I can’t imagine there’s anyone out there who doesn’t know the story, but just in case here’s a brief recap of the tragic tale with a few facts you might not know. The RMS Titanic was(…)
I seem to have a slight obsession with vintage mug-shots this week and I couldn’t resist sharing these beautiful photos with you. They were taken between 1910 and 1930 by New South Wales Police Department. Called ‘special photographs’, I’m not sure whether they replaced traditional mug-shots or were supplimentary, but they were photographs of “men(…)
If I was having my photo taken in wet woolen swimwear I think I’d close my eyes too… I know we all reminisce about the gorgeousness of vintage swimwear, and how it’s all more stylish and more lovely than lycra, but I think even a pair of tiny budgie-smugglers would be more flattering than these(…)
I love so many things about this photo. I love the swinging deckchairs, those huge and cumbersome hats (on the beach!) and the fact that you seem to be able to see bits of these ladies which would have been frowned upon in those days (I can see their ankles, their wrists and their petticoats(…)
I’m not sure quite what’s going on in this photo. Are they a lesbian couple (which I’m guessing would have been pretty scandalous at this time), or is the woman dressing as a man because her husband wasn’t around and a lady couldn’t sit on an ‘actual’ man’s lap without losing her reputation…? There’s no(…)
I assumed that women’s boxing was a fairly new sport, after all it was only included in the Olympics last year for the first time, but from these photos you can see it was going on (although with varying degrees of inappropriate outfits) since at least the late 1880s. I’m guessing it wasn’t a mainstream(…)
Parisienne vintage winter fashion from 1912: A ladies walking costume consisting of a slender cut dress and a coat done up diagonally, trimmed with a fur collar and cuffs. Isn’t this stylish? I had no idea that pre-1920s fashion was this chic, I thought it was all bustles and corsets!
Criminal mugshots of men arrested in England in the early 1900s for a variety of crimes including Larceny (is this the same as theft?), False Pretences and Indecent Exposure (he’s a creepy one). I must admit that Andrea Laudano (above) is rather dishy, you can see he probably had a real way with the ladies(…)
A girl standing on tip toe on a champagne bottle in a pleated costume and top hat from 1904. Is this even possible? My balance is absolutely terrible so it certainly seems impossible to me. Do you think this is a trick photo or just some acrobatic brilliance..?