The 1940s was a time when no one gave much thought to sunscreen and you could happily chain-smoke cigarettes and drink cocktails while you tanned, without so much as a thought to the health consequences. In 1948 the Senator Hotel in Atlantic City installed sunlamps in the ceilings so its patrons could tan, even when(…)
I stumbled across this photograph this morning and I’m ghoulishly intrigued by it. The only information I have about it is that it’s captioned ‘Air Suicide Attempt‘, 1929.
More and more smokers are becoming social pariahs. They have to stand on the street in the rain outside restaurants, bars, pubs and even their own cars (if their kids are inside). And while I don’t mind this, being a non-smoker, it does strike me as strange that in years gone by smoking was seen(…)
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…(…)
I thought this photo was delightful, there’s something delicious about seeing little glimpses back in time. It looks like neither these women nor the ships officer knew this photo was being taken and I love the way the ladies are both trying to stop their skirts from flying up in the breeze. It’s so much(…)
Frankly, an artistic arrangement of dead snakes doesn’t really say Happy Christmas to me, but clearly it did to somebody. This photos if from a Christmas card back in 1910. I don’t have much information about it except that it was Harry Dewey’s Christmas card and the photo was taken in Big Cypress Swamp, Florida.(…)
I never stopped to wonder how Adolf Hitler spent the First World War, I certainly never imagined he was a soldier with a creased uniform and a flamboyantly-curled moustache.
We all know what Mae West looked like (above). Her sexy on-screen image is probably one of the most iconic of all time. So much so that she had life preservers named after her during WW2 and Salvador Dali created his iconic lips sofa because of his fascination with her. But what did she look(…)
This very serious young man is Ernest Hemingway photographed in 1923 from his passport. To be fair we all look ridiculous in passport photos, why on earth don’t they let you smile in them? (or is that just in the UK?) Source and copyright: This work is in the public domain in the United States(…)
There’s little more fascinating than looking at stars back when they were ‘normal people’. Even Marilyn Monroe looked like any other girl before she dyed her hair, had plastic surgery and changed her name. The other transformation as equally interesting. Who do you think has changed the most? Marilyn before she was famous (above) and(…)
A little Jackie Kennedy looking very grown up! This photo was taken in 1935 which I think would make her 6 years old. What a little lady eh? No wonder she became a style icon later in life!
My little boy has seen 3 different Santas this year (or rather he’s seen Santa 3 times this year) and was slightly confused by the fact that Father Christmas wore glasses two of the times and then didn’t the third time. He whispered that he thought the last one *might* have been one of Santa’s(…)
Ziegfeld Follies girl Doris Eaton Travis photographed somewhere around 1918-1920. I love the fancy top she’s wearing – I wonder whether it’s a costume? It seems a bit spangly and skimpy to be a regular dress. What do you think?
This picture perfectly captures for me the style of the 1930s. I think my glamorous 1930s ideal probably stems from watching too many Poirot and Hollywood movies, where all the young people were beautiful, tanned and althetic, all the men had slicked back hair and dashing looks and the women had perfect pin curls. I(…)
The youngest US president to be inaugurated and the youngest President to die in office, it is 50 years this week since President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. In a week where talk of his assassination will be everywhere here are some happier photos of him.
A girl de-fluffing her extremely furry angora rabbit, 1930s.
This photo was taken at the opening of the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum in September 1967. The Triceratops, named Uncle Beazley was placed in the parking lot, where you can also see him in the snow in 1977 (below).
I was talking about my fascination with vintage mug-shot photos a few days ago and since then I stumbled upon these amazing photos of 1920s women who were incarcerated at the State Reformatory for Women, Long Bay, NSW. What makes these photos so interesting is that they took a full length photo of each woman,(…)