Taking a photo has never been easier than it is today. You can swipe up on your cell phone, snap hundreds of pics in only a few minutes and almost instantly upload them online for others to see. And while the convenience and accessibility of being able to document our lives is amazing, knowing how much work it took to develop film in the past makes photos from a century ago even more special.
One page that is dedicated to celebrating photography from history is Old-Time Photos on Facebook. This account shares digitized versions of photos from the late 1800s all the way up to the 1980s. So enjoy scrolling through these historical pics, pandas, and be sure to upvote the ones that you’re glad were captured decades, or perhaps even a century, ago. And keep reading to find a conversation with Ed Padmore, founder of Vintage Photo Lab!
#1 Blackfoot Tribe In Glacier National Park, 1913
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#2 A Portrait Of Hollow Horn Bear, A Man From The Brulé Native American Tribe. 1907
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#3 A Smartly Dressed Lady From Kentucky, C.1900
Image credits: Old-time Photos
To learn more about the fascinating world of photography from the past, we got in touch with Ed Padmore, founder of Vintage Photo Lab. Ed was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda and discuss why it’s so important to preserve these old pictures.
“When I launched Vintage Photo Lab, I was lucky to still have three grandparents. Today, I no longer have any. Their generation was the first to experience affordable cameras, and whilst lots of families have photos pre-dating this time, it was this period where modern photographic family history began. The Baby Boomer generation came along after them and had even more options: cheaper cameras, instant cameras (Polaroids) and even home movie cameras. With global travel becoming more affordable and commonplace, families were keen to immortalize their new lifestyle (and possibly humble brag to The Jones’ next door).”
#4 Lota Cheek, Winner Of A NYC Beauty Contest In 1922
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#5 Tricycle Gang In Brooklyn. New York City (1930s)
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#6 A Japanese Woman Carrying Her Children In A Bucket On Her Head, Japan 1900s
Image credits: Old-time Photos
“My generation (Generation X) came along, and we had ‘real’ cameras and developed prints, but also lived the transition to digital,” Ed continued. “So, between us, this generational triumvirate accidentally became the creators – and keepers – of what was the printed, non-digital photographic memorabilia that tell the stories of our recent family ancestors.”
“All of the stories and information are held in the brains of parents and grandparents, and if we don’t record that information now, it will be lost forever,” the photo expert shared. “We’ve all sat round and listened to Grandma say ‘…and that’s your Great Aunty Mabel, she was an acrobat and married the ring master and ended up touring the continent’, or something along those lines. Humans have been telling stories for centuries, and now is no different.”
#7 Young Girl During The Great Depression, 1930s
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#8 Men In Harlem Gather In Front Of A Shop To Listen To The Radio, 1940
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#9 Settler Family On The American Prairie In The 1880s
Image credits: Old-time Photos
We also asked Ed what we can learn from these vintage photos. “So much! They’re actually very different. And if you think about the difference between then and now, it’s even more marked. We all have a camera in our pocket now. You could trip down some steps today, and several people have captured it, shared it on WhatsApp and posted it on Instagram. Every single photo back then was planned, or at least thought through and more thoughtful; just by the very nature of having to have had a camera with you (not common), having a roll of film, and having a spare exposure in order to take a shot in the first place,” he told Bored Panda.
#10 The Opening Of The Eiffel Tower During The 1889 World’s Fair
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#11 San Francisco (1960)
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#12 A Skateboarder Zipping Through Central Park In The 1960s
Image credits: Old-time Photos
“That’s why funny, unexpected and random events in old photos always seem so much more magical to me,” Ed continued. “The odds of capturing that moment were infinitesimally smaller than now. Photographs cost money to take as well. Buying the camera, buying the film, developing the film. You’d didn’t just shoot randomly, willy-nilly. Which, thankfully, means less photos of food, and certainly less selfies! So in a way, it’s a more honest snapshot throughout time. Because it was more real.”
#13 A Beautiful Couple From 163 Years Ago!
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#14 Farmhouse Kitchen, Ireland, 1910
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#15 Teenage Sisters Gertrude And Ursula Falke. Germany, 1906
Image credits: Old-time Photos
But Ed doesn’t necessarily think it’s a good thing that it’s so easy to take photos today. “I don’t know anybody who doesn’t think it’s ridiculous, the number of photos we now have amassed on our phones,” he shared. “We ran a straw poll recently, and the average was 23,000. What are you even going to do with all those? Which ones are people using or doing anything meaningful with? If you’re organized, you might order a print of a super-special one, or print a photo book to commemorate an event like a holiday or birthday. But it’s a fairly rare that people are that organized.”
#16 Miss Mary Mccandlish, 1840s
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#17 This Bride And Groom Were Photographed In The 1860s
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#18 Unbelievably Stunning Couple (Love How Their Hands Are Clasped Together), 1960s
Image credits: Old-time Photos
In fact, Ed believes it’s a real problem that so many of us have thousands upon thousands of photos. “How will people pass down those images to the future generations? There’s likely quite a bit of sorting most people would want to do before they let anybody have full access to their entire digital camera roll. But when will we get around to that? Have people made provisions for allowing relatives access to their digital life? Some people might include passwords to their digital world in their will but not all.”
#19 A Young Jimmy Carter Working As A Nuclear Engineer In The Us Navy In 1948
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#20 New York City Street Life In 1954
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#21 The Hindenburg Floating Past The Empire State Building In 1936
Image credits: Old-time Photos
“And you can think again if you’re hoping Apple will help you access a device that isn’t yours,” the photo expert continued. “There’s actually lots of sad stories about this happening and couples losing photographic memories that they can’t access from each others’ phone and Cloud accounts. But I suppose future generations will learn a lot more about our day to day lives from the avalanche of digital photos they might receive one day. There’s just more. Even if half of that is shared pictures from other people via WhatsApp or random memes that were topical or even mildly funny in that moment but which now might not make all that much sense.”
#22 Taken In 1924, Some Friends Enjoy Riding In This New Car, Which Could Travel At Mammoth Speeds Of Up To 25mph
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#23 Three Sisters, 1926, Portrait By James Van Der Zee
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#24 Wilt Chamberlain At 17. 1954
Image credits: Old-time Photos
Ed says that he’s always loved looking at old photographs, so he’s lucky to live in a time where his grandparents didn’t leave behind 25,000 selfies.
“I love the way it feels like a form of time travel. I particularly like everyday shots of real people just going about their business, but in the 1950’s, 60’s or 70’s especially,” he shared. “They also reveal a much simpler time. If you look at street scenery or pictures of town centers several decades ago, it just feels calmer. There’s no street signs telling you not to do this or not to do that, or not to park here, or to only park there. They don’t have metal barriers at every road junction because apparently people were trusted to cross the road sensibly back then.”
“There’s signs and street ‘furniture’ everywhere you look these days. But I suppose that’s all just rose-tinted spectacles and something that easily gives away my age,” Ed added. “Most generations think their childhood was the best, but growing up the 80’s was pretty hard to beat. But possibly only if you grew up in the 80’s.”
#25 This Farmhouse Once Stood In Manhattan Where 84th Street And Broadway Now Cross. (1879)
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#26 Natalie Wood (1950s)
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#27 A Cable Worker During The Construction Of The Empire State Building
Image credits: Old-time Photos
Are you feeling inspired to go digging through the photos that your grandparents left behind, pandas? We hope you’re enjoying scrolling through this list, and feel free to let us know in the comments which images stand out to you. Keep upvoting all of your favorites, and then if you’d like to check out even more photos from the past, we recommend reading this Bored Panda article next!
#28 Harley-Davidson School For Motorcycle Mechanics, 1917
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#29 A Cowgirl From The 1880s
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#30 1970s
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#31 John Candy And Dan Aykroyd Together On The Set Of The Great Outdoors In 1987
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#32 One Of The Oldest Person To Have Been Photographed In 1840-1850
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#33 Behind The Scenes Photos From The Making Of The First Godzilla Movie, 1954
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#34 Handsome Man From The Late 1800s
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#35 This Giant Sequoia Tree Was Estimated To Be Over 2600 Years Old When It Was Cut Down In The 1890s
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#36 Residents Of West Berlin Show Their Children To Their Grandparents Living In East Berlin, 1961
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#37 Rare Photo Showing Niagara Falls Completely Frozen Over In The Year 1911
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#38 The Great North Dakota Blizzard Of 1966
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#39 People Relaxing In The Sunshine During June Of 1922
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#40 A Family During The Great Depression
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#41 A Mother And Her Eight Sons, All Served, All Came Home
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#42 Woman In Pants Going For A Bike Ride, 1897
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#43 Cowboys Enjoy Drinks At The Equity Bar In Old Tascosa, Texas, 1907
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#44 Department Store Workers, On Their Lunch Break, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 1900
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#45 King George Vi Of England Enjoying A Slide, 1925
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#46 Woman Packinghouse Worker From Tennessee With Three Of Her Four Children Eating Supper Of Fried Potatoes And Cornbread And Canned Milk. Belle Glade, Florida
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#47 Charging An Electric Car In The Garage, 1911
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#48 People Gathered In Front Of Stores In A Small Town. Eureka Springs, Arkansas, 1880
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#49 American Soldier Coming Home, 1917
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#50 Suited Up For A Mid Day Stroll, 1915
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#51 Winona Ryder, Late 80s
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#52 The Original Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Factory. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. 1903
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#53 Gentleman Lighting A Street Lamp In Paris, 1905
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#54 Victorian Women In Old Car
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#55 California Street, San Francisco, 1964
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#56 A Woman Using A Spinning Wheel Outside Of Her Log Cabin, 1918
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#57 High School Teenagers Drive In Des Moines, Iowa, 1947
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#58 Rural Americans, Circa 1935
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#59 A Family At Their Cabin Home In West Virginia, 1900
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#60 1980, When Every Soft Drink Bottle On The Shelf Was Still Glass
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#61 A Sorority Group Photo From The Early ’70s
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#62 Men Waiting In A Line For The Possibility Of A Job During The Great Depression
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#63 Former Sharecroppers, Just Before Moving To Southeast Missouri Farms. 1938
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#64 Photo Of Lumberjacks Cutting Trees In Pacific Northwest, USA 1915
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#65 Rural Mail Delivery In 1914
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#66 A 1920s Harley Davidson With Covered Sidecar
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#67 One Of The Last Photos Of Charlie Chaplin Taken In 1977
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#68 A Scene Of A Prisoner Escaping, United States, 1913
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#69 Young Girls Working At An Oyster (Shucking) Processing Plant, 1912
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#70 “The Simpsons” Writing Room, 1992
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#71 Wild Bill Hickok, 1870s
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#72 James And Amelia, Texas, 1867
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#73 Teenagers At An Elvis Presley Concert At The Philadelphia Arena, 1957!
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#74 Mary Smith, A “Knocker-Upper” Who Earned Sixpence A Week Shooting Dried Peas At Windows To Wake People For Work (East London, 1930s)
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#75 A Waitress On Roller Skates Delivers A Tray Full Of Food To Customers. 1940s
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#76 Newlyweds Lucille Ball And Desi Arnaz, 1940s
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#77 Ozark Mountain Family At Their Cabin In Arkansas
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#78 Victorian Women In Old Car
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#79 Little Leonardo Dicaprio And His Parents George And Irmelin, 1976
Image credits: Old-time Photos
#80 Farmers At A Well In Jefferson, Texas, 1939
Image credits: Old-time Photos