You might think things are pretty weird and dumpster fire–like in 2025 — what with the president posting AI-generated photos of himself as a buff Jedi, freerunners jumping around tall buildings for online content, and pop stars going to space — but honestly, things were just as unhinged in the past (if not more).
Ready to take a trip to the (very bizarre) days of yore? Check it out:
1.
I know this looks like something someone cooked up with AI, but it’s 100% real. In the 1920s, daredevil Gladys Roy played a full-on tennis match against stuntman Ivan Unger on top of a flying plane 3,000 feet in the air. And no, they weren’t wearing parachutes. “Why?” you’re probably asking. Or even “WTF?!” Fair questions. But back then daredevils were celebrities, probably because planes were still new, terrifying, and glamorous, so doing anything on top of one — let alone something as goofy as tennis — captured the public’s imagination. As crowds got harder to impress, though, Roy was forced to up the ante: she danced the Charleston mid-flight, walked blindfolded across the wings, and even posed on the tail while the plane nosedived.
It won’t surprise you that she died at just 31 in a plane accident. What will surprise you is how it happened — she was taking part in a photo shoot on the ground when she accidentally walked into a spinning aircraft propeller and was killed instantly. Playing tennis/walking blindfolded on a plane 3,000 feet up? No problem. Avoiding a spinning propeller on the ground? Hard, I guess. Still, despite the tragic end, Roy remains one of the most badass people of all time.
2.
I would wager that, in 2025, not a single soul has wondered if Aaron Judge could hit a baseball further than a professional fisherman’s best cast. But back in the day, I guess, that sort of question intrigued people? IDK. Anyway, on July 8, 1921 at the Polo Grounds in New York, a sizable crowd showed up to watch Yankees’ slugger Babe Ruth go head-to-head against world champion surf caster Harold G. Lentz. Ruth used a bat and baseball; Lentz used a 4-ounce lead weight and a surf rod.
3.
If you thought Sydney Sweeney’s jeans ad was objectifying/sexist, you’ll be horrified by this “neatest figure” swimsuit contest held in Margate, England on September, 6 1932, where women wore hoods over their faces so the judges could really focus on critiquing their bodies. Yikes.
4.
Again, I feel the need to emphasize this is a real photo, and not a drawing or something! In November 1947, San Diego’s Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Company of San Diego, California, did a test flight for its ConVairCar, Model 118 flying car, and it made big news around the nation. A second test flight ended in a crash landing, though, and excitement about the flying plane died off (thus ending any hopes of it going into production). When not flying, the car could be detached and driven like a regular automobile. (Detaching and re-attaching the plane sounds like it’d be a real pain in the ass!)
5.
In the 1960s, a Pennsylvania department store hosted a runway show at the Americana Hotel in New York to promote “emancipated fashions” for men. What are emancipated fashions, you ask? Basically, they’re clothes that aim to break free from traditional constraints in men’s clothing (like gender roles, dress codes, etc.) That was an admirable goal, but the clothes themselves were…interesting.
6.
Want some more wild fashions? In Sweden, circa 1940s, this was a real hat women wore:
7.
Around 1920, this circus strongwoman performed a jaw-dropping stunt: balancing a piano and its dapper pianist on her chest! It’s unknown who the performer is, but in the 1920s, there were a number of women famous for doing feats of strength. Katie Sandwina, for example, wowed crowds by lifting men overhead, bending iron bars, and even “resisting horses,” where she would grip a rope connected to two horses attempting to gallop in opposite directions, and keep them in place using sheer strength. And to think she got that strong without a membership to Planet Fitness!
8.
Klansmen sitting openly among worshippers? It’s a chilling image, but it happened during the Sunday night service at New Jersey’s Grace Methodist Episcopal Church on March 11, 1923. Forty hooded members of the Ku Klux Klan scattered through the pews, and the local Klan leader and recruitment officer even stood on the church platform alongside Rev. Parris E. Greenly, who welcomed them.
9.
Here’s one in the category of weird entertainment before people had phones or streaming services: in the ’60s, Professor Leonard Tomlin was a British sideshow performer who trained fleas to perform circus acts. Yes, fleas. Tiny, little fleas. Tomlin was the leader of one of the last genuine flea circuses operating in the UK. (Yes, this was a thing other people did too, lol). His troupe toured fairs and exhibitions, using fleas that he and his wife, Evelyn, trained to wear harnesses and pull miniature vehicles (like a chariot) or turn Ferris wheels.
10.
Am I dumb for looking at all of these stunts and thinking, They did all that BEFORE social media?! It would have soooo gone viral! But in all seriousness, the wedding of Tsen Hai Sun and Hay Gy Sun — where the couple exchanged gold rings while hanging by their hair beneath a hovering helicopter — would’ve racked up some serious engagement online (and maybe a hair sponsorship deal). The high-flying ceremony took place in 1979 in West Germany, and was captured by Keystone/Getty Images photographers. Sadly, beyond the photo, there’s little to comb through online about these gravity-defying nuptials. Were they circus performers? 1920s-style daredevils? Testing some hair-strengthening conditioner? I guess we’ll never know!
11.
I’m not sure what the deal was with hair and romance in the ’60s, but here’s another wild one. In November 1969, car salesperson Ian Newman grew his hair long enough to physically tether himself to his girlfriend, florist Gloria Wootton. I can see why he did it — she was way out of his league, lol. The photo was treated as “sweet” when it ran in the papers, but from our 2025 eyes, it 100% falls into the sexist/creepy category. According to the photo caption, Ian did this so he wouldn’t lose Gloria to other suitors during dance nights. Ian had grown frustrated that his girlfriend kept wandering off with other men at dances, so this “hairstyle” ensured she stayed literally attached. Like bro, give the woman some room to breathe!
12.
How’s this for wild? In Sweden circa 1971, a woman was captured using a photo booth (generally meant for taking passport photos) for more, ahem, personal reasons. Look, it was the ’70s. You couldn’t just whip out your cell phone to snap some nudes for your significant other. You had to get creative!
13.
On February 5, 1947, in Orlando, Florida, at what was then known as Marine Studios (now Marineland), performers played ping-pong underwater while a sand shark hovered nearby, seemingly watching the game. Apparently, the event was part of a fashion show hosted by the Miami Fashion Council, so I’m guessing it was a staged promotional attraction rather than an actual competitive match. (Look, everyone knows that if you want a competitive match, you’ve got to do it atop an airplane!)
14.
This photo from the ’20s or ’30s is of a cat “nannying” a baby. There’s not much info online about this photo, but it did send me down a rabbit hole reading about the popularity of anthropomorphic pet photography in the first half of the 20th century, usually found on postcards, novelty photographs, and advertisements.
15.
IN FACT, in the 1920s and 1930s, people were so into anthropomorphic animals that Dogville Comedies — movies that starred trained dogs (and sometimes other animals) dressed in costumes and “acting out” human roles, with dubbed-over human voices — were popular. The films parodied popular Hollywood genres of the time, like gangster films (Hot Dog), westerns (So Quiet on the Canine Front), and musicals (The Dogway Melody), and were made possible thanks to trainers who would pose the dogs and move their mouths with peanut butter or wires.
16.
Even as a kid growing up in the ’80s, I felt “the Russians are going to bomb us any day!” hysteria. It was way worse in the ’60s, though, when the Federal Civil Defense Administration would film realistic and frightening reenactments of nuclear attacks meant to shock Americans into learning what to do if the big one hit. (They also doubled as anti-Communism propaganda.) These horrifying mock‑scenes were shown in training films, public exhibitions, and even school programs (enjoy, kids!). The image below shows a woman who was said to be on the phone when everything went KA-BOOM!
17.
Again, speaking as an ’80s kid, it really seemed like we would have robots EVERYWHERE in our lives very shortly (remember Sico the Robot in Rocky IV?), so I’m not surprised to learn that In 1980, kids at Miami Gardens Elementary School were taught about vitamins and food groups by NUTRO, a 5-foot-tall robot as part of a public service campaign. Sigh. Here we are 45 years later, and we still don’t have robot butlers!
18.
You think some women wear long lashes today? This is what one woman wore in England on January 19, 1968:
19.
Oh look! It’s another of those wild, 1920s’ publicity stunts, perhaps for a zoo promotion. This photo — taken in 1923 — is from a time when baby hippos were occasionally trained for light pulling demonstrations or parades to entertain folks. Again, with no video games, phones, or other modern distractions, people got pretty, pretty, pretty weird.
20.
If you think people got weird stunts out of their system in the 1920s, you’d be wrong. In 1969, Volkswagen debuted a fully functional VW Beetle made entirely out of wrought iron. Yep — just a decorative iron framework that looked like your grandma’s garden furniture on wheels. It was built for a VW exhibit, not mass production, but kids were photographed (see below) test-driving it along the beach in Los Angeles, probably enjoying the world’s most literal air conditioning. Reportedly, the Highway Patrol wasn’t thrilled with the publicity stunt.
21.
Here’s another novelty vehicle — this time on the streets of London in 1968. Was it the safest car? I’m gonna say “Oh hell no.” This moving aquarium reached a top-speed of around 45 mph and, for some reason, had inflatable seats. The “car” was mostly a publicity stunt, but they did build a very limited number between 1967 and ’68. Kooky!
22.
Here’s another ugly image from the past so you don’t get the impression it was all flying cars and anthropomorphic animals. In 1948, 54-year-old educator George W. McLaurin sued for the right to study law at the University of Oklahoma — and became the first Black student ever admitted to the school. The university complied with the ruling, but still enforced Jim Crow-style segregation, so McLaurin wasn’t allowed to sit inside classrooms with his white classmates. He also was forced to use a separate bathroom, and special seating in the cafeteria and at sporting events.
23.
Finally, this photo of a clerical staffing company in London — taken in October 1971 — is supposed to show women letting loose midweek by doing aerobics on their office desks. But I dunno…the staging of this photo seems more about titillation and the male gaze than endorsing exercise. (I’m also curious if women REALLY were climbing onto their desks and doing this, lol).
What’s the weirdest thing you know that happened in the ye olden days? Let us know in the comments or the anonymous form below and it could be featured in a future BuzzFeed post!
