1.
This is what bodybuilders looked like in 1941. Pretty different from modern bodybuilders, right?
2.
Sorry to ruin your day, but have you heard of Laika, the first animal in space? She was sent by the Soviet Union in 1957 with no plan to bring her back. This is her in the satellite capsule.
3.
And here’s Ham The Chimp, the first great ape (and the first chimpanzee) in space. NASA sent Ham out in 1961 after 15 months of training to test the effects of space travel on a creature similar to a human. Chimp actually performed lever-pulling tasks during the journey and made it safely home, retiring in a zoo.
4.
Below, you can see the (sped up) moment Australia switched over to color TV in 1975. It occurred during The Aunty Jack Show; all channels were supposed to switch to color at midnight, but the comedy actually switched over 30 seconds early, becoming the first show in color on Australian TV. They actually incorporated the switch into the sketch, too. You can watch it here.
5.
This underground bomb shelter from the Cold War era is super creepy to see now.
6.
Did you know some flights used to hand out cigarettes with your in-flight meal? This pack is from the ’50s.
7.
These 1930s NYC apartment listings for $4 a week and up made me sad. That’s about $74 a week today, accounting for inflation, BTW. Even $25 a week is under $500 a month. For context, I currently live in Manhattan with a roommate, and my rent is about $2k…just for my room, not the whole apartment. Electricity and heat are not included.
8.
When Bill Baxley became the Attorney General of Alabama in 1970, no charges had been filed over the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, which killed four young Black girls. He made it his mission to solve the case. As he neared prosecuting Robert Chambliss, who was ultimately convicted, white supremacist and KKK “Grand Dragon” Edward R. Fields wrote him a letter slamming him and demanding a response. This was Baxley’s rely. And this is the energy I need us all to have toward white supremacists right now, okay?
9.
Old newspapers are always super fascinating, especially from major world events. This one’s from when JFK was assassinated.
10.
This “special bulletin” from when JFK was assassinated is even more interesting, especially because it lists JFK as alive. It’s wild to think about communicating world events in a time before the internet.
11.
This list of bands banned from being played on Soviet radio in the ’80s — along with the reason why — is basically a list of the best bands from the ’80s.
12.
This teacher’s contract from 1923, which forbids teachers from getting married or even “keeping company with men,” is honestly sad to look at. And what do they have against ice cream parlors???
13.
This newspaper opinions column from the ’50s is also very sad.
14.
TIL about the “scold’s bridle,” a torture device used on women who gossiped or nagged. Their use began in the 1500s and went on until the 1800s.
15.
Here’s another terrifying photo of one.
16.
Sticking with the creepy theme, this is what firefighters’ masks used to look like.
17.
I’m obsessed with this photo of high school women from 1942 who showed up to school in pants to protest after a classmate was suspended for wearing pants.
18.
This old report card from 1926 gives a glimpse into what it was like to be a student back then. Check out the “bookkeeping” and “homemaking” classes.
19.
This photo of a Chinese woman at the beach in Florida during WWII is fascinating to me. Check out the Chinese flag she displayed so people wouldn’t think she was Japanese — as anti-Japanese sentiment was extremely high after Pearl Harbor, and most Japanese Americans were interned.
20.
This old ad advertising beer to children did notttt age well.
21.
I didn’t even know they had sex toys in 1933, so these ads for pretty frightening-looking sex toys are absolutely wild to see.
22.
I don’t know why it never occurred to me that there were condoms hundreds of years ago. Here’s one from the 18th century.
23.
This 1966 outtake from MAD Magazine is wild to see now, considering how racist it is.
24.
And these drawings from a 1970s book are wildly sexist.
25.
This note about clickbait from the 1980s is a little weird to see now, considering what happened with the internet.
26.
I bet you didn’t know that Henry Ford was an anti-Semite who inspired Hitler himself. Here, you can see him receiving the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, a Nazi award.
27.
The famous speech Robert F Kennedy gave after Martin Luther Jr. was assassinated is all the more impactful considering he was assassinated two months later.
28.
It’s always wild to see historical figures (especially ones you think of existing during different times) together — like in this photo of Richard Nixon meeting John McCain after coming home from being a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
29.
These suitcases of people who were sent to concentration camps are so, so sad to see. Many of these people never left those camps, and those who did had lost everything.
30.
It’s pretty metal to me that elephants once had armor. This model from 1500s India is incomplete yet is still the largest existing suit of animal armor.
31.
This video of Oppenheimer talking about the atomic bomb is kind of depressing to see, TBH, especially if you’ve seen Oppenheimer.
32.
This is what the very first Legos looked like. Lego actually started with wooden toys and didn’t build their signature bricks until 1949.
33.
Did you know Sony’s been around since the 1940s and that their first product was an electric rice cooker?
35.
Crayola crayons also used to look very different.
36.
Old calculators also used to look pretty cool.
37.
This horse-drawn hearse from the 1800s is making me wish we still used horses and carriages.
38.
Here’s what cash registers looked like in the early 1900s. Why was everything prettier back then?
39.
This photo of the moment then-President George W. Bush learned about 9/11 — while visiting an elementary school classroom in Florida — will always stick in my mind.
40.
But I find this photo of Marcy Borders covered in dust just after the Twin Towers’ collapse even more memorable.
41.
This is what women’s bathing suits looked like in the early 1900s…and this is one of many things I am very, very glad has changed.
42.
This photo of what Taco Bell used to look like is actually making me nostalgic for a time when I didn’t even exist (I can’t remember going to Taco Bell until the 2000s).
43.
This photo of a 1980s computer lab also makes me weirdly nostalgic for a time I didn’t exist during.
44.
We still have political buttons, but I feel like they were cooler back in the day. Here’s a whole collection of them for a bunch of different presidential campaigns.
45.
Here’s what some of Beethoven’s original sheet music looked like.
46.
This 1911 guide to kissing a girl (from a gum ad) honestly has a few good pointers in the middle portion.
47.
This 1924 personal ad is kind of hilarious to look back on, but I hope this 106-year-old found what she was looking for.
48.
If you’ve ever worked in customer service, you’ve dealt with customer complaints. But did you know customer service complaints go back thousands of years? This one is from 1750 BCE.
49.
School exercises — and teachers marking out mistakes in red — are just as ancient. This is from somewhere around 1981 – 1802 BC.
50.
This 3200-year-old worker attendance sheet is also wild to see. Absence reasons range from “embalming brother” to “bitten by a scorpion.”
52.
These 1918 headlines about influenza feel weirdly modern in the post-COVID era.
53.
As does this 1918 ad, featuring a nurse with a mask.
54.
This Chairman Mao badge that someone’s grandmother still has also makes history feel less distant.
55.
This 1800-year-old doll doesn’t look so different from the Barbies we have today, and it’s making me feel weirdly connected to the kids of the past.
56.
I love seeing photos of historical figures when they were younger. This is what Einstein looked like when he was in his twenties…and he was kind of a babe.
57.
And here’s Walt Disney when he was 29.
58.
This is what a certificate that certified someone was a free man or woman and not enslaved looked like in the 1800s.
59.
This old WWII map showing the route of an American army division from Austria to France is wildly impressive, even just considering how much ground was covered.
60.
This pocket knife from the Gulf War era has an anthrax PSA on it. It was feared that anthrax would be used in biological warfare, and many troops were vaccinated against it.
61.
This 1948 Olympic torch is super cool to see now. IMO, the Olympics are one of the coolest traditions we’ve kept up over the years.
62.
Here’s what a check from 1879 looks like. I wonder if you could still cash it today?
63.
This “escape chute” from a 1943 fire drill was essentially another version of a fire escape. Escaping a fire looks way more fun this way.
64.
However, this photo of a similar chute being used in a 1929 drill raises some questions. Why would you want to go down headfirst???
65.
This ancient Roman aqueduct is still around, and I am marveling at the technology humans came up with in ancient times.
66.
These ancient Roman pipes are thousands of years old, but some of them are actually still in use.
67.
Here’s what King Tut’s tomb looked like when it was opened up. TBH, I’m kind of disappointed by how…uncool the treasure looks?
68.
And finally, this is the oldest photograph ever taken. Nicéphore Niépce took the photo from his window in France in 1826.
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