Naughty_Doge
Member
I'm in love with this thread <3
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Rare and crazy historical photos
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Nikodemos
Member
Dem tareme eyes...
Love me some early NYC related shots...
Dafuq at that vegetarian restaurant. Damn talk about doing something before it was cool.
Souldriver
Member
Yeah, Berlin between the two wars is incredibly fascinating.
I don't know if it's a known saying in English, but in my language I've heard it being described as people were "dancing on the edge of the vulcano".
Society was in chaos, and there was a general sense that things wouldn't get better in the future. So people lived for today, which resulted in a boom of creativity (books, films, architecture, ...) and a context where social freedom and even 'deviancy' were tolerated.
The pics of the Eldorado bar suddenly having swastika's plastered on it are so powerful and telling.
Haha, was about to comment on that as well. Seems so out of place in the early 1900s.
Word. I can remember vividly hearing about the fall of the Berlin wall, first hand. The guy was from East Berlin and was a young teenager at the time. He spoke about the crazy political changes that lead up to it and the very real fear of being imprisoned during the protests. The re-opening of the border was announced in the afternoon and he was there with his father on the night, standing on top of the wall looking out over West Berlin. They came back the next day with a sledgehammer.
We were at a house party at the time, and it started off as an off-hand conversation, but ended up as a small group of people being completely silent while he told his story for a couple of hours.
GoodCoffeeJoey
Banned
Film stills of Tacoma Narrows Bridge twisting violently. Inadequate engineering and strong winds caused the bridge to oscillate at resonance frequency. November 7, 1940.
Man runs as bridge collapses behind him. November 7, 1940.
Bridge collapses into Pudget sound. At the time it was the third longest suspension bridge in the world. No one was killed during the disaster. November 7, 1940.
Man runs as bridge collapses behind him. November 7, 1940.
Bridge collapses into Pudget sound. At the time it was the third longest suspension bridge in the world. No one was killed during the disaster. November 7, 1940.
Sickboy007
Member
I always like this one for some reason
Troops of the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900.
Left to right: Britain, United States, Australia, India, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Japan.
Are they...ordered by height?
Summer Haze
Banned
maniac-kun
Member
"They had something called a car. To get super fast from point a to b. These cars used fossil fuels. And this caused the rising of the oceans."
FortuneFaded
Member
Based on the morbid nature of a lot of the posts in this thread, probably a lot of pictures about death i.e. Syrian children gassed (don't google it).
Not quite right, one dog diedBridge collapses into Pudget sound. At the time it was the third longest suspension bridge in the world. No one was killed during the disaster. November 7, 1940.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacoma_Narrows_Bridge_(1940)
DiipuSurotu
Banned
This event will definitely be remembered in Europe:
Charlie Hebdo rally against terrorism in Paris, France
Benjamin Netanyahu (sic) marching less than 3 meters from Mahmoud Abbas
You might be thinking this is a photo of some mine pit out in the badlands of the Dakotas. In fact, this is a photo of a hillside immediately adjacent to downtown Pittsburgh called Mount Washington circa 1870's.
The hill, which at the time of the original photo was referred to as Coal Hill, was aptly named as such for the several large shafts that burrowed into its base. As evident from the photo, mining and other industrial activity left the hillside denuded of trees and shrubs, almost completely barren. Most coal workers lived atop the hill and commuted on foot down this staircase to the mines and other processing facilities along the river. This staircase had over 1300 treads and climbed approximately 450 feet (137m) from the river flat to the top.
In 1877, the city's first incline (also called funiculars) opened, allowing anyone to ascend or descend the hill in about three minutes and cost a nickel per ride. Some workers still utilized the steps regularly for the sake of saving money and/or the exercise.
Pittsburgh's first funicular, the Duquesne Incline, circa 1900:
Mount Washington (with the Duquesne Incline still in operation) today:
Great thread! It's not as spectacular as many other pictures that have been posted, but here you see one of the central town squares of my hometown (Hanover, Germany) and how it changed from 1885 until today:
In each of the following pictures you can see the same building in the background, which is our State Opera House.
An episode of Seconds from Disaster was about this, if I remember correctly.
Direct comparison:
1885:
today:
In each of the following pictures you can see the same building in the background, which is our State Opera House.
1887:
1890 (different angle, State Opera out of picture):
early 1930's:
They changed the original clock for some reasons in the 50's. The Original was damaged during the war, but has been repaired after it:
1960's:
Trams are now going underground when driving through the city center. It's also a pedestrian area now and the ugly clock they placed in the 50's has been replaced by a replica of the original:
2000's:
2012:
An episode of Seconds from Disaster was about this, if I remember correctly.
Anton668
Member
holy shit, thats my neck of the woods!
Thing is bibi wasn't invited because Abbas was going to be there and the organizers didn't want conflict or other stuff, so he invited himself because fuck you.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
The sad thing is, the best way to be remembered in photos like these is probably to either get horribly killed or brutally beaten.
inked_illusion
Member
One of the best serious threads in recent memory.
Anyone putting all these in one gigantic folder for download? Someone has to keep it archived for generations to come.
Anyone putting all these in one gigantic folder for download? Someone has to keep it archived for generations to come.
This is absolutely the best thread I've ever read on Gaf. I've learned so much. I even dug up some old pictures of relatives that are pre 1900's just to look through. Also want to get around to scanning all the letters one family sent home during WWII. I've got a huge stack and I've been meaning to preserve them.
I haven't got any pictures that old, but that just reminded me that I've got some photos in my parents' house of their families as they were leaving Vietnam on boats in the late 70's. Those were crazy times. It makes my stomach drop to see how many people were crammed on the little boat, not only because of how long they'd be out at sea for, but also because you knew a ton of boats just like it weren't so lucky and they either sank, or were attacked by pirates, ravaged by disease, etc.
Unfortunately, I now live on the other side of the country from them, so I can't share the photos here.
Yeah I thought about that. I may write a quick little app this weekend to archive the images and conversation about them and toss it up on a different site with a focus on just the original images while preserving the conversation about each picture (as some are fakes and people keep noting this.)
Any Questions
Member
Thanks OP
oreomunsta
Banned
I always like this one for some reason
Troops of the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900.
Left to right: Britain, United States, Australia, India, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Japan.
They're lined up from tallest to shortest!
The Albatross
Member
I always like this one for some reason
Troops of the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900.
Left to right: Britain, United States, Australia, India, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Japan.
And what a long-lasting alliance that was ...
I think you'll see a lot of pictures of Manhattan pre-9/11 and post-9/11. The seminal event our our lifetimes.
The Albatross
Member
Just some perspective/information:
http://www.wbur.org/2014/09/05/boston-busing-anniversary
http://www.wbur.org/2014/09/05/boston-busing-effects
Boston in/prior-to the 70s (and still today to some degree more than most other cities) was heavily segregated by neighborhood because of how people moved into the city. South Boston was mostly Irish, the North End was mostly Italian, Roxbury was mostly Black. In 1974, a federal court decision forced that students who lived in various neighborhoods would be bussed to attend high schools in other neighborhoods, as a way to break the unofficial segregation of the city. While this was an attempt to desegregate and also to help mitigate income inequality issues, it was remarkably unpopular and unsuccessful with poor, second and third-generation neighborhoods like South Boston, predominantly settled by the Irish. South Boston was not a wealthy community, so it wasn't providing any benefit to other poor areas like Roxbury to bus students there, yet it led to racial tensions, as black students were under threat in the neighborhood they were bussed to, and vice versa. The experiment was a major failure for poor families who couldn't afford to take their kids and put them into a private school. It did not resolve any issues, led to a short generation of students (those from Roxbury and South Boston) to become disattached from school, led to massive riots throughout the 70s against police (as schools were effectively police militarized zones) and the issues arguably got worse. The compromise argument would be that a federal court shouldn't have drawn up the direction that students would be bussed from one section of the city to another, because the decisions were made without input from the individual neighborhoods (which are effectively small cities -- South Boston has a modern day population of 35,000 people, Roxbury 25,000 people). The bussing decision and ensuing crisis are widely seen as a failure by the federal government and Boston police that the school system hasn't recovered from even some 40 years later.
Well, if there was one thing those countries could all agree on, it was fucking over the Chinese.
Maninthemirror
Banned
This one holds a personal connection
in 1958 16 F-86 Sabers of the Pakistani Airforce did the first ever diamond loop with 16 aircrafts.
in the second row of 5, the 2nd from the left is my grandfather.
in 1958 16 F-86 Sabers of the Pakistani Airforce did the first ever diamond loop with 16 aircrafts.
in the second row of 5, the 2nd from the left is my grandfather.
Applesauce
Boom! Bitch-slapped!
USS Arizona sinking after the attack on Pearl Harbor, 1941.
This is the memorial, built over the sunken ship that still contains remains of those killed in the attack. This photo has always creeped me out a little, knowing that the ship still contains human remains.
This is the memorial, built over the sunken ship that still contains remains of those killed in the attack. This photo has always creeped me out a little, knowing that the ship still contains human remains.
A shame those original buildings don't exist anymore... I assume they got destroyed or damaged during the war? The old photo just has so much more character to it...
Yep, I really recommend just talking to your parents or grandparents about the old days and maybe just have a recorder somewhere. People have amazing stories if you give them the opportunity.
For fans of recolored historical photos (they're obviously not great for accurately representing things, but I find them invaluable for better connecting with people and places from the fast) there's an excellent Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Förr-i-Färg-Past-In-Color/116785208426507
Walking along the Brooklyn Bridge, 1905:
Maninthemirror
Banned
A shame those original buildings don't exist anymore... I assume they got destroyed or damaged during the war? The old photo just has so much more character to it...
Yep, I really recommend just talking to your parents or grandparents about the old days and maybe just have a recorder somewhere. People have amazing stories if you give them the opportunity.
For fans of recolored historical photos (they're obviously not great for accurately representing things, but I find them invaluable for better connecting with people and places from the fast) there's an excellent Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Förr-i-Färg-Past-In-Color/116785208426507
Walking along the Brooklyn Bridge, 1905:
this looks like CG or miniature. where is the b&w original
Nazi rally in the Cathedral of Light, 1937:
Loyalty oath of Nazi SS troops, Feldherrnhalle, Munich, 1938:
For some reason I've never had much interest in the World Wars, but pictures like these make me so interested in learning about the Third Reich and WWII. The pictures are so haunting and mystifying that such an evil regime could have emerged. Makes me want to watch some documentaries on the subject. I've always been terrible with history so I feel pretty ignorant about it.
...I hope you're joking.
But here's the uncolored photo.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Bridge_New_York_det.4a18745u.jpg
Anton668
Member
Motorcycle chariots from the 1920s
This is a sport that needs to make a come back. So badass.
maybe these guys can help with that...
Daffy Duck
Member
What a truly amazing thread this is.
Maninthemirror
Banned
its so crisp and clean!
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Forgot what page it was, but WTF was up with the hotel owner pouring acid in the pool with the black family? Wouldn't that seriously hurt them? Anyone got more details?
And sorry for coming off as morbid or insensitive, but...that one lady who jumped from the Empire State Building is absolutely gorgeous looking. It's weird how glamorous such a violent, irrational act can be. I blame my love of Sylvia Plath for sort of glamorizing suicide. On the other hand, then you have Bud Dwyer reminding you of how truly horrible it can be to actually witness.
And sorry for coming off as morbid or insensitive, but...that one lady who jumped from the Empire State Building is absolutely gorgeous looking. It's weird how glamorous such a violent, irrational act can be. I blame my love of Sylvia Plath for sort of glamorizing suicide. On the other hand, then you have Bud Dwyer reminding you of how truly horrible it can be to actually witness.
The nazi rally at the Cathedral of Light is one of the biggest propaganda events ever. I remember reading about it on Albert Speer's memories (he was the main organizer). Those lights are meant for air defense purposes, he asked them to Goering (Hitler's second in command and commander in chief of the Luftwaffe) who at first refused but then Speer told him about how powerful the air force would look with such a showing (if they can spare that many for a simple rally, imagine how many more they have!)
I always like this one for some reason
Troops of the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900.
Left to right: Britain, United States, Australia, India, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Japan.
I would trust my life with the Aussie the dude wear a ammo belt like the rambo
A shame those original buildings don't exist anymore... I assume they got destroyed or damaged during the war? The old photo just has so much more character to it...
Yes, the old buildings got destroyed during the war. There are only very few cities in Germany where the majority of old buildings are still intact and because almost everything was destroyed, rebuilding had to be cheap and fast. I agree, that the original buildings look way more charming and I would really love to see how everything looked before the war with my own eyes. It's a pity, but we only have ourselves to blame (or more precisely, the Nazis).
Thankfully there are still some important old buildings left (or have been restored):
Opera House (which you can also see in the pictures I posted earlier):
Marktkirche (Market Church):
"New" Town Hall:
Original Town Hall:
University main building:
Central Station:
This one chills me. This final photo of 14-year-old Regina Kay Walters was taken by serial killer Robert Ben Rhoades. It was taken in an abandoned Illinois barn, where Rhoades cut off Walters's hair, made her wear a black dress and heels, and then murdered her.
Oh man, I just read about this not too long ago.
Absolutely haunting photograph.
This one chills me. This final photo of 14-year-old Regina Kay Walters was taken by serial killer Robert Ben Rhoades. It was taken in an abandoned Illinois barn, where Rhoades cut off Walters's hair, made her wear a black dress and heels, and then murdered her.
At first I thought it was Winona Ryder.
Poor girl.
But it IS crazy picture.
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