These rare old photos from the USA can reveal fascinating aspects of the country’s past, capturing moments of triumph, tragedy, and everyday life that shaped American history. Some of them are well-known, while others are hidden gems that deserve more attention.
Mark Twain in Tesla’s lab, 1894
A 10 x 15-foot wooden shed where the “Harley-Davidson Motor Company” started out in 1903
Testing football helmets in 1912
Helmets again: A Pyramid of captured German ones in front of the NYC Grand Central Terminal, 1918
A bar in New York City, the night before prohibition began,1920
Mount Rushmore before carving, 1920s
Traffic jam in New York, 1923
A quiet little job at an alligator farm in St. Augustine, Florida, 1926
World economic crisis, 1929
Central Park in 1930
Last four couples standing at a Chicago dance marathon, ca. 1930
Meeting of the Mickey Mouse Club, early 1930s
Confederate and Union soldiers shake hands across the wall at the 1938 reunion for the Veterans of the Battle of Gettysburg
When they realized women were using their sacks to make clothes for their children, flour mills of the 30s started using flowered fabric for their sacks, 1939
Coney Island, New York, 1940
A man begging for his wife’s forgiveness inside Divorce Court, Chicago, 1948
Three young women wash their clothes in Central Park during a water shortage. New York, 1949
19 year-old Shigeki Tanaka was a survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima and went on to win the 1951 Boston Marathon. The crowd was silent as he crossed the finish line.
Florida’s last Civil War veteran, Bill Lundy, poses with a jet fighter, 1955
NASA scientists with their board of calculations, 1960’s
Muhammad Ali’s fists after the fight with Cooper, 1963
New York firemen play a game after a fire in a billiard parlor, 1969
An abandoned baby sleeps peacefully in a drawer at the Los Angeles Police Station, 1971
Boy hiding in a TV set. Boston, 1972 by Arthur Tress
A spectator holds up a sign at the Academy Awards, April 1974
Robert De Niro’s cab driver license. In order to get into character for the film Taxi Driver, he obtained his own hack license and would pick-up/drive customers around in New York City.
Nancy Reagan sits on the lap of Mr. T, dressed as Santa, 1983
Ronald Reagan wearing sweatpants on Air Force One, 1985
Rarely Seen “Enchanted” Moments of US History Part 2
Rarely Seen “Enchanted” Moments of World History Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
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These pics are amazing, they really take you back in time and make you think
Photo of Civil war vet posing near jet taken 15 years after the start of WW11 brings to realisation it was 80 years…one lifespan (give or take) from the War of Independence to the Civil War… 80 years..2nd lifespan from Civil War to WW11 which started almost another 75 years ago…a 3rd lifespan. World history advances at an alarming rate!!
Kinda hope the pattern doesn’t stick
Wonder how much money the football helmet tester made, and if he had medical insurance.
The photo described as “testing football helmets” is a photo from the April 6, 1912 issue of “Flight” magazine where it is captioned “HOW TO TEST A SAFETY HELMET – Mr. W.T. Warren, wearing a helmet of his invention, takes a flying leap at the hangar to demonstrate its utility. Interested spectators to the rear are Messrs. Lewis Turner, W.H. Ewen, and A.M. Ramsey.” So it’s not necessarily a football helmet. Probably a pilot’s helmet judging by the use of a hangar in the test and the fact that it’s in FLIGHT magazine. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2011205#post26293775
Wow! These stills are really … umm!! I have no words. I am so mesmerized
When I was a small boy in Indiana in the early sixties I met a man who was well over 100 years old. I asked him if he had ever witnessed personally a historical event. He said as a child younger than I was he remembered being perched on his fathers shoulders as the train carrying Lincolns body passed through going to Illinois for burial..
Bill Lundy’s claim to be a Civil War veteran has actually been disputed. Census records suggest he was born in 1960, which would make him five years old when the Civil War ended.
Thanks, Jordan, for letting us know, I will note that in brackets. Cheers!
The civil war ended in the 1950’s?
He meant 1860
1860*
1860
Tanaka was not exactly “a survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima” — when the bomb was dropped, he was at home, about 20 miles from the site. He saw a light and heard a distant rumble, but was personally unaffected by the bomb.
Thanks Peter for noting – I updated the caption accordingly.
I think the photo of Mt Rushmore may be documenting the first blast for the carving.
The implications of the Civil War vet posing with an Air Force jet in 1955 blew my mind.
Wonderful pics… but “U.S.” history? Dawson City and the Klondike are in Canada…..
Right, I too had a feeling that one was the odd one out ;-) So it is out. Thanks for noting and shame on me.
I’d guess that that line over the pass is made up of 90% Americans. The search for easy riches…what could be more American?
Canada is part of North AMERICA—>”American” is appropriate.
That was the pic that brought me here, I would have liked to see it. You could have marked but left it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_crocodile
Great collection of photos. I just want to point out one teeny-tiny error. There are no crocodiles in Florida. Those are alligators. Anyway, keep up the great work. I love seeing these old photos of the way things were.
Roy, true, thanks for noting indeed (and also for the encouragement:))
Actually – there are crocodiles, as well as alligators, in Florida.
If there are crocodiles in Florida where did they come from? Africa or Australia?
and noted in brackets with reference. Thanks again.
To be completely factual, there are crocodiles in south Florida. That being said, those depicted are most likely alligators, as American crocodiles are shy and reclusive.
Those are alligators, but crocodiles do occupy some of southern Florida.
There are still salt water crocs nesting near the souther entrance of the Sunshine Skyway. Amazing, but true. In 1956 my parents took me to that gawd awful ‘attraction’ they had an alligator with 5 legs. One grew out of his back like a shark fin that was clearly a 5 th leg. It was bad enough to be creeped out see docile aligators lying over one another. At feeding time an old guy who clearly enjoyed upsetting the animals stuck plucked, ddead chickens on a thirty foot pole and held it out from the bridge over thes monsters. All Hell would break loose. Dog eat Dog came to mind. These are nothing but killing machines that will claw their way to the top while the nasty old man delighted in the misery. Ugh…… DISNEY took away the tourists and thes places closed in the 1970s…the Hillsborough County Court House on Franklin and LaFayette streets had a gator pit attraction. I marveled at the other photos and the comments.
Mark, that’s very interesting – thanks a lot for noting, and thanks for your kind words too. Do make sure to check out our other similar history posts too (see links above, below the pictures).