history us

Refrigerators of the Past: A Fascinating Look at Vintage Refrigerator Ads and Photos from the 1920s to 1950s _ US

In this day and age, it’s easy to take our modern-day refrigerators for granted. We expect them to keep our food fresh and cold without giving them a second thought. However, it wasn’t always this way. Back in the early…

Vintage photos show the workplace and offices of the past, 1970s-1980s _ US

The office has transformed dramatically through the last decades: in layout, style, colors, work culture, and in technology. These decades saw the worker become more individualistic, with office design becoming more ergonomic and more high tech. It wasn’t until the…

Vintage and bizarre photos of exercise machines from the past, 1920-1970 _ US

Vibrating belt in 1929. Fitness, as we know it today, may seem to be a relatively modern invention, but physical exercise obviously goes back much further than that. Starting from the early 20th century, people used elaborate contraptions, painful machinery,…

Vintage photos that show why the 1970s men’s fashion should never come back _ US

This is disturbing on so many levels. From the shiny fabric to the colors and then how tight it is… Every decade has a reputation and leaves a legacy for future generations. The 1950s were cool because of Elvis, Marilyn…

U.S. Senate Monorail: A Private Subway System for Senators Under Washington D.C. Since 1909 _ US

The subway system of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. consists of three lines: two on the Senate side on the north side of the Capitol, and one on the House side on the south side of the Capitol….

The chaos and beauty of Greyhound buses captured by Esther Bubley, 1943 _ US

In 1942, twenty-one-year-old Esther Bubley, accepted a position with the Office of War Information (OWI) in Washington, D.C. to work as a darkroom lab technician. The OWI had recently absorbed the Farm Security Administration (FSA) and their stable of legendary…

20 Vintage Photos Capture Daily Life at the Drive-In Theater – a Vanishing American Pastime _ US

It’s been 80 years since a New Jersey auto-parts store manager named Richard Hollingshead Jr. hit upon the idea of a drive-in theater. The wonder of Hollingshead’s concept, of course — as with all of the world’s greatest, most inspired,…

Rocket Express Ride: Vintage Photos of Department Store Monorail for Kids in the U.S From the 1940s and 1950s _ US

These monorails sized for kids, called the Rocket Express, that travel around and above the entire toy department (Toyland) from 1946 to 1984, along with the camera, piano and organ departments. Kids rode these monorails slowly around the toy department…

Rare photographs of early visitors to America’s National Parks, 1870-1920 _ US

Tourists pose on Glacier Point above the Yosemite Valley. 1887. The process that led up to the national park idea is complex. From arts and literature came the Romantic movement, which encouraged the experience of the mountains and wilderness. Authors…

Vintage Photos of 48 Beautiful New York Buildings That No Longer Exist

New York City is constantly being rebuilt. In the 19th and 20th centuries, dozens of beautiful old buildings were demolished to make way for new development. It wasn’t until 1966, with the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act, that…