These Photos Show What Life Was Like 50-100 Years Ago

The easiest way for us to get a glimpse into the good old days is to open up our family’s photo album. But what if we go through the images and instead of calming down our curiosity, they only fuel it? Easy. We open up the subreddit r/TheWayWeWere next.

It’s a place where folks share pictures from 50, 100, and even more years ago to show what everyday life looked like in the past. Featuring old photos, scanned documents, articles, and personal anecdotes, this subreddit has become one of the biggest vintage archives online.

Continue scrolling and check out why 528K people subscribe to r/TheWayWeWere.

#1 Mary Wallace: First Female Bus Driver For Chicago Transit Authority (1974)

#2 My Ridiculously Attractive Grandparents Sitting For A Portrait In The Early 1940s

The last 100 years have produced profound changes in human history.

Wars, technological developments, progress in civil rights, and breakthroughs in science and medicine, the old world has been swept away. Whether it’s for better or worse.

Centuries-old empires crumbled as new ideologies – like communism and fascism – took over in many parts of the world. Wars in the early part of the 20th century put an end to the colonial world and gave birth to new nations. However, these wars also cost millions of lives and trillions of dollars.

#3 My Mom On Her Wedding Day November 1951

#4 Cats Blackie & Brownie Catching Squirts Of Milk During Milking At Arch Badertscher’s Dairy Farm In Fresno, California, 1954

Throughout the past century, technological innovations have transformed our lives in ways we never dreamed of. Progressive ideas emerged and changed the world as women, African Americans, and the LGBTQ community demanded, and often won, equal rights; from the ratification of the 19th Amendment in the United States to the legalization of same-sex marriage in many countries. But recent civil rights conflicts tell us the fight for equality is not over.

#5 A Native American Girl Of The Kiowa Tribe, Oklahoma, 1894

#6 My Great-Great-Grandmother Sometime In The 1890s

The pandemic that began ravaging the world in 2020 reminds us that even though we can buy a ticket to go to space, we’re still vulnerable to viruses that can shut down economies and disrupt society.

People are hoping science can save Earth from the devastating changes to the climate that continue to imperil the ecosystems of our planet. In the coming years, natural disasters may have an increasingly impactful role in the course of history. Who knows where we will end up in another 100.

#7 Protesting The High School Dress Code That Banned Slacks For Girls, Brooklyn C.1940

#8 Two Pals (1920)

#9 Gay Men Pose For A Photo While Being Detained At A Police Station For Being Homosexuals In Mexico, 1935

#10 1945: The Day Daddy Came Home. Gunner Hector Murdoch Had Been Gone Over Four Years, Most Of It As A Prisoner Of War In Singapore. His Wife Rosina And Son John Hadn’t Known If He Was Dead Or Alive. He Got Home On His Birthday

#11 Dad Showing Off His Skill To The Surprise Of His Little Daughter In Melbourne, Australia, Ca. 1940s

#12 London’s First Black Police Officer, PC Norwell Roberts, On Point Duty Near Charing Cross Station, 1968

#13 This 1955 Photo Is One Of Walter Chandoha’s Most Famous Shots. “My Daughter Paula And The Kitten Both ‘Smiled’ For The Camera At The Same Time. …but The Cat’s Not Smiling, He’s Meowing”

#14 Sisters In Skirts, 1950s

#15 My Great Grandmother In The Early 1900’s. Thought She Looked Too Awesome Not To Share

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#16 My Parents’ Wedding Photo, Okinawa, 1964

#17 My Grandpa (Left) And His Best Friend Willie Hall During The Korean War. Those Smiles Say It All

#18 My Grandfather, Great-Grandfather, Great-Great-Grandfather, And Great-Great-Great Grandmother, Ca 1918

#19 My Great-Grandfather That Was Too Poor To Afford A Suit In Sicily, So He Had To Pose In Front Of A Cardboard Cut-Out, 1930s~

#20 This Is Hazel, My Grandmother-In-Law. 1916

#21 My Grandmother And Mom Circa 1974. My Grandmother Took My Mother To National Parks Over The Course Of A Few Months, Just The Two Of Them

#22 “Our Michael”, 1938

#23 A Sailor “Meets” His Baby For The First Time After Fourteen Months At Sea, 1940s

#24 Grandma And Papa In 1937. She Passed Away Today At 100 Years Old

#25 Last Picture Of My Great Uncle Kennith, Before He Drowned In The Buffalo River, 1940’s. He Gave His Life Saving My Grandpa

#26 My Mother Made Us Matching Dresses For A Fancy Party Back In 1954

#27 Saw This Photo Posted Here.. Noticed I Have The Photo The Grandmother Took That Day. (Bought At An Antique Shop Years Ago In Phx)

#28 A Parisian Woman With Her Cat In Her Cannabis Garden, 1910

#29 This Is My Grandma Dorothy. She Was A Dress Designer In The 50s Which Always Made This Photo More Funny To Me. She Passed Away Today At Age 89. A Life Well Lived

#30 Vintage Photo From A Family Album, Freeport, Il

#31 Me And My Best Friend Rocky Watching TV, 1959

#32 Ladies At A Lesbian Club In Chelsea, 1953

#33 A Mostly Happy Family Outing At Chicken Bone Beach, The Segregated Section Of Atlantic City’s Beach Area, New Jersey, 1950s (Photographed By John W. Mosley)

#34 1976 vs. 2018; 42 Years And We’re Still Going Strong

#35 Young Oyster Shuckers, Port Royal, South Carolina, 1909

#36 Reddit Seems To Love My Taita (Grandma), So Here Is Another One Of Her From 1950’s Beirut

#37 The Wedding Rings Of My Ggm, Gggm, Ggggm, And Gggggm Oldest Dating Back To 1832!

#38 Police Officer Unaware Of The Imminent Danger, Chicago, 1959

#39 After Spending More Than Five Years In A North Vietnamese Camp, Lt. Col. Robert L. Stirm Is Reunited With His Family At Travis Afb, March 13, 1973

#40 My Grandpa’s Schoolhouse In Texas Ca. 1930’s. He Was Always Embarrassed Of This Picture Because He Was Too Poor To Afford Shoes

#41 Women Trainees Of The Lapd Practice Firing Their Newly Issued Revolvers, 1948

#42 Dublin, 1962

#43 Caught On The Firescape, 1946

#44 Offerings To The Unknown Dead, Kyoto, Japan, 1963

#45 The 70s Transition: My Parents In 1968 And Again In 1970

#46 My American Grandmother Visiting Athens In The 1960s

#47 Listening To The Radio On The Beach, Circa 1940s

#48 The Rolled-Stockings Trend Of The 1920’s Brought On A Fad Of Hand-Painted Knees

#49 Class Divide In Britain, 1930’s

#50 Me Ready For Friday Night Lights, 1969

#51 Fatherhood, 1970s

#52 I Clip Articles That Interest Me. This One From 1981 Seemed So Crazy It Was Worth Saving

#53 In 1959, Volvo Invented The 3-Point Seat Belt, Then Gave A Free License To All Other Car Manufacturers To Use It

#54 Woman Stands On A Farmer’s Shoulders To Emphasizes The Height Of Their Corn Crop, Minnesota, 1916

#55 The Way We Were … And Are Again

#56 Midsummer Celebration At Skansen, Stockholm In The 1970s. Glad Midsommar!

#57 My Grandma And Parents Taught Me To Save Newspapers From Major Us Events As A Reminder Of Our Collective Human Experiences. I Have 9/11, Bin Laden’s Death, Obama Winning The Election. For The Holidays, I Was Gifted The Whole Family Collection. I Have Goosebumps. Here Are A Few Of The Oldest

#58 My Mom Would Have Been 82 Years Old Today. Happy Birthday Mom

#59 Sassy Little Boy Tweaking Fathers Nose. C1910

#60 A 10-Year-Old Girl Plays In A Snow Drift As Her Cat Maintains Its Comfortable Perch Atop Her Head, 1952

#61 This Dutch Couple And Their Baby, Ellis Island, Approx. 1907

#62 Children Car Seats In The 1940s

#63 My Grandma’s House, Sometime In The 70s Matched Up To The House As It Is Today

#64 Crossing America In A 1964 Stationwagon

#65 A Geisha After Washing Her Hair And Before Styling It, C. 1905

#66 Little Girl Living A Hard Life In The The 1930s

#67 This Is My Grandmother Who Passed Away Today At Age 89. (Circa 1948)

#68 A Very Large Organ Pipe Cactus In Baja California, 1895

#69 Mom And Me On My ’71 Cb750, On A Summer Afternoon, So Long Ago . . . (1972)

#70 1974 – Hippie Son Home For Dinner

#71 My Grandpa With His First Child, 1957. He Passed Away Yesterday, April 26, Aged 91

#72 Letter From My Grandfather To My Nan, Asking Her Out In 1941. Strange To Think That Without This Letter My Dad, Uncles, Aunt, Siblings, Cousin’s, Nephew And I Might Not Have Existed

#73 My Darling Mum Standing Outside The New Family Home In The 1960s

#74 My Great Grandmother With One Of Her Paintings [philadelphia, 1940s]

#75 This (Shockingly High-Res & Colorized) Photo Was Taken Over 100 Years Ago, And Shows A Crew Of Men Unloading A Banana Boat In New York. I Almost Feel Like I’m There

#76 My Grandparents Looking Like Movie Stars On Their Wedding Day. Montgomery, Alabama. 1946

#77 Sign Outside A Park In Memphis, Tn, 1952

#78 My Great Grandparents On Their Honeymoon (1936)

#79 Soviet Children In Sleeping Bags On The Way To Their Dorm Room, 1930

#80 Unemployed Lumber Worker Goes With His Wife To The Bean Harvest. Note Social Security Number Tattooed On His Arm. Oregon, August 1939

#81 Traditional Group Dances Alternated With Rock ‘n’ Roll During An Evening Dance For Young Jews, Amsterdam, 1950s

#82 A Mother With Her Children, 1,800 Years Ago. Alexandria, Roman Egypt

#83 In 1978, When You Got A Color TV You Posed By It

#84 My American Grandmother Visiting Paris In The 1960s

#85 The Essence Of Family Cookouts In The 1970s

#86 Irish Familly Having A Meal Of Potatoes And Milk 1917

#87 My Dad Would Have Been 71 This Month, We Lost Him Last Year To Cancer. This Is Him At A Rugby Match In The 1970’s

#88 Socal Surf Culture. 1964

#89 Big Hair Of The 1960s

#90 Looking For A Sugar Daddy In The 1950s

#91 My 98 Year-Old Grandmother Passed Away Last Week. Here She Is In Chicago Around 1940 Living It Up!

#92 My Sis And I, 1962-Ish… On The Back It Says “Doing The Twist”

#93 My Grandfather Passed On Friday. Here He Is With My Grandma On Their Wedding Day, 1948

#94 My Dad/The Difference Btwn The 60s & 70s

#95 French Village, 1950’s

#96 An Old Foster Mom Sent Me A Picture Taken Shortly After I Was Born In 1979. My Mother Refused To Hold Me So The Doctor Who Delivered Me Stepped In

#97 A Bread Delivery Man With Bags Filled With Baguettes On A Snowy Street In Quebec In 1977

#98 My Dad About To Run Away And Find His Suzy Bishop. Oregon Circa 1970

#99 6 June 1944, Times Square NYC. People Reading News Of The D-Day Landings On The Times Building Electronic Billboard. My Colorisation Of B&w By Howard Hollem