Ever since the invention of the camera in the early 1800s, photographers have documented everything, from wars and protest marches to scientific discoveries, and even space landings, allowing everyone to, in a way, "attend" these special events.
The Facebook page 'Old Photographs' has collected a wide selection of such interesting historical moments—big and small. So let's take a look at some of its top posts, after all, chances are, each of us will find something that will help us to see the past in a new light.
#1
And then there was the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918.
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#2
He aims to please. (1954)
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#3
It’s that easy. Mutual respect.
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#4
Betty White in her Los Angeles home with her dog, 1952.
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#5
It took more than 15 years to take the Statue of Liberty from concept to reality. Construction is pictured here in 1884, less than two years before she was completed.
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#6
Some of our favorite old photographs are merely everyday people in everyday life.
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#7
Boys will be boys. (Undated)
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#8
On 27 January 1945 was the liberation of Auschwitz. To forget would be to say these faces, the faces of millions of others didn't matter. Never forget. Teach the children to remember.
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#9
Is it possible the architects had this in mind when they designed Grand Central Station? (1934)
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#10
Just one of the guys. (WWII)
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#11
Laughter has sounded the same throughout generations and languages. (Unidentified woman and child, Jemez Pueblo New Mexico, by Jesse Nusbaum)
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#12
A boy makes a friend at the London Zoo, 1958.
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#13
A woman on a mission with her baguette and six bottles of wine. (Paris 1945 - by Branson Decou)
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#14
A girl, a dog, a mule. From the 1921 silent film "Through the Back Door" staring Mary Pickford.
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#15
There’s nothing quite like getting hand delivered mail. (1900)
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#16
This 1931 photograph captures the spirit of the season as Santa delivers presents to the children of an adoption home in London.
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#17
104 years ago this fountain in Detroit, Michigan was left running allowing it to build layer upon layer in to this 30 foot icy spectacle.
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#18
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." -Anne Frank
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#19
Formal portraits rarely featured smiles, but they can be found in photographs of daily life during this period. (1912, South Carolina.)
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#20
This picture circa 1900s shows knife grinders also called ventres jaunes (‘yellow stomachs’ referring to the yellow dust released by the grinding wheel). By laying face down, these yellow stomachs would save their backs from being hunched over all day. Workers were encourage to bring their dogs to not only keep them company but to act as heaters to keep them warm by having the dogs lie on their legs. (Photo is from the web-site of, French knife maker, Claude Dozorme - ” The Wolf ”).
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#21
Animals bring a type of joy not found in other ways.
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#22
Isn't it interesting that we meet some of the best friends we ever have within the first years of our lives. (Photo by Edouard Boubat. Paris, 1952.)
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#23
The less you have, the more you appreciate what you do have. (Western North Carolina 1914-1917, from the William A. Barnhill Collection.)
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#24
The right day to hang laundry in New York. (1900)
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#25
How homework was done before google.
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#26
There is modern beauty in this photograph of Lota Cheek taken 99 years ago.
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#27
Dressed to impress. (1908)
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#28
This simple moment is brought to you by 1930.
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#29
Who loved jumping off? (Even though mom told you not to.)
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#30
The Cornelia Vanderbilt wedding portrait. (1924)
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#31
An old photograph with a funny twist in today’s context.
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#32
Timeless photography looks as beautiful now as it did when it was taken.
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#33
Fred Messer's life spanned three centuries. He was born in 1792, 16 years after the United States became a counrty and lived to see automobiles roll along roads, dying in 1907. (North Carolina.)
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#34
This 1936 photograph comes with a very heavy caption: "One-room hut housing a family of nine built on the chassis of an abandoned Ford in a field between Camden and Bruceton, Tennessee, near the river."
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#35
They wear shoes and clothes with holes and dirt upon their faces, yet they are absolutely perfect. (1936)
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#36
A very moving caption: "This is a mass burial at sea, on the USS Intrepid in 1944 following a kamikaze attack. I've never seen this photo, and I figure most of you probably haven't either. I posted so people can see, and remember the incredible sacrifices made on our behalf."
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#37
Be thankful for what you have. Be thankful for one another.
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#38
Rush hour in Chicago didn’t look any better 104 years ago.
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#39
Chillicothe, Ohio in 1940. Photo by Arthur Rothstein.
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#40
New York in the midst of the 1888 blizzard. 50 inches of snow fell over a three day period with drifts over 40 feet that covered houses. So singular it its severity, it was called the Great Blizzard of 1888.
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#41
1908 fashion captured by Horace W. Nicholls.
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#42
Today, be thankful. (Arizona migrant family, 1940.)
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#43
She was born Mary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke, but you would know her as the Good Witch of the North in "The Wizard of Oz".
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#44
Can you imagine moving and entire house....using horses? (San Francisco, 1908)
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#45
DID YOU KNOW.... ...the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls was a woman? ...and that she did it on her 63rd birthday? Upon surviving, Annie Edson Taylor was quoted as saying: "If it was with my dying breath, I would caution anyone against attempting the feat... I would sooner walk up to the mouth of a cannon, knowing it was going to blow me to pieces than make another trip over the Fall." She lived another 20 years dying at the age of 83.
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#46
An unsung hero get the most rewarding kiss. (1945)
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#47
Its not about where you are, its who you're with. (1945)
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#48
A routine repair.
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#49
Daddy's office, John Jr's playground.
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#50
Interior shots typically include many details that tell the story of daily life. This one takes us back to the 1860s.
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#51
A family portrait. Gainesville, Florida - 1900. Source: State Library and Archives of Florida
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#52
When do we gain the inhibitions not present in our youth?
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#53
March 1938: 70-year-old Mrs Elizabeth Arnold, believed to be England's only woman blacksmith, shoes a horse outside the 400-year-old forge in Walmer, Kent. (Photo by Fox Photos).
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#54
H.D. McCracken, a self-proclaimed "creative Texan," built this wooden contraption and mounted it to a Model T chassis. He and his wife took this converted camper across the country, going wherever they pleased and stopping wherever they wished. The McCrackens were two of many Americans who answered the call of the open road following World War I. (1916 Ford Model T, photograph taken 1921.)
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#55
An immigrant family at New York's Ellis Island about to embark on the chase of their dreams. So many Americans can connect with this. This could be anyone's ancestors standing there.
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#56
1937: when even ice skating was done in a suit.
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#57
A nostalgic look at Christmas preparations in London, 1915.
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#58
Two innocent souls from days long ago.
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#59
The grand staircase at the Paris Opera, 1948.
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#60
Every group has a lead singer.
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#61
Alfred Buckham is considered the pioneer of aerial photography. Pictures like this view of Edinburgh in 1920 are as impressive as his record of surviving 9 crashes. Most of his images were taken standing up, as he was quoted: "If one's right leg is tied to the seat with a scarf or a piece of rope, it is possible to work in perfect security."
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#62
A moment of daily life in Whitby, England otherwise forgotten, recorded forever.
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#63
Happy (and very lucky) to be alive - 1917.
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#64
Women bootleggers and the tools of their trade. [Prohibition - 1920 to 1933.]
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#65
May we never lose the creativity and ambition of childhood.
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#66
The beautiful hair, textiles, and accessories of Miss Lily Elsie. (1912)
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#67
“Not taking a risk is a risk. That's how I see it.” -Robert Redford
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#68
Viola LaLonde and Elizabeth Van Tuyl pose beside a Ford automobile before making their cross-country drive from Washington, DC to San Francisco. (June, 1922.) In a time before sophisticated freeways, staggered convenience stations and gps, this must have been a wild adventure for these two young girls.
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#69
1890s Walmart. So many great details inside this general store. It was a time when you knew your grocer and they knew you. We have more, but we in some ways have less.
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#70
Attitude is indeed everything.
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#71
What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than strolling around the great outdoors with people that you love? Maybe even stop along the way and snap a few photos. "Alright, let's take a silly one!". Just know that when you do, you are in good company of all the fun loving folks of the past.
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#72
Youth lasts forever...until it's gone. Hold on to your memories in your heart, and if you're lucky, in photographs. (1943)
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#73
New York's skyline of the 1920s.
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#74
Their piece of the American Dream.
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#75
The locals hang out on the portch of the Crossroads store. (Sprott, Alabama. 1935 or 1936) by Walker Evans.
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#76
Today's reason to be thankful: you're not doing your laundry on the street by hand with water from a hydrant during a war. (1945, Berlin, Germany)
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#77
Bourbon Street and Ursulines Avenue circa 1925. “New Orleans organ grinder.” by Arnold Genthe.
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#78
A gaze in to Paris, 101 years ago.
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#79
A railroad track inspector assisted by man’s best coworker.
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#80
Dear Veterans, Thank you!
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#81
Fetching groceries with mom meant dressing the part too on this day. (1940s)
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#82
The early days of the selfie. (1900)
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#83
Pre iPad learning.
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#84
When snow was our best friend. (1929, Chicago)
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#85
Raising a baby used to mean boiling diapers. (1943)
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#86
Here's to the moms that do it all. (1955)
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#87
Delicate femininity, not without a level of discomfort.
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#88
A quiet moment of rest in the heart of the great depression (library of congress)
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#89
It takes so very little to have a reason to smile. As we are a week into the month of November, let's remember to truly be thankful.
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#90
She was beautiful and extremely talented. But more importantly she was a model human being - kind, hard working, warm, humorous, generous, and a strong confident woman who carried herself with grace, dignity and decency. The world lost her 7 years ago. Maureen O’Hara, May your kind be held in the highest esteem by generations to come.
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#91
How many people can remember the familiar sound of a windlass clunking down into a well? The first cool sip of water when it was brought up in that trusty bucket. Drank from a dipper, a well dinged and bent metal cup (that just perhaps used to be a Vienna sausage can) or maybe chipped old cup whose handle had long since departed. Whole farms and families depended on these wells, so maybe that is why they still hold such a spot in memory.
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#92
In July of 1936, Arthur Rothstein took this photograph near Missoula, Montana. He included the following: "Vernon Evans (with his family) of Lemmon, South Dakota. Leaving grasshopper-ridden and drought-stricken area for a new start in Oregon or Washington. Expects to arrive at Yakima in time for hop picking. Live in tent. Makes about two hundred miles a day in Model T Ford." Drive on, Vernon. Drive on!
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#93
What was once a luxury, would now be considered an inconvenience. What would she say if we told her it can now be carried in our pockets?
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#94
“Daughter of white tobacco sharecropper at country store. Person County, North Carolina.” By Dorothea Lange - July, 1939.
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#95
"Hanging out" in 1948.
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#96
Learning practical home skills took on a more necessary meaning in 1910.
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#97
"A friend is a second self." -Aristotle (Photo: Paris, 1934)
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#98
Construction of New York’s iconic flatiron building, 1902.
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#99
Woodstock in Bethel, New York.
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#100
Paul Newman. Born in1925, in Shaker Heights, Ohio.
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#101
Nessim Menashe in front of his new and secondhand shoe store in Northwest Portland, which operated until 1921. Circa 1916. Courtesy Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education.
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#102
Window shopping, 1920.
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#103
The look in 1927.
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#104
Good, old fashioned, cell phone free fun. (1919)
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#105
The world has lost one of its truly great actors. With too many film and stage credits to begin to list, from a career spanning seven decades, Christopher Plummer will always be remembered. A personal favorite is his performance as Captain Von Trapp from The Sound of Music, which ironically he did not like and considered his co-star the only redeeming feature of the movie. Versatile, handsome, and all around talented. Rest in peace. Christopher Plummer 1929-2021
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#106
Planes fly between the towers and pedestrians cross as part of the celebration of the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge in May of 1937.
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#107
In the cold, late winter months when it seems like spring will never come again, nothing can feel better than opening a jar of last summers produce. All of the hard work showcased on rough board shelves deep back in a basement or cellar. Do you remember this? Perhaps your mother, or grandmother working all summer long to insure well stocked shelves for the winter. The certain feel of the cool air as you went down to fetch a certain jar. Peaches, green beans, tomatoes and many others. What memories does this picture bring back for you?
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#108
Home sweet home.
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#109
The ladies of the family, 1912.
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#110
No batteries, WiFi, passwords or subscriptions required. Just real world fun.
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#111
Thanks to photographers of the past, we can view places like the Hexagon House Hotel which was built in 1895 and dismantled in 1959 for its building materials. (Mineral Wells, Texas.)
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#112
A Santa sighting over main street captured in 1940.
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#113
We have all heard the negative comments on depression era photos. Yes the times were hard, that's a given. But, instead of the first impression comments, can we all look deeper? What about the smiles you can almost see? Do you remember what dusty planks feel like on bare feet? The dull "thud thud" of the dasher in the churn and the way it changes as the butter makes. What kind of bread do you think it will go on? Biscuits? Or maybe hot golden cornbread, made with coarse ground meal and a hint of sweetness. Melting and swirling in a pool of thick sticky molasses until it's the color of honey. After the last crumb is gone, running the kids back off to play in the shade of the yard while the women clean up and chat. The hardships are always the first to be seen, but if we just dig deeper, what memories lie just beneath the surface?
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#114
“Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood.” -Oscar Wilde
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#115
Happy Mother's Day to all the irreplaceable moms out there. To be loved by mom is to be given the world. (Photo date, 1900)
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#116
Title: Ozark Mountains, Missouri. 1940 by John Vachon
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#117
Styling ladies of the 1940s.
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#118
Do-it-yourself toy horse. (1890s)
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#119
A look in to a 1914 kitchen and rib roast enjoyed 107 years ago.
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#120
When the little store was your favorite store. (Lincoln, Vermont, 1940.)
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#121
So much can be said for education as it was. (1890, South Dakota)
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#122
Shrewsbury, MO, around 1945. 1940 Ford Woody Wagon. The tires were bald because nearly ALL tires were worn out by the end of WWII. They were rationed along with gasoline, butter, shoes, sugar, coffee and more. Photo privately held.
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#123
A camping car at the Motor Show, Olympia, showing how the inside can be adjusted to make a bed. Built by A. C. Penman Ltd of Dumfries. 17th October 1929.
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#124
The 20s are just days away!
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#125
Headlines were made when they were built. The world changed when they came down. Never forget. (Photo: 1969)
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#126
Just married, 1931.
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#127
Rest In Peace, Hank Aaron. From humble beginnings he broke barriers and Major League Baseball records - all with humility and a mild mannered grace rarely found among the high profilers after him.
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#128
Delivery of beautiful brand new Fords.
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#129
An aerial view of New York City 90 years ago.
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