In 1900s England, a mother-of-four named Mary Ann Bevan developed acromegaly and took up the title of being "the ugliest woman in the world" as a way to provide for her children. This is her tragic story, a reminder of how cruel the world can be. The Wo…
This collection shows photographs from World War Two that are not necessarily odd, let’s just say not quite normal, and by the book. The conflict involved virtually every part of the world during the years 1939–1945. The war was in many respects a conti…
The notion that sex sells tech was exploited to grotesque ends during the era of the early gigantic computer systems. These vintage pictures scanned from old magazines and newspapers of those bygone decades, depict attractive women wearing as little clothin…
If you ever wondered what people did during the long winters before smartphones and TV… Well, here you go. Meet the Noonans, an uncommon family of 15 living in 1920s Lawrence, Massachusetts Their massive family was so unusual that photographer Leslie Jones …
These glass-plate photographs depicting life in Japan were collected in Yokohama during the years 1908–1918 by Herbert Geddes, a manager for a Canadian import-export company. Originally, these types of photographs were sold as postcards or souvenirs to foreign…
These old photographs of the American frontier capture life and struggle in the Wild West. The completion of the railroads to the West following the American Civil War opened up vast areas of the region to settlement and economic development. The archetypic…
These cheesy (and sexy) vintage arcade ads from the 1970s and 1980s offered consumers a sense they were hot, sexy, in control, and (apparently) tough as nails. Video games started as kids’ play in the minds of consumer groups and rating boards, but back in …
Henry Ford was not the first to create the assembly line, but his car and moving assembly line were certainly the most successful and memorable. After creating his version of the automobile in 1896, Ford moved workshops first to Mack Avenue and later to Piq…
These striking photographs of psychedelic fashion in London were published in the Paris Match magazine (October 1967 issue) and are taken by photographer Philippe Le Tellier. The 1960s were a time of cultural change and tumult, an era that brought the peace…
Back in the 19th century, Victorians thought nothing unusual about sending their loved ones bizarre and creepy images with the words “May yours be a joyful Christmas.” From frogs stabbing each other, and insects dancing in the moonlight, to Krampus (a half-…
Bugatti was founded in 1909 in the then-German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the Italian-born industrial designer Ettore Bugatti. The cars were known for their design beauty and for their many race victories. Famous Bugatti automobiles include the Type 35 Gr…
From miniskirted hostesses to clear suggestive lines, companies have a long history of using women to sell air travel. This was the time when flying was both the literal and figurative height of sexiness. While “sex sells” is one of those universally-known …
These old color photos, part of Albert Kahn’s collection, were captured by photographer Stefan Passe in 1913 and depict everyday life scenes in Mongolia. At the time of Passe’s journey, Mongolia was under the protectorate of the Russian Empire with full autono…
When societies industrialize, food systems expand and specialize to meet the new waves of customers. These amazing old photographs show Japan’s demae, or delivery men, who braved the crowded streets balancing towers of dozens of piping hot meals on their shoul…
Throughout the decades, a number of important and interesting sites and landmarks have been lost, many due to the urbanization of cities, sometimes they're torn down due to mounting maintenance costs after falling into disrepair, and sometimes they'll fall pre…
Many think that London was the best place in the world in the 1960s. Youth culture flourished and post-war austerity finally gave place to a decade of optimism and exploration. In this decade, the traditional hierarchies begin to dissolve paving the way for th…
These vintage photographs, taken by photographer Alice Austen, capture the working people of New York City. They depict employees, postmen, firefighters, policemen, street cleaners, cab drivers, and other trade people whose work kept the city functioning. S…
On Saturday, July 28, 1945, a B-25 Mitchell bomber traveling at 200 miles per hour (330 km/h) out of Massachusetts headed for Newark Airport got lost in dense fog and flew into floors 78 and 79 of New York City’s Empire State Building, the tallest building in …
In 1953, the biggest vessel to travel the Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway (at the time) managed to wind its way downtown on the Chicago River. This steel hull behemoth was nearly 634 feet long (193m) and 70 feet wide (21.3m) and according to a Chica…
These photos show bizarre vintage inventions that quite often never caught on, but sometimes, they actually did. The weird inventions demonstrate ingenious efforts from the first half of the 20th century (and later) that helped people manage the pressures of e…