At Tartu University in Estonia, it was a tradition for students to hold “pledge theatres” in late autumn which consisted of staging plays as rites of initiation for soon-to-be members. The all-male pledges were expected to play both male and female roles an…
Ry-Krisp, a brand of rye crisp bread, was founded by Arvid and Erik Peterson, who immigrated to the United States from Sweden, and brought with them a recipe for traditional Swedish “crisp bread.” Crisp bread or knackerbrod was a staple of the 19th-century …
Bettie Page ( born in 1923) was an American model who gained notoriety in the 1950s for her pin-up photos. Popularly referred to as the Queen of Pinups, she was famous for her free-spirited demeanor and unabashed sensuality. Her trademark short bangs, nat…
These vintage advertisements, published in magazines and newspapers from the 1930s to the 1960s show how weight gain was aspired to then as firmly as we today aspire to weight loss. The ads tout scientific ways to "add attractive pounds and inches" (a compl…
This collection presents the most interesting advertising posters which were shown not only in the Soviet Union but also in other parts of the world. These types of advertising posters and cards were hung in offices, shops, hotels, and published in various …
The term "burlesque" means a literary, dramatic, or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. It’s a form of theatrical entertainment featuring parodic humor, …
Advertising has always been an interesting way to trace how modern society has evolved. At the core, the marketing campaigns are based on what people want and what appeals to them. When you judge human history based on old advertisements, the past will …
Television was introduced to Americans in 1939 and began to gain a foothold after the Second World War. In the 1950s, the sale of TV sets and the boom in programming made TV America's favorite source of entertainment. In 1950, just under 20 percent of A…
These vintage photos show one of the unique features of Detroit in winter: the famous ice fountain on Washington Boulevard. Several jets of water are allowed to play all winter, resulting in tons of crystal and massive berg of ice that at times reached heig…
It’s quite fascinating to read the vintage magazine adverts because nothing gets old faster than technology news and ads. In this article, we’ve collected some retro computer ads to give you a hands-on look into what made the tech headlines before the age o…
From the 1960s to the late 1980s, New York City’s iconic Times Square was a difficult place to be. Felony and crime rates were high, despite heightened police existence. A plethora of go-go bars, sex shops, peep show establishments, and adult theaters becam…
During the 1920s, car ownership exploded. Everyday consumers were making more money and families were able to afford vehicles. In turn, businesses such as drive-in movie theaters and restaurants became more popular. After all, if the notions that drove …
There are several accounts from the 1850s describing the unexplained appearance in photographs of translucent figures representing the departed. According to Owen Davies in The Haunted: A Social History of Ghosts, ghost photography started with photographic…
These military portraits collected by Christopher B. Steiner, a professor of art history and anthropology at Connecticut College, capture moments of soldiers being goofy while posing with fake military props. Some images appear to be staged to accentuate si…
These idyllic photographs, taken by William Morris Grundy, capture the rural life in England during the Victorian era. Born in Birmingham in 1806, Grundy took up photography in 1855 and made dozens of stereoscopic photos, primarily posed genre scenes of…
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, bizarre devices, a…
A publicity stunt dreamed up by newspapermen, the first Tour de France saw a rag-tag bunch of cyclists waved off from outside a bar on the outskirts of Paris in 1903. Rapidly the Tour expanded into a race will legendary champions, a set of iconic leader…
Stunt shows featuring diving horses began in the 1880s and were a wildly popular attraction for decades, despite the obvious cruelty to the animals and the danger it posed, ironically, it would seem, more for the riders than the horses' theme. According…
This collection of photographs shows some of the world's oldest and oddest vending machines. Nowadays almost anything imaginable can now be purchased from the vending machines, however, the trend for automated purchases is nothing new, as these vintage phot…
This collection of photos from Naval Air Station Corpus Christi during World War II shows the American war effort at full speed and the air cadets in training. The facility covered 20,000 acres (81 km2) and had 997 hangars, shops, barracks, warehouses, …