Unusual Historical Photos: 1890s-1960s

~ beetleypete

Some more old photos found online that appealed to me.

An early type of SCUBA diving equipment, 1940.

Native Americans of the Blackfoot tribe photographed in Glacier national Park, 1913.

Learning to drive in a static driving school. Kenya, 1943.

Two circus performers ride a tandem bicycle. One man was born with no arms the other with no legs. 1896.

Mount Rushmore, before and after the famous carving.

Lumberjacks pose on a huge pile of trees that they had felled by hand. New York State, 1907.

Anne Frank relaxing on holiday before WW2. 1939.

American soldiers about to land on a North African beach during Operation Torch. 1942.

Archaeologists in Ukraine excavating a 15,000 year-old settlement made from Mammoth bones. 1966.

Hattie McDaniel with her Oscar for ‘Gone With The Wind’, in 1940. The Ambassador Hotel had a ‘No Blacks’ rule at the time, so before the presentation Hattie had to sit alone at a table at the back of the room. Her agent, a white man, went and sat with her.

One of the earliest known photographs of a surfer. Waikiki Beach, 1898.

Child Chess prodigy Samuel Reshevsky defeats ten chess masters in France, 1920. He was 8 years old at the time.

36 thoughts on “Unusual Historical Photos: 1890s-1960s”

  2. (1) One of those SCUBA divers eventually morphed into a mermaid.
    (2) The Black30.48cm tribe said it would be a cold day in hell before they’d adopt the Imperial measuring system. (At least they didn’t have to deal with shoe sizes.)
    (3) After passing their static driving exam, they all got a license to drive a car with no engine.
    (4) The armless man’s name was Aragorn. The legless man’s name was Legolas. (Those names have a certain ring to them.)
    (5) Beneath the carved faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, you’ll find Barney Rubble.
    (6) Said one lumberjack, “Well, so much for the backlog!”
    (7) “I’d keep a diary, but nothing especially interesting ever happens, aside from an occasional holiday.” (Anne Frank)
    (8) I guess I’ve been in the dark all this time. I thought it was called Operation Flashlight. Thanks for enlightening me!
    (9) If it hadn’t been for a Russian drone strike, that mammoth bone settlement in Ukraine would still be inhabitable.
    (10) McDaniel’s agent felt that hattie not sat in the back with her, she might have gotten upset and left the room, in which case she would have been gone with the wind.
    (11) Kiki’s wife thought her husband was crazy to go surfing. “Why, Kiki? Why?’
    (12) Q&A:
    Q. What did the Polish chess master call his wife from Czechia?
    A. His Czech mate.

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  11. Pingback: Unusual Historical Photos: 1890s-1960s | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

  12. How galling it must have been for those Chess masters to have all been beaten by an 8 year old boy. My dad taught me to play Chess when I was about 7, and we would sit there for hours. I once beat my uncle at the game when I was 12, but never beat my dad.

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