Vintage

City life in Belgium (1934)

City life in Belgium (1934)

Berit Wallenberg (1902–1995) was a Swedish archaeologist and art historian. She began photographing as a teenager and she always brought her camera on the many travels she made in Sweden and abroad, sometimes with her family or with other students, sometimes on her own and under modest conditions. The main purpose of her travels was to study art, architecture and…
Werewolf of London (1935)

Werewolf of London (1935)

Werewolf of London is a 1935 Horror film starring Henry Hull and produced by Universal Pictures. This movie represents the first attempt by Hollywood to bring werewolf mythology to the big screen. Mannered and stylized, it contains some intriguing ideas about the nature of hybridization – and a very simian werewolf. It’s most significant for the way in which it…
Finland during World War II

Finland during World War II

Finland during World War II encompasses three major conflicts. The first two of these – the defensive Winter War in 1939–1940, and the Continuation War alongside the Axis Powers in 1941–1944 – were waged against the Soviet Union. The third one, the Lapland War in 1944–1945, followed the signing of an armistice agreement with the Allied Powers, which stipulated expulsion…
Vintage: Mug Shots of Al Capone (1930s)

Vintage: Mug Shots of Al Capone (1930s)

On March 27, 1929, as Al Capone left a Chicago courtroom after testifying to a grand jury investigating violations of federal prohibition laws, Capone was arrested by FBI agents on charges of having committed contempt of court by feigning illness to avoid an earlier appearance. In May 1929, Capone was sentenced to a prison term in Philadelphia, having been convicted…
Vintage French Erotic Postcards (1920s)

Vintage French Erotic Postcards (1920s)

A French postcard is a small, postcard-sized piece of cardstock featuring a photograph of a nude or semi-nude woman. Such erotic cards were produced in great volume, primarily in France, in the late 19th and early 20th century. The term was adopted in the USA, where such cards were not legally made.
Glass-Plate Family Portraits from Romania (1940s)

Glass-Plate Family Portraits from Romania (1940s)

Amazing collection of family portraits by Romanian photographer Costică Acsinte. Costică Acsinte was born 4th of July, 1897 in a small village called Perieți, Ialomița County, Costică Acsinte fought in WWI. Despite his formation as a pilot, he was a official war photographer till 15th of June, 1920. As soon as the war was over he opened a studio —…
Historic B&W photos of St. Petersburg, Russia in the 19th Century

Historic B&W photos of St. Petersburg, Russia in the 19th Century

With the emancipation of the peasants undertaken by Alexander II in 1861 and an industrial revolution, the influx of former peasants into the capital increased greatly. Poor boroughs spontaneously emerged on the outskirts of the city. Saint Petersburg surpassed Moscow in population and industrial growth; it developed as one of the largest industrial cities in Europe, with a major naval…
The Mummy (1932)

The Mummy (1932)

The Tutankhamen Exhibition toured the world in the 1920s and 1930s, and the concept of Egyptologists suffering the effects of an ancient curse was part of contemporary urban legend. Audiences were fascinated by the concept of 3000 year old remains, and the Ancient Egyptians’ rituals that ensured immortality. The film, which may seem overly slow-moving to modern viewers, introduced the…
Manchuria / Northeast Asia in 1930s

Manchuria / Northeast Asia in 1930s

Manchuria is a modern name given to a large geographic region in Northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is now usually referred to as Northeast China.
40 Glass Plate Mugshots from the 1920s

40 Glass Plate Mugshots from the 1920s

These are wife killers, petty thieves, dealers of fake opium, hustlers – plucked from the street by the police of 1920s Sydney, Australia and photographed, fresh from the scene of the crime. These photographs reveal a lot more than the usual mugshot. The suspects strike poses. A few look disheveled and deranged, but some look decidedly guilty. They lean casually into…
Vintage: Paris Under Water (1910)

Vintage: Paris Under Water (1910)

The 1910 Great Flood of Paris was a catastrophe in which the Seine River, carrying winter rains from its tributaries, flooded Paris agglomeration, France. The Seine water level rose eight meters above the ordinary level. Winter floods were a normal occurrence in Paris but, on 21 January, the river began to rise more rapidly than normal. Over the course of…
London in the Blackout (1939)

London in the Blackout (1939)

Even before World War II began, the British Air Ministry had predicted that the United Kingdom would be bombed at night by German air forces. One of the very few precautions the nation could take was the elimination of man-made light. In July 1939 – two months before the declaration of war – the British government distributed Public Information Leaflet…
Historic B&W photos of Glasgow, Scotland (19th century)

Historic B&W photos of Glasgow, Scotland (19th century)

Glasgow became one of the first cities in Europe to reach a population of one million. The city’s new trades and sciences attracted new residents from across the Lowlands and the Highlands of Scotland, from other parts of Britain and Ireland and from Continental Europe. During this period, the construction of many of the city’s greatest architectural masterpieces and most…
Movie Theatre Etiquette Posters from 1912

Movie Theatre Etiquette Posters from 1912

The Library of Congress has a fascinating series of vintage movie theatre “etiquette” posters from 1912. At the time, films were silent as movies with sound didn’t become prevalent until the late 1920s. Sadly, a September 2013 report by the United States Library of Congress announced that a total of 70% of American silent films are believed to be completely…
Vintage Daguerreotype portraits from XIX Century (1844 – 1860)

Vintage Daguerreotype portraits from XIX Century (1844 – 1860)

Mathew B. Brady (1822 – 1896) was one of the first American photographers, who pioneered the daguerreotype technique in America. Brady opened his own studio in New York in 1844, and photographed Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams, among other celebrities. Here is a collection of mid 19th century Daguerreotypes produced by Mathew Brady’s studio (1844 – 1860).  From the…
The 1934 floods in Los Angeles

The 1934 floods in Los Angeles

The Montrose flood, as the calamity soon came to be called, took at least 45 lives, destroyed about 100 homes and turned the little community into a mud-filled, barren landscape, said local historian Art Cobery, who has become an expert on the catastrophe and its aftermath. via LA Times
Behind the Scenes: The Birds (1963)

Behind the Scenes: The Birds (1963)

The Birds is a 1963 suspense/horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on the 1952 story “The Birds” by Daphne du Maurier. It depicts Bodega Bay, California, which is, suddenly and for unexplained reasons, the subject of a series of widespread and violent bird attacks over the course of a few days.