Vintage

Vintage: Daily Life of Vienna, Austria by Emil Mayer (1900s-1910s)

Vintage: Daily Life of Vienna, Austria by Emil Mayer (1900s-1910s)

From 1891 to 1896 Emil Mayer studied law at the University of Vienna. In 1896, he earned the juris doctorate. In 1894, while still a student, he converted from the Jewish community to Catholicism. After his studies he settled in Vienna, where he worked as a lawyer. His first experience in photography was as an amateur. He was a member…
Vintage: Japan in the late XIX Century (Meiji period, 1870s-1880s)

Vintage: Japan in the late XIX Century (Meiji period, 1870s-1880s)

In 1869 The Emperor was restored to nominal supreme power, and the imperial family moved to Edo, which was renamed Tokyo (“eastern capital”). However, the most powerful men in the government were former samurai from Chōshū and Satsuma rather than the Emperor, who was fifteen in 1868. These men, known as the Meiji oligarchs, oversaw the dramatic changes Japan would…
Historic B&W photos of Amsterdam, Holland in the 19th Century

Historic B&W photos of Amsterdam, Holland in the 19th Century

The end of the 19th century is sometimes called Amsterdam’s second Golden Age. New museums, a train station, and the Concertgebouw were built; in this same time, the Industrial Revolution reached the city. The Amsterdam-Rhine Canal was dug to give Amsterdam a direct connection to the Rhine, and the North Sea Canal was dug to give the port a shorter…
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…
Vintage: Streets of St. Louis, Missouri (1900s)

Vintage: Streets of St. Louis, Missouri (1900s)

During the decades after the Civil War, St. Louis grew to become the nation’s fourth largest city, after New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago. It also experienced rapid infrastructure and transportation development and the growth of heavy industry. The period culminated with the 1904 World’s Fair and 1904 Summer Olympics, which were held concurrently in St. Louis. During the 1880s,…
Historic B&W photos of Florence, Italy in the 19th Century

Historic B&W photos of Florence, Italy in the 19th Century

Florence replaced Turin as Italy’s capital in 1865 and, in an effort to modernise the city, the old market in the Piazza del Mercato Vecchio and many medieval houses were pulled down and replaced by a more formal street plan with newer houses. The Piazza (first renamed Piazza Vittorio Emmanuele II, then Piazza della Repubblica, the present name) was significantly…
Vintage: U.S Airmail Service (1918-1927)

Vintage: U.S Airmail Service (1918-1927)

The first scheduled U.S. Air Mail service began on May 15, 1918, using six converted United States Army Air Service Curtiss JN-4HM “Jenny” biplanes flown by Army pilots under the command of Major Reuben H. Fleet and operating on a route between Washington, D.C. (Washington Polo Grounds) and New York City (Belmont Park) with an intermediate stop in Philadelphia (Bustleton…
Vintage: Kids and their Pedal Cars (1920s-1950s)

Vintage: Kids and their Pedal Cars (1920s-1950s)

Reaching the peak of popularity in the late 1920s and early 1930s, pedal cars experienced a resurgence in the 1950s to 1960s with chain-driven models. With postwar prosperity in the 1950s, pedal cars grew more popular and were available in all major stores. From the early 1920s through the late 1960s, pedal cars, like automobiles, were produced in many different…
Vintage Black and White photos of German Castles

Vintage Black and White photos of German Castles

The centuries of invasive enterprises of the Romans from the South, Vikings from the North, and the multitude of marauding tribes and nomads from the East, each wreaking their own special brand of terror, necessitated construction of border, royal and community fortifications throughout Europe. But individual castle building is what sets Europe apart from previous defensive constructions. Personal castle building…
Vintage: Edwardian Markets in the 1900s

Vintage: Edwardian Markets in the 1900s

Oliver Williamson gives a transaction cost explanation for the rise of the modern corporation and argues that the wide variety of governance structures and forms of organization were an evolutionary response by businesses to lower the information and coordination costs involved in production. Thus the period from 1870 through 1900 was characterized by freedom of contract which enabled entrepreneurs to…
Vintage: Railway in Chicago (1940s)

Vintage: Railway in Chicago (1940s)

Chicago is the most important railroad center in North America. More lines of track radiate in more directions from Chicago than from any other city. Chicago has long been the most important interchange point for freight traffic between the nation’s major railroads and it is the hub of Amtrak, the intercity rail passenger system. Chicago ranks second (behind New York…
Vintage: Liverpool (early 20th century)

Vintage: Liverpool (early 20th century)

By the start of the 19th century, a large volume of trade was passing through Liverpool, and the construction of major buildings reflected this wealth. In 1830, Liverpool and Manchester became the first cities to have an intercity rail link, through the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The population continued to rise rapidly, especially during the 1840s when Irish migrants began…
Vintage: Rio de Janeiro (1880s-1910s)

Vintage: Rio de Janeiro (1880s-1910s)

When Prince Pedro proclaimed the independence of Brazil in 1822, he decided to keep Rio de Janeiro as the capital of his new empire. Rio continued as the capital of Brazil after 1889, when the monarchy was replaced by a republic. Until the early years of the 20th century, the city was largely limited to the neighbourhood now known as…
Vintage: Early Days of the London Underground

Vintage: Early Days of the London Underground

The idea of an underground railway linking the City of London with some of the railway termini in its urban centre was proposed in the 1830s, and the Metropolitan Railway was granted permission to build such a line in 1854. To prepare construction, a short test tunnel was built in 1855 in Kibblesworth, a small town with geological properties similar…
Vintage: Canadian Pacific Railway Locomotives (1880s)

Vintage: Canadian Pacific Railway Locomotives (1880s)

The construction of the national railway by the Canadian Pacific Railway company in the 1880s is inextricably linked with the settlement and development of Western Canada. Glenbow Museum has an extensive collection of more than 6000 railway-related historic photographs, which document the building and operation of the CPR as well as other railways in the West. The locomotives in these…
Vintage: Victorian Era Portraits by Julia Margaret Cameron (1860s-1870s)

Vintage: Victorian Era Portraits by Julia Margaret Cameron (1860s-1870s)

In 1863, when Cameron was 48 years old, her daughter gave her a camera as a present, thereby starting her career as a photographer. Within a year, Cameron became a member of the Photographic Societies of London and Scotland. She remained a member of the Photographic Society, London, until her death. In her photography, Cameron strove to capture beauty. She…