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40 Glass Plate Mugshots from the 1920s

40 Glass Plate Mugshots from the 1920s

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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

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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)

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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

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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)

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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.
Vintage: King Kong (1933)

Vintage: King Kong (1933)

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Merian C Cooper, the visionary behind the chest-thumping giant gorilla atop the Empire State, was a remarkable man. An old school adventurer, he could list World War I flying ace, POW, journalist, explorer, airline owner and Oscar-nominated documentary-maker on his resume before he came to make King Kong, and he continued his adventuresome ways until his death in 1973. He…
Vintage: The Civil War

Vintage: The Civil War

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Here is a collection of photographs covering the places of the Civil War: the battleships, prisons, hospitals, urban centers, and rural pastures where history was made. via The Atlantic
Vintage: Police archives in Sydney (1930s and 40s)

Vintage: Police archives in Sydney (1930s and 40s)

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The Historic Houses Trust in Australia has a forensic photography archive at the Justice & Police Museum which contains an estimated 130,000 images created by the New South Wales Police between 1910 and 1960. Images uncovered in Justice & Police Museum’s Forensic Photography Archive, capture the spaces left behind: a moody catalogue of vacant lots, empty roads, desolate interiors, crime…
Vintage: Swedish churches from 1100-1900 AD

Vintage: Swedish churches from 1100-1900 AD

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This set shows photos of Swedish churches from 1100-1900 AD – a mix of stone and wooden churches, cathedrals and chapels – country churches as well as city churches. We think that these pictures well describe the wide range of churches to be found all over the country in the 1800s. They also show the surrounding landscape or environment, often…
Vintage: The Eastland disaster (1915)

Vintage: The Eastland disaster (1915)

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A large crowd of horrified spectators watched as the S.S. Eastland – only a few feet from the shore of the Chicago River downtown — turned on its side. It was in just 20 feet of water, but that was deep enough to drown 844 people who were trapped or trampled below decks. via Chicago Tribune
Vintage: Open-air bazaar in Chicago

Vintage: Open-air bazaar in Chicago

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Maxwell Street first appears on a Chicago map in 1847. It was named for Dr. Philip Maxwell. It was originally a wooden plank road that ran from the south branch of the Chicago River west to Blue Island Avenue. The earliest housing was built by and for Irish immigrants who were brought to Chicago to construct the first railroads. It…
The Wright Brothers – First Flight in 1903

The Wright Brothers – First Flight in 1903

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On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright piloted the first powered airplane 20 feet above a wind-swept beach in North Carolina. The flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. Three more flights were made that day with Orville’s brother Wilbur piloting the record flight lasting 59 seconds over a distance of 852 feet. The brothers began their experimentation in flight…
Vintage: Russian air force of 1915

Vintage: Russian air force of 1915

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The Imperial Russian Air Service was founded in 1912. At the beginning of World War I, Russia’s air service was second only to that of France (263 aeroplanes and 14 airships), although the bulk of its aircraft were too outdated to be of much use. via English Russia
Vintage: Wall Street bombing in 1920

Vintage: Wall Street bombing in 1920

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At 12:01pm on Thursday, September 16th, 1920, a blast shook the Financial District of New York City immediately killing 30 people, with another 8 to die later of wounds sustained in the blast. On top of the dead, there were 143 people seriously injured with the total number injured measuring in the hundreds. This event was the deadliest act of…
Historic B&W photos of Zurich, Switzerland (19th century)

Historic B&W photos of Zurich, Switzerland (19th century)

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Extensive developments took place during the 19th century. From 1847, the Spanisch-Brötli-Bahn, the first railway on Swiss territory, connected Zürich with Baden, putting the Zürich Hauptbahnhof at the origin of the Swiss rail network. The present building of the Hauptbahnhof (the main railway station) dates to 1871. Zürich’s Bahnhofstrasse (Station Street) was laid out in 1867, and the Zürich Stock…