30+ Rare Historical Photos That Show The Past Like Never Before
I love a good historical photo. Not the stiff ones where everyone looks like they’re posing for a painting, but the weird, candid, offbeat kind that make you stop and wonder what the full story was.
Most of these aren’t the kind of moments you’d find in a history book, but they give you something better. A real glimpse into how people lived, worked, dressed, and goofed off. They make the past feel less like a museum and more like a snapshot from someone’s camera roll. History’s a trip.
1. “Inventor Nikola Tesla In His Laboratory In Colorado Springs, 1899”
2. “Ned Parfett, Paperboy, Outside The White Star Line Offices In London, 1912”
3. “Newly Installed ‘Boat Motor’ Styled Coca-Cola Soda Dispenser Just After The Dispenser’s Installation At Fleeman’s Pharmacy, Atlanta, Georgia, Circa 1948”
4. “Publicity Photo Of Audrey Hepburn, Doing Ballet, 1956”
5. “President Roosevelt In His Wheelchair On The Porch At Top Cottage In Hyde Park, NY, With Ruthie Bie And Fala, 1941”
6. “Telephone Operators, 1929”
7. “Albert Einstein Plays The Violin, 1927”
8. “Marilyn Monroe Learns How To Use An Oxygen Mask Aboard An Air Force Jet To Korea Where She Entertained The Troops, U.S. Air Force Photo, 1954”
9. “Messerschmitt Kabinenroller Cars, With An Advertisement For The Film A Prize Of Gold Starring Richard Widmark, 1955”
10. “Very Large Elephant Seal Named Goliath At The Vincennes Zoo, Paris, With Zoo Staff Member, 1936”
11. “Elevator Girl, Martha Washington Hotel, 1917”
12. “Sir Winston Churchill With His Son Randolf And The Latter’s Son Winston In Coronation Robes, 1953”
13. “Mrs. Coolidge & White House Pet Raccoon Rebecca, 1927”
14. “Marilyn Monroe Visits American GIs In Korea, 1954”
15. “Peking Mission School Children At Play, The Dragon’s Head, China, 1902”
16. “Miss Eastine Cowner, A Former Waitress, Is Helping In Her Job As A Scaler To Construct The Liberty Ship SS George Washington Carver, 1943”
17. “Dog Show, 1920”
18. “The Family Bicycle Included A Sewing Machine, Invented In 1939”
19. “On The Merry-Go-Round At Deepwater Races – Deepwater, NSW C. 1910”
20. “President Richard Nixon Plays The Piano At The Truman Library, 1969”
21. “Women’s Bicycle Race In Caubourg, 1894”
22. “Publicity Photo Of Lucille Ball, As Superman, 1957”
23. “The Standard Vanguard Phase 1 Was The First Completely New British Car Design To Emerge After World War II, 1947”
24. “A Giant Sequoia Log, Undated – Generals Highway, Three Rivers, Tulare County, Ca”
25. “Lighthouse Keeper Cleaning Lens At The Pensacola Lighthouse, Ca. 1960”
26. “Rare Snow In New Orleans, 1958”
27. “Telephone Switchboard Operators, Ca. 1922”
28. “Napoleon Sarony, Hoop Skirt, 1893”
29. “Police Dog, Tess, 1935”
30. “Mule Carrying Wheels, Trails And Axeltree Of 75 Mm Mountain Artillery, Elswick Works, Newcastle Upon Tyne”
31. “Icarus, Empire State Building, 1930”
32. “Dog Albina – Participant In Experiments On Launching Space Rockets Into Near-Earth Space, Moscow, 1957”
33. “15 Month-Old Paulina Longworth With Her Mother, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Visiting Circus Grounds, 1926”
