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”

Dickenson V. Alley

2. “Ned Parfett, Paperboy, Outside The White Star Line Offices In London, 1912”

wikimedia

3. “Newly Installed ‘Boat Motor’ Styled Coca-Cola Soda Dispenser Just After The Dispenser’s Installation At Fleeman’s Pharmacy, Atlanta, Georgia, Circa 1948”

Jack Fleeman / c/o collection of Richard Warren Lipack

4. “Publicity Photo Of Audrey Hepburn, Doing Ballet, 1956”

wikimedia commons

5. “President Roosevelt In His Wheelchair On The Porch At Top Cottage In Hyde Park, NY, With Ruthie Bie And Fala, 1941”

FDR Presidential Library & Museum

6. “Telephone Operators, 1929”

H. Graumann and I. Piedade Po

7. “Albert Einstein Plays The Violin, 1927”

Wanda von Debschitz-Kunowski

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”

US Air Force

9. “Messerschmitt Kabinenroller Cars, With An Advertisement For The Film A Prize Of Gold Starring Richard Widmark, 1955”

IISG

10. “Very Large Elephant Seal Named Goliath At The Vincennes Zoo, Paris, With Zoo Staff Member, 1936”

wikimedia

11. “Elevator Girl, Martha Washington Hotel, 1917”

Library of Congress

12. “Sir Winston Churchill With His Son Randolf And The Latter’s Son Winston In Coronation Robes, 1953”

Library of Congress

13. “Mrs. Coolidge & White House Pet Raccoon Rebecca, 1927”

Library of Congress National Photo Company Collection

14. “Marilyn Monroe Visits American GIs In Korea, 1954”

Alfred Zirkel, an American w:G.I

15. “Peking Mission School Children At Play, The Dragon’s Head, China, 1902”

Library of Congress

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”

Library of Congress

17. “Dog Show, 1920”

Library of Congress National Photo Company Collection

18. “The Family Bicycle Included A Sewing Machine, Invented In 1939”

Janiththa

19. “On The Merry-Go-Round At Deepwater Races – Deepwater, NSW C. 1910”

State Library of New South Wales

20. “President Richard Nixon Plays The Piano At The Truman Library, 1969”

The Nixon library

21. “Women’s Bicycle Race In Caubourg, 1894”

wikimedia

22. “Publicity Photo Of Lucille Ball, As Superman, 1957”

CBS Television

23. “The Standard Vanguard Phase 1 Was The First Completely New British Car Design To Emerge After World War II, 1947”

John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland

24. “A Giant Sequoia Log, Undated – Generals Highway, Three Rivers, Tulare County, Ca”

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C

25. “Lighthouse Keeper Cleaning Lens At The Pensacola Lighthouse, Ca. 1960”

State Library and Archives of Florida

26. “Rare Snow In New Orleans, 1958”

Jambalaya (Tulane University yearbook)

27. “Telephone Switchboard Operators, Ca. 1922”

Webster & Stevens

28. “Napoleon Sarony, Hoop Skirt, 1893”

Napoleon Sarony

29. “Police Dog, Tess, 1935”

State Library of NSW

30. “Mule Carrying Wheels, Trails And Axeltree Of 75 Mm Mountain Artillery, Elswick Works, Newcastle Upon Tyne”

North East Museums

31. “Icarus, Empire State Building, 1930”

Lewis Hine

32. “Dog Albina – Participant In Experiments On Launching Space Rockets Into Near-Earth Space, Moscow, 1957”

Photo by S. Guraria

33. “15 Month-Old Paulina Longworth With Her Mother, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Visiting Circus Grounds, 1926”

Library of Congress

Conversation

We've temporarily paused comments to improve performance during site updates. Be back soon!

Nate

Nate Armbruster

Nate writes for Pleated-Jeans and enjoys finding the internet’s funniest corners so you don’t have to.