It is said that a picture speaks a thousand words. And while history books are filled with words, it’s images that really bring the past back to life. One powerful photograph can sometimes tell a better story than the most eloquently written essay. They make us think, feel, and can sometimes even spur the world into action.
Some photos awaken us to the true horrors of war; others shine a spotlight on hunger and starvation or drive home the impact of discrimination. Then there are those that stir up nostalgia, warm our hearts, or give us a glimpse into the trends and lifestyles of those who came before us.
Bored Panda has compiled a list of truly fascinating historical photographs. Each tells a different story. And while they’re completely unrelated, they provide a picture-perfect journey through days gone by.
#1 1950s Necklines
Image credits: Nina Leen
#2 The Paramount Pictures Logo On The Day It Was Originally Painted. [1965]
Image credits: Campanile Fine Art, Inc. Artwork by Dario Campanile
#3 Forced Perspective On The Beach, Circa 1943
Image credits: Unknown
On October 2, 1932, The New York Herald-Tribune published an image that captured the curious eyes of millions of people. Many years later, that vintage black-and-white photograph remains a talking point. And you might recognize it… Or you might even have had a poster version of it at some point in your life.
It features 11 ironworkers perched precariously on a steel beam, hundreds of feet up in the sky. But what’s really fascinating is how they are casually eating their lunch, not a care in the world. And seemingly unaware of the dangers of great heights.
The photograph has since become known as “Lunch Atop A Skyscraper.” But it’s held different names over the years as people tried to figure out exactly what was going on, where the men were, and the true story behind the pic.
#4 New Yorkers Stop To Watch The “Seinfeld” Finale In Times Square, 1998
Image credits: reddit.com
#5 Woman In Vultee-Nashville, Tennessee Operating An Air Drill For A Dive Bomber, 1942. Not Colorized, Kodachrome
Image credits: Alfred T. Palmer
#6 Building Of The Atomium In Brussels For The World’s Fair 1958
Image credits: fr3n
Among the different titles it’s held are “Builders of The City Enjoy Luncheon,” “Lunch on a Beam” and simply, “Men on a Beam.” As the iconic photograph piqued the interest of people worldwide, many tried to guess the location. Some thought it was the Empire State Building but they were wrong…
#7 The Dressing Room At The Moulin Rouge, 1924
Image credits: themoonraker
#8 A Man Browses For Books In The Old Public Library Of Cincinnati. The Building Was Demolished In 1955. Today An Office Building And A Parking Lot Stand Where It Used To Be
Image credits: fcnaranjo
#9 My American Grandmother Visiting Athens In The 1960s
Image credits: ferballz
What seemed like a candid shot of a group of workers eating, chatting and smoking nonchalantly turned out to be a cleverly staged publicity photograph for the Rockefeller Center’s RCA building. According to the Rockefeller’s website, it was taken during the construction of the building, now known as 30 Rock.
But we might never have known that were it not for two Irish filmmakers who were hell-bent on finding out the origins of the iconic photo. And the names of the men featured in it.
#10 Woman Inspecting This New Thing, The Security Belt In Her Car, Circa 1950s
Image credits: Joyce Johnson
#11 A French Woman With Her Baguette And Six Bottles Of Wine, Paris, 1945
Image credits: imgur.com
#12 How It Was Done Before There Was Fast Food On Every Corner
Image credits: imgur.com
It was by chance that Seán Ó Cualáín and his brother Éamonn began their journey to uncover the truth behind “Lunch Atop A Skyscraper.” The two were at a tiny pub in Ireland in 2010 when they spotted a copy of the photograph on the wall.
“Next to the photo was a note from a Pat Glynn, the son of a local emigrant, who claimed his father and uncle-in-law were on the beam,” Seán told the Rockefeller Center Magazine years later.
“I knew very little of the picture other than growing up with the myth that all the men in it were Irish. So we were intrigued. By the time we left the pub, the owner had given us Pat’s number and we went from there.”
#13 My Mom As A Teenager With A Moose Calf In Alaska, 1952
Image credits: Area_49
#14 The Statue Of Liberty Under Construction In The Workshop Of French Sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, Paris, 1882
Image credits: Hort
#15 Workers Heading Out Through Gates Of A Shipyard For Lunchtime Break
Behind Them A Ship Under Construction Surrounded By Timber Scaffolding And Cranes – Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, C. 1944
Image credits: Ministry of Information Photo Division Photographer
The men tracked down Pat Glynn, the guy who’d left the mysterious note in the pub. They met up and compared old family photos to the now-iconic image. While they couldn’t find conclusive evidence that Glynn’s dad was featured, he was convinced the man at the right end holding a bottle was his father, Sonny.
Around 40,000 workers helped build 30 Rock, and not many work records were kept, so whether or not Pat Glynn’s dad truly did pose 850 feet in the air remains a mystery.
#16 Mobsters Hide Their Faces At Al Capone’s Trial 1931
Image credits: pastelitooo
#17 My Dad Taking A Selfie, Using A Piece Of Wood To Activate The Shutter, Circa 1957
Image credits: RAZORBACK_69
#18 The 9 Kings Of Europe Gather For The First And Only Time For A Photograph At The Funeral Of King Edward Vii In London. May 20th, 1910
Image credits: W. & D. Downey
In their quest to uncover the identities of the other workers, the brothers also approached the Rockefeller’s archivist. Together, they painstakingly went through dozens of photographs taken during the construction of the Rockefeller Building. But in the end, they were only able to positively identify two of the workers perched on the beam.
The duo turned their search into a documentary aptly titled “Men at Lunch,” and while they didn’t solve the whole mystery, they did manage to bag an award for their work…
#19 The World’s Last Commercial Ocean-Going Sailing Ship – The Pamir – Rounding Cape Horn, 1949
Image credits: imgur.com
#20 John F. Kennedy Campaigning Door-To-Door In West Virginia In 1960
Image credits: DenMother8
#21 A Boy Between Two Mounted Lobsters Caught Off The New Jersey Coast. 1916
Image credits: Walter L. Beasley
A narrator is heard in the trailer of the film as vintage choppy black-and-white visuals take the viewer on a journey through old New York and the construction of the 30 Rock building.
“Like any great photograph, it sparks wonder,” he says. “What kind of men would do this? What the heck is going on here? Who are they?”
#22 A Businessman And Secretary Working In A Pool During A Heatwave In Berlin, Germany 1926
Image credits: Pahl, Georg
#23 McDonald’s Crew Poses For A Photo, Circa 1970, In Staten Island, N.y. Fast Food Venue
Image credits: Dr. Zibbs
#24 My Dad In 1984 Trying To Transfer Files From His Commodore 64 To His First Apple Computer
Image credits: imgur.com
The narrator’s words drive home the point that one powerful historical photograph can indeed tell a story of a thousand words. While it captures a minuscule moment in time, one well-taken image has the ability to live on forever…
#25 Portable Beach Changing Rooms, 1930’s
Image credits: Weird Vintage
#26 President Harry Truman Shakes Hands With Pablo Picasso, Vallauris, France, 1958
Image credits: red_devillz
#27 A Group Of Frontiersmen With An Advertisement. United States, Montana, 1901
Image credits: catsmob
#28 Construction Of The Golden Gate Bridge, Circa 1934
Image credits: unknown
#29 Grand Central Terminal, NYC, The Sun Can’t Shine Through Like That Now Due To The Surrounding Tall Buildings. 1929
Image credits: Glen Marshall
#30 In My Research, I Came Across This Rare And Beautiful Photo Of A Jewish Jewelry Seller In Sana’a, Yemen. Probably Mid 1900s
Image credits: koenji
#31 My Dad And Friends Look Like The Cast Of Stranger Things (1982)
Image credits: Hamuktakali
#32 College Guys Circa 1910 (Info In Comments)
This is believed to be from the University of Illinois. Photo restored by Paul Holbrook.
Image credits: Latinadavina
#33 Kids Dressed For Halloween On A School Bus. 1980s
Image credits: Lank_Thompson
#34 Check Out The Gnarly Insect Screen Covering The Grill! 1957
Image credits: Dave Gelinas
#35 Google In The 1970s
Image credits: R0ckandRoll
#36 The “Hasanlu Lovers” Died Around 800 B.c. And Were Discovered In 1972. They Died In What Seems To Be An Embrace Or Kiss, And Remained That Way For 2800 Years
Image credits: imgur.com
#37 A Policeman In San Francisco Scolds A Man For Not Wearing A Mask During The 1918 Influenza Pandemic, 1918
Image credits: Dobbin, Hamilton Henry
#38 An Undercover Police Officer On Duty. New York, Brooklyn, 1 July 1969
Image credits: Don Hogan Charles
#39 Anti British Propaganda, Japan 1941
Image credits: Gerardo Perrotta
#40 1892, Logging Family With A 1300 Year Old Tree
Image credits: unknown
#41 Opening Day Of The First McDonald’s Restaurant In Poland. Warsaw, June 17, 1992
Image credits: Cezary Słomiński
#42 Free Lunch Distributed To Schoolchildren In Ahvaz. Iran, 1970s
Image credits: اهواز قدیم
#43 Pan American Airways (Pan Am) Flying Boat Terminal In Miami Florida Circa 1940s
Image credits: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington
#44 October 29 1929 Crowd Gathering On Wall Street After The 1929 Crash
Image credits: US-gov
#45 Man Looking At Other Posters Looking For Missing Families With One Of His Own
In Front Of The Kbs Building Before A Historical 138 Day Long Live Family-Seeking Broadcast. Seoul, 1983.
Image credits: Choi Jae-hee
#46 Incredibly Sharp Looking Kids In Harlem, 1970
Image credits: imgur.com
#47 7-11 In 1973
Image credits: reddit.com
#48 “Happiest Man In China”
Taken In 1901 By British Anthropologists After Deciding To Document The Chinese. The Chinese Didn’t Know Photos Were A “Serious Matter” And Decided To Be Goofy, Hence The Pose And Smile.
Image credits: powerofthestruggle
#49 American Soldier Wearing The Crown Of The Holy Roman Empire In A Cave In Siegen, Germany, On April 3, 1945
Image credits: Feiruzz
#50 Buzz Aldrin — Did You Know I Took The First Space Selfie During Gemini 12 Mission In 1966?
Image credits: michaelconfoy
#51 A Group Of Gents Enjoy An Impromptu Snowball Fight In The Serene And Stately Setting Of Trafalgar Square, London, Circa 1931
Image credits: ThatsHistory
#52 Office Worker 1971
Image credits: Rarecoin101
#53 My Grandparents’ Wedding, 100 Years Ago Today
Image credits: earspasm
#54 Having A Drink At Jack’s Saloon In Hot Springs. Arkansas, 1935
Image credits: reddit.com
#55 The Now Fully Developed Las Vegas Strip, 1955
Image credits: ImagesOfNetwork
#56 The Wives Of The Astronauts On The Apollo 8 Mission At The Moment They Heard Their Husbands Voices From Orbit, 1968
Image credits: Lynn Pelham
#57 Los Alamos National Laboratory. Working On Nuclear Testing Projects. 1974
Image credits: thegoobie
#58 People Watching Policeman Inspect Long Hair. Seoul, 1971. Those Caught Had Their Hair Cut On Spot
Image credits: noinh_
#59 My Uncle When His Parents Moved Out, 1970s
His parents hated drinking and smoking (they were Christian). Only thing that was left was this TV.
Image credits: Tuttirunken
#60 Old School Public Shaming In Times Square, 1955
Image credits: Harvest Heart
#61 Naughty Cats (Late 1950s)
Image credits: retrogirly
#62 Atelier Photo: “A Lesbian Couple In Semi Drag Wedding Attire”; Kingdom Of Hungary – Budapest, 1920
Image credits: awkward-humanbeing
#63 Christmas Celebration, 1905
Image credits: Unknown
#64 The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge In New York City, Seen Here Under Construction In 1964. It Opened In November That Year
Image credits: Advance File Photo
#65 Kmart Employees In North Carolina Watching The Moon Landing (July 16, 1969)
Image credits: AxlCobainVedder
from Bored Panda https://ift.tt/quHhIYM
via IFTTT source site : boredpanda
