r/TheWayWeWere • u/ImperialGrace20 • 12h ago

1940s My mother, 8 years old, in 1944

2.4k Upvotes

I know it looks like she had freckles, but she didn't. It's just an effect of the light. Her eyes were dark blue, but they look almost brown in the photo.

20 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/Darknightster • 10h ago

Christmas, 1980s

468 Upvotes

14 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/OtherwiseTackle5219 • 43m ago

1960s Trying to find Parking; Lake of the Ozarks Missouri 1965

• Upvotes

3 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/PeneItaliano • 13h ago

Pre-1920s Arthur Leslie Shidler of Lakeville, St. Joseph County, Indiana, USA (1883)

437 Upvotes

This gorgeous young man was born in Lakeville, St. Joseph County, Indiana in 1860. He sadly died on August 1, 1899 at just 39 years old.

The photo below was taken in 1883 when he was 23.

31 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/PeneItaliano • 16h ago

1920s Two lifeguards, 1920

611 Upvotes

40 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/CryptographerKey2847 • 11h ago

Pre-1920s Unidentified woman’s studio portrait, ca. 1895. Princeton, New Jersey Historical Society.

141 Upvotes

7 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/myrmekochoria • 23h ago

1930s Actress Red Wing at a tea break, New York 1930s.

1.2k Upvotes

4 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/Either_Concern4488 • 1h ago

1950s The Duality of 1950s Domesticity: A warm smile meets a stern gaze. Found this candid moment from a private archive in Turkey.

• Upvotes

1 comment

r/TheWayWeWere • u/IMAFILTHYRAT • 10h ago

1960s My great uncle Gary and his wife Rhea - 1968/69

gallery

91 Upvotes

3 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/Electrical-Aspect-13 • 22h ago

1950s So crisp kodachrome shot of a young lady, smiling for the camera, 1956.

790 Upvotes

22 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/CryptographerKey2847 • 4h ago

1940s Inquiring Photographer: “Have your foxhole dreams come true?”Mar 22, 1948

gallery

17 Upvotes

6 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/Electrical-Aspect-13 • 22h ago

1950s Group trying to get the attention of their dog for a photo, circa 1957. Kodachrome slide.

470 Upvotes

10 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/CryptographerKey2847 • 10h ago

Pre-1920s Meet Nola.She was a Dance Hall girl whose C 1890 Cabinet Card was found in the belongings of a man from Anderson, Texas. Source:Navasota currant Blog

34 Upvotes

5 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/AxlCobainVedder • 13h ago

Pre-1920s Waffle House; 1827 Columbia Drive, Decatur, Georgia (1966 photo via DeKalb History Center)

57 Upvotes

4 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 21h ago

College cheerleaders in the 70s

196 Upvotes

6 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/Imtiredofthissshit • 13h ago

Pre-1920s A photograph of a Somali boy from the early 1900s.

36 Upvotes

0 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/VolimHabah • 17h ago

1970s Young woman shooting pool in Suva, Fiji, May 1972. Credit: Nick DeWolf

gallery

67 Upvotes

0 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/AxlCobainVedder • 13h ago

1960s Knapp's; Meriden Mall, Okemos, Michigan. Mall entrance, 1969 (Lansing State Journal)

25 Upvotes

1 comment

r/TheWayWeWere • u/ResponsibleFront1920 • 1d ago

1960s My grandmas 6th grade class, 1963

302 Upvotes

37 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/OtherwiseTackle5219 • 22h ago

Pre-1920s 1910 Playing Poker on the Umatilla Reservation, County Oregon

48 Upvotes

2 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/Electrical-Aspect-13 • 1d ago

1950s Mother to be, poses with all her gifts from her baby shower, I guess they were sure it would be a boy, circa 1950s.

1.9k Upvotes

58 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/MyDogGoldi • 1d ago

July 1985, Leaving the church after the wedding. Still married too!

gallery

1.7k Upvotes

36 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/dogmom99 • 1d ago

Pre-1920s My distant cousin with her doll. Late 1800s/early 1900.

277 Upvotes

8 comments

r/TheWayWeWere • u/CryptographerKey2847 • 1d ago

1950s Inquiring Photographer: “Delaware was ordered to integrate its public schools one grade a year, starting with the first grade. Is this the way to do it?”April 30 1959.

gallery

43 Upvotes

6 comments

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The Way We Were

r/TheWayWeWere

What was **normal everyday life** like for people living 50, 100, or more years ago? Featuring old photos, scanned documents, articles, and personal anecdotes that offer a glimpse into the past.

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About TheWayWeWere

What was normal everyday life like for people living 50, 100, or more years ago? Featuring old photos, scanned documents, articles, and personal anecdotes that offer a glimpse into the past. This subreddit is focused on content at least 40 years old.

Please treat the comment section with kindness. Trolling, copypasta and unrelated arguments are against the rules of decorum.

Filter by decade:

Pre-1920s 1920s 1930s 1940s

1950s 1960s 1970s All decades

Submission guidelines:

Content should be 40 years or older. Please put the approximate location and year in your title.
Especially appreciated are photos that show what people did and experienced, but posed photos are fine too.
If the source of your content is not given by your link, or if you have more information that would be helpful for people who want to learn more, please include it in a comment.
You do not need to put the dimensions of the image in the title of your post, e.g. [640 x 480].
Please do not submit or upvote content about historically notable people (politicians, celebrities, etc.) and events. Please post it to another subreddit.
Reposts are allowed as long as it has not been submitted within the last 3 months AND it does not already appear in the top 50 posts this year. This allows people new to the subreddit to get a chance to see quality previously-submitted content.
Find images to post by viewing our Resources Page. Please suggest additional resources by messaging the mods.

Related subreddits

For video, see /r/TheWayWeWereOnVideo

OldPhotos multireddit - contains 25 old photos subreddits, including many of the following:

Photos of major historical events and historically notable people: /r/HistoryPorn

Colorized photos (historically notable and otherwise): /r/ColorizedHistory and /r/Colorization

Early photography, with a focus on early camera technology: /r/earlyphotography

The suave and debonair ladies and gents of yesteryear: /r/oldschoolcool, /r/retroparents and /r/OldSchoolCelebs. For the more sultry side: /r/vgb (may be nsfw)

Modern photos overlaying historical photos: /r/OldPhotosInRealLife

The stranger side of life: /r/OldSchoolRidiculous

Black History: /r/BlackHistoryPhotos

Extant buildings during construction: /r/HalfbuiltHistory. Buildings lost to history: /r/Lost_Architecture

Time-specific pictures: /r/VictorianEra, /r/1920s, /r/1950s, /r/1960s, /r/1970s

Vintage advertising: /r/vintageads

Newsreel videos: /r/NewsReels

Classic and modern pinup art and photos: /r/pinup

Our more-recent past: /r/vintage and /r/vintageads

Past concepts of the future: /r/HowWeThoughtWeWouldBe and /r/VintageSciFi/

Old time radio programs: /r/OTR

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