Pictures are the perfect way for us to get a glimpse into times gone by. From getting a nostalgia hit by remembering your old Atari games console, to seeing images from before you were born, pictures allow us to connect with both our younger selves and strangers lost to time.
So, whether you’re looking for a hit of heady nostalgia, or keen to revel in some awe-inspiring pictures from times passed, then here are 14+ pics that transport me, and hopefully you, to a different time and place.
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“Starbucks purchased an old building in my hometown and restored it to its retro glory.”
Christ, I wish that the Starbucks near me looked like this instead of that bland, offensively anaemic general decor that Starbucks have.
“Is this what they call retro?”
Ah, the good old days of playing snake on an original Nokia 3310, I remember them fondly!
“Peak 90s.”
There is so much ’90s in this image that it actually hurts to look at. Everywhere you look, the ’90s is unavoidable, from his hair to literally every pop culture reference in the shot.
“A lamplighter lighting a gas lamp in a street in Glasgow, Scotland, 1955.”
Can you imagine anyone having to go round and turn on all of the streetlights nowadays? Can’t say that I’d want that job!
“Advert for a 10 MB hard drive in the 80’s, you will never guess the price!”
It is insane the speed with which technology is progressing. One person in the comments wrote, “My dad bought a 52mb for close to 5grand once. He brings it up all the time. This weekend I bought a 64 gb USB for $15. Pretty mental.”
“Nostalgia flood when I saw these at the gift shop today. Had to buy one!”
By just looking at this picture I can hear that squeaking creaking sound that these would make when you slid them together.
“Nostalgia.”
Who else recognizes what that logo was? I had some good, good times in these stores back in the day!
“Louis Armstrong playing for his wife, Egypt, 1961.”
This picture has been colourized. There is something about the visceral nature of this image that makes me able to hear it as well as see it.
“Found this vintage toy my dad had. Wiggle it and the tiny chain makes a new face!”
How did anyone come up with this idea in the first place, let alone think that kids would want this? I mean, it’s cool and all, but what is the point of it?
“World War II picture in color.”
Colorizing technology really breathes a new lease of life into these classic photographs. They allow us to feel so much more able to connect with the past.
“A vintage photo of a New York City construction worker touching the Chrysler Building.”
Ah, to live in a time before health and safety precautions, when men could precariously balance atop hideously high buildings and put their lives at risk on a daily basis.
“Who remembers these boys?”
I wonder how many people now only know a floppy disk as the icon for saving a document and not as an actual floppy disk.
“18yo Dressed as Sufferagette to Celebrate 100 Years of Women’s Right to Vote.”
Somebody accurately pointed out how much simply putting someone in period clothing adds decades to their age.
“My Mother in the 70’s, and her prediction of what we now call ‘The Internet’.”
Wow, this woman really saw the internet coming, didn’t she! Add in a bit more of a duck face expression and this would have been the perfect internet pic.
“Girlfriend found a movie ticket in a vintage fur coat at work today.”
I love finding interesting things in the pockets of second-hand clothing, and I don’t just mean cash… although that’s good too.
“Retro Trailer, 1961.”
I feel like this has just been driven straight off of Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century! Does anyone else know what that is?
“My old school’s headmasters, going back to 627AD.”
I don’t know what happened in 1426 but there was clearly a lot of upheaval around that period!
“But retro is in…”
You know what, fair play to the absolute nut job who had the gall to try and return this in the first place!
“At the airport and began to hear the sound of reading aloud (with voices!). He’s reading Lord of the Rings to his children. it reminded me of my mom.”
Seeing this image takes me back to times as a child when my mum would read to me, when times were simpler, and before I had to pay taxes.
“I can smell this photo.”
Who else had one of these? Although, as cool as these were, I was always a bigger fan of the potato pistols!
