Amazing Black and White Photos of Life in San Francisco’s Chinatown in the 1950s

These are what the life of Chinatown in San Francisco in the 1950s looked like.

Jon Brenneis/Time & Life Pictures / Getty Image / Getty Images. Two children goof around on their way to school.

Orlando / Stringer / Getty Images. A woman samples a small portion of rice.

Orlando / Stringer / Getty Images. The intersection of East and West.

Orlando / Stringer / Getty Images. Chorus girls at Forbidden City show off their stuff.

Orlando / Stringer / Getty Images. Two chorus girls at the Forbidden City nightclub prepare for their act.

Orlando / Stringer / Getty Images. A customer receives her order from the butcher at Ying Fat Lung’s Chinese shop.

Orlando / Stringer / Getty Images. Chinese dancers perform an elaborate floor show.

Orlando / Stringer / Getty Images. Two Chinese-American women come to have their fortunes told at the Chinese temple on Pine Street.

Orlando / Stringer / Getty Images. Grant Avenue is lit up by the string lights and neon signs of restaurants.

Orlando / Stringer / Getty Images. A vendor slices off a chunk of lotus root for a customer.

Nat Farbman/Time & Life Pictures / Getty Image / Getty Images. Cars driving through Chinatown at night.

Roger Viollet / Getty Images / Getty Images. Cable cars take commuters to work.

Jon Brenneis/Time & Life Pictures / Getty Image / Getty Images. A little girl practices her written Chinese in a character-writing class.

Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images / Getty Images. A lampost in the traditional Chinese style signals that you’ve arrived.

Orlando / Stringer / Getty Images. A chorus girl at the Forbidden City nightclub adds the finishing touches to her makeup.

Orlando / Stringer / Getty Images. A little girl reads aloud from the blackboard.

Orlando / Stringer / Getty Images. A banner on Grant Street, San Francisco, welcomes visitors to Chinatown.

Roger Viollet / Getty Images / Getty Images. A bookseller waits for customers to arrive.

Orlando / Stringer / Getty Images. The cutest little boy ever listening enthusiastically in class.

Orlando / Stringer / Getty Images. A movie theater showing Chinese movies.

Orlando / Stringer / Getty Images. A little boy at the Commodore Stockton School practices writing on the blackboard.

Orlando / Stringer / Getty Images. A shop assistant at the Tai Ping Company boutique on Grant Avenue demonstrates a giant Chinese fan to an interested customer.

Orlando / Stringer / Getty Images. Two women sample food at Johnny Kan’s restaurant.

Orlando / Stringer / Getty Images. Five women dressed in traditional Chinese clothing read the day’s headlines.

Jon Brenneis/Time & Life Pictures / Getty Image / Getty Images. A butcher prepares meat for a young boy.

Jon Brenneis/Time & Life Pictures / Getty Image / Getty Images. Parents greet their children after they finish school for the day.

Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images / Getty Images. Nationalist Chinese and American flags wave side by side.

(via BuzzFeed)