37 Rare and Amazing Photographs Taken by a Schoolboy That Capture Street Scenes of Rome in the Mid-1950s

For anyone living through these bleak times, it must have been difficult to comprehend just how much Italy would change in the course of a decade. From the late 1950s to the early 1960s, Italian society was transformed by an economic boom so strong it was dubbed a ‘miracle’.

These rare vintage photos were taken on a visit to Rome in August 1956 by photographer Allan Hailstone when was a schoolboy. The photographs give us a glimpse into everyday life in Rome in the mid-1950s.

“Generally speaking, I have omitted many pictures I took of monuments unless they show something of the age, e.g. people, cars, trolleybus wires, etc.”

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20 Black and White Vintage Photos Show Different Lives of Turkish Youth in the 1960s

These are what everyday life of Turkish youth looked like during the 1960s.

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76 Incredible Color Snapshots Documented Everyday Life in Ethiopia in the 1940s

These photos were taken in Ethiopia in the mid-late 1940s by photographers Dorsa Mishler and John Lehman while on their mission service at Nazareth hospital. The hospital was founded by the Mennonites at the invitation of Emperor Haile Selassie in a warehouse built by the Italians during the occupation.

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Camping in the Old Days: 20 Fascinating Color Photographs of Travel Trailers and Motorhomes in the 1950s and '60s

Modern-day travel trailers trace their origins to gypsy travel wagons and the Conestoga Wagons built to carry settlers across the United States. Created out of Americans' love for camping and automobiles, the motorhome is born.

In 1910 the first motorhome, Pierce-Arrow's Touring Landau, debuts at Madison Square Garden. A back seat that folds down into a bed, a chamber pot toilet and a fold-down sink are a sensation, but the whole idea of a "motor home" doesn't catch on.

In the 1930s, auto coachbuilders continue to tinker with motorized homes, but high sticker prices keep public demand low.

Following WWII, innovative thinking restarts the motorhome industry on a small scale. Expensive luxury items, motorhomes remain far less popular than travel trailers.

In the 1960s, following the creation of the country's interstate highway system, traveling to remote wilderness areas becomes easy. Companies like Winnebago begin manufacturing motorhomes on a massive scale, driving down the cost.

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21 Amazing Vintage Photographs That Show Evacuees the Measures Being Taken in London in 1939 to Prepare for World War II

As bombing raids attacking Britain's cities increased during World War Two, thousands of children were uprooted from their families and sent to the safety of the countryside. Many found, however, that life away from home was no picnic.

The evacuation of Britain's cities at the start of World War Two was the biggest and most concentrated mass movement of people in Britain's history. In the first four days of September 1939, nearly 3,000,000 people were transported from towns and cities in danger from enemy bombers to places of safety in the countryside.

Most were schoolchildren, who had been labelled like pieces of luggage, separated from their parents and accompanied instead by a small army of guardians - 100,000 teachers. By any measure it was an astonishing event, a logistical nightmare of co-ordination and control beginning with the terse order to 'Evacuate forthwith,' issued at 11.07am on Thursday, 31 August 1939. Few realised that within a week, a quarter of the population of Britain would have a new address.

William Vandivert photographed for LIFE from the late 1930s through 1948. In 1938 he moved to work in England. In 1939, World War II was declared and bombing started in London, Vandivert appeared and captured the evacuations of civilians. Here are some of his amazing photographs:

Children being evacuated out of London during the outbreak of World War II.

A bus converted into an ambulance in preparation for war.

People painting white circles on trees in the event of a blackout during air raids.

A soldier and his family having lunch in a park as war preparations go on in the background.

A bus converted into an ambulance in preparation for war.

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Iconic Staff Portrait From Microsoft's Early Days, Albuquerque, December 7, 1978

Microsoft’s founding employees gathered in 1978 to take a portrait before the company moved to Washington.

Front row (left to right): Bill Gates, Andrea Lewis, Marla Wood, and Paul Allen. Middle row: Bob O’Rear, Bob Greenberg, Marc McDonald, and Gordon Letwin. Back row: Steve Wood, Bob Wallace, and Jim Lane. Not pictured is Miriam Lubow.

Picture taken at Royal Frontier Studios, Albuquerque. Copyright Microsoft, who distributes the image in some press releases. (Source)

20 Rare Autochrome Photos of People in Swimsuits From Between the 1900s and 1920s

Before bikinis, people had just simple bathing suits. That's interesting to see these swimwears in real color. Check out 20 rare Autochrome pictures below for more information.

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Knickerbocker Storm: 30 Amazing Vintage Photos Capture Washington D.C. During the Terrible Blizzard in 1922

The Knickerbocker storm was a blizzard that occurred on January 27–28, 1922 in the upper South and middle Atlantic United States. The storm took its name from the resulting collapse of the Knickerbocker Theatre in Washington, D.C. shortly after 9 p.m. on January 28 which killed 98 people and injured 133.

Here below is an amazing collection of vintage photos documenting the scenes of Washington D.C. during this blizzard in 1922, especially the ruins of the Knickerbocker Theatre after the storm.

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The Earliest Known Photographs of People Smiling

The following is a collection of some of the earliest known images of people smiling, starting with a pair of soldiers in the Mexican American War in 1847, up to a group of soldiers near the end of the Civil War.

If early images of people smiling do not come as a surprise to you, there are a few things to note. Among other things, a portrait of a person with a grin of any kind is quite a rare find in the early decades of photography.

There are many reasons why this was so, and one of the main hypotheses is that cameras had simply too long of an exposure time for the subject to hold anything but a mute expression. Early daguerreotype images took about 60-90 seconds to expose, though photographic technology was advancing and exposure times were quickly being reduced.

Other theories include widespread poor dental hygiene. But maybe most simply of all, smiling in a photograph was just not the cultural norm it is a today.

Daguerreotype of two American officers during the Mexican-American War, Veracruz, Mexico, 1847.

Daguerreotype portrait of man smiling. Unknown, ca. 1850s.

Daguerreotype of a group of intellectuals in Oslo, Norway, ca. 1850.

Ambrotype self-portrait of Isaac Wallace Baker playing cards, ca. 1853.

Ambrotype of two children with a toy train. Unknown, ca. 1850s.

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Beautiful Paris in 1952

Kodachrome photographs primarily from Ed Kanouse's travels as an electrical engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. He took his first trip to Europe in 1948, and made numerous other trips until his retirement in 1972. He and his wife continued traveling during his retirement. Here’s some of his stunning photographs of Paris taken in 1952.

Le Café du Trocadéro.

Avenue des Champs-Élysées.

In the Jardin des Tuileries.

Dublin in the Early Photography: 28 Historic Pictures Documented Daily Life of the Capital of Ireland Before 1900

Dublin is the capital and largest city of Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster on Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey.

Dublin is one of the top thirty cities in the world, and is a historical and contemporary centre for education, the arts, administration, economy and industry.

Take a trip back to this beautiful city through amazing vintage photos taken from between the 1860s to 1890s.

Doulagh's Church on the Malahide Road, Dublin, ca. 1860s

Horse-drawn omnibus, Westmoreland Street, Dublin, 1863-66

Gentlemen at the Black Church Hotel in Kildare, 1868

Two gentlemen admire the statue of Edmund Burke outside Trinity College Dublin, 1868-70

Main Street in Blackrock, ca. 1870s

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Vintage Hula Girls – 26 Charming Snapshots of Women in Hula Dace Costumes in the Past

The hula dance is one of Hawaii's oldest traditions and is often accompanied by either Hawaiian music (mele) or a traditional Hawaiian chant. While the Hawaiian hula dance has become a popular source of entertainment for visitors to Hawaii, its role in Hawaiian culture is to visually portray the story of the chant or song.

Here below is a charming vintage photo collection of beautiful women in Hula Dance costumes in the past.

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