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.”