35 Fascinating Vintage Photos of the U.S Taken by Theodor Horydczak

Born 1889 in Lyck, Germany (now Poland) and emigrated in 1907, American photographer Theodor Horydczak is believed to have taken up photography during or after World War I, possibly while a member of the U.S. Army Signal Corps. His numerous “Washington as it Was” photographs are housed in the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division in the James Madison Memorial Building.

The United States from the late 1920s to ’40s photographed by Theodor Horydczak

Horydczak was known for his photographs of the exteriors and interiors of commercial, residential, and government buildings and of events such as the 1932 Bonus Army encampment and the 1933 World Series. He retired in 1959.

Horydczak used a large-format Gold Ansco camera and typically used the photographic style called “bracketing,” or taking many subsequent images at different aperture settings. He married Frederica; they had a daughter Norma.

Horydczak died in 1971 in Montgomery, Pennsylvania, aged 82. These fascinating photos are part of his work that Theodor Horydczak took the United States from the late 1920s to 1940s.

Marketing at Center Market, Washington, D.C., circa late 1920s to early ’30s

Shopping at Center Market, Washington, D.C., circa late 1920s to early ’30s

View of the Lincoln Memorial statue through columns, 1925

Construction of Memorial Bridge over Potomac River, Washington, D.C., circa 1930

Exterior of the Washington Gas Light Co., circa 1930s

See more»

1956 Horseless Carriage Cavalcade

The cars shown here, all on public display at 1956 Carriage Cavalcade at Florida’s Silver Springs, go a long way toward explaining how antique car bugs get that way.

For example, the 1903 Crestmobile was loaded with features that are now regarded as pretty modern: steering column shift, automatic clutch, an engine mounting resembling Chrysler Floating Power, and adjustable steering wheel. The 1925 Rickenbacker had four-wheel brakes—but the motoring public fell victim to a whispering campaign that this great safety advance was unreliable. The Rumpler Drop Car was an attempt to streamline the passenger car (racing bombs had been built much earlier). To people who love cars, these old-timers are automotive history.

Rumpler Drop Car (1918-21) is an early German streamliner. Rear-mounted engine has four cylinders, 60 mph top speed.

1913 Stutz Bearcat’s four-cylinder mill gets up to 80 mph; handling is truly sporty.

1913 Imp Cyclecar had two-cylinder air-cooled engine, cost $375, never sold well.

Hispano-Suiza is powered by huge V12 engine that develops 220 hp unsupercharged.

1925 Rickenbacker sports roadster; this was first auto with four-wheel brakes.

See more»

Adorable Photos of Bebe Buell and Her Daughter Liv Tyler in 1980

From 1972 to 1979, American fashion model Bebe Buell lived with rock musician Todd Rundgren. In 1976, Buell became pregnant from a brief relationship with Steven Tyler. She gave birth on July 1, 1977, naming the daughter Liv Rundgren and claiming that Todd Rundgren was the biological father because Tyler was in the middle of his well-documented drug excesses.

Liv told People Magazine in 1992 that “Todd’s my spiritual father. I love him.” By then Rundgren and Buell had ended their romantic relationship but Rundgren nevertheless signed the birth certificate and acted as a father figure to Liv, including paying for her education.

At age 10 or 11, Liv met Steven Tyler and suspected he was her father when she observed a resemblance between her and Tyler’s daughter Mia.[ When she asked her mother, the secret was revealed. The truth about Tyler’s paternity did not become public until 1991, when she changed her surname from Rundgren to Tyler, but kept Rundgren as a middle name. Buell’s stated reason for claiming that Rundgren was Liv’s father was that Steven Tyler was too heavily addicted to drugs at the time of Liv’s birth.

Since learning the truth about her paternity, Liv and Steven have developed a close relationship. They also have worked together professionally, once when she appeared in Aerosmith’s music video for “Crazy” in 1993, and again when Aerosmith performed songs in the film Armageddon (1998), in which Liv starred. Tyler maintains a close relationship with Rundgren. “I’m so grateful to him, I have so much love for him. You know, when he holds me it feels like Daddy. And he’s very protective and strong.”

Below are some adorable photos of Bebe Buell and her daughter, (future actress) Liv Tyler in New York, in 1980. The photographs were taken by Marcia Resnick.

See more»

40 Gorgeous Photos of Helen Morgan in the 1920s and ’30s

Born 1900 in Danville, Illinois, American singer and actress Helen Morgan worked in films and on the stage. A quintessential torch singer, she made a big splash in the Chicago club scene in the 1920s.

Morgan starred as Julie LaVerne in the original Broadway production of Hammerstein and Kern’s musical Show Boat in 1927, as well as in the 1932 Broadway revival of the musical, and appeared in two film adaptations, a part-talkie made in 1929 (prologue only) and a full-sound version made in 1936, becoming firmly associated with the role.

Morgan suffered from bouts of alcoholism, and despite her notable success in the title role of another Hammerstein and Kern’s Broadway musical, Sweet Adeline (1929), her stage career was relatively short. She died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1941 at the age of 41.

Morgan was portrayed by Polly Bergen in the Playhouse 90 drama The Helen Morgan Story and by Ann Blyth in the 1957 biopic based on the television drama. Take a look at these gorgeous photos to see portraits of Helen Morgan in the 1920s and 1930s.

See more»

Be a Christmas Tree Was a Fad of the 1900s

It seems that during the Edwardian era, folks had a fascination with dressing up in Christmas tree costumes. And some of the costumes are very authentic, if nothing else.

The Christmas tree during this era had a lot of tinsel and a lot of homemade ornaments. The days of pretty, uniform, professional looking ornaments was not yet upon us, and only businesses or the more astute citizens would have lights on their trees. So perhaps the people were seeking a way to make the Christmas tree more exciting and full of life. What better way to do that than to actually BE a Christmas tree?!

From children, to full grown women, it seems that people of all ages joined in on the idea. This fad was much like the “ugly sweater” contests of today. The embarrassment and oddness of the costumes became part of the game, and part of what made it “cool” and festive.

Amazing Vintage Photos of People Posing With Citroën Automobiles

Citroën is a French automobile brand. The “Automobiles Citroën” manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired 89.95% share in 1976. Citroën’s head office is located in the Stellantis Poissy Plant in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine since 2021 (previously in Rueil-Malmaison) and its offices studies and research in Vélizy-Villacoublay, Poissy (CEMR), Carrières-sous-Poissy and Sochaux-Montbéliard.

People posing with their Citroëns from between the 1920s and ’60s

In 1934, the firm established its reputation for innovative technology with the Traction Avant. This was the world's first car to be mass-produced with front-wheel drive, four-wheel independent suspension, as well as unibody construction, omitting a separate chassis, and instead using the body of the car itself as its main load-bearing structure.

In 1954, they produced the world’s first hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension system then, in 1955, the revolutionary DS, the first mass-produced car with modern disc brakes and, in 1967, they introduced in several of their models swiveling headlights that allowed for greater visibility on winding roads; these cars have received various national and international awards, including three European Car of the Year awards.

Here below is a set of amazing photos from Vintage Cars & People that shows people posing with their Citroëns from between the 1920s and 1960s.

A German middle-class family posing in an open-top Citroën 5 HP Torpédo in front of a monumental equestrian statue in Deutsches Eck, a landmark in the town of Koblenz at the confluence of the rivers Rhine and Moselle, circa 1925

A cheerful young lady posing on the bonnet of a Citroën Type B14 Berline in a forest. The car is registered in the Prussian province of Brandenburg, circa 1929

A company of six posing with a Citroën C4 aboard a river ferry on a gloomy winter's day. The gents are wearing suits and fedora hats, the ladies are dressed in fur-trimmed woolen coats, circa 1930

A fellow in a suit, two ladies, and three children posing with a Citroën C6, circa 1930

A middle-aged lady posing with a six-cylinder Citroën C6 in front of an impressive piece of Art nouveau architecture, possibly a spa building or sanatorium. She is wearing a floral dress, white hat, and two-tone shoes, circa 1930

See more»

22 Extraordinary Photographs of Jim Morrison

Perhaps the most charismatic, enigmatic and iconic rockstar in history, American singer-songwriter Jim Morrison was also an accomplished poet. His haunting baritone vocals, wild personality, and nihilistic angst personified hippie counterculture rebellion and left a seminal legacy unmatched by any other rock artist. He wrote some of the most authentic, imaginative and visionary music of the rock era.

Born “James Douglas Morrison” in Melbourne, Florida on December 8, 1943, his father was professional navy man. As a young boy traveling, the young Morrison witnessed a car accident in the desert in which he saw a family of Native Americans dying on the road. He would later claim that the soul of a Native American merged with his own.

While studying in high school in the late 1950s, Morrison explored, and was influenced by the work of poets and philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Allen Ginsberg and Michael McClure. He finished his undergraduate degree at UCLA’s film school in 1965, and made several surreal short films.

It was in UCLA where Jim Morrison met Ray Manzarek, a fellow cinematography student. In the summer of 1965, the two formed a band called The Doors, and later recruited guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. The band’s name was influenced by Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception.

The Doors become the house band at the famous nightspot Whisky a Go Go in 1966. That same year, Morrison met Andy Warhol, who was in Los Angeles with the Velvet Underground. The Doors rose to worldwide prominence after signing with Elektra Records in 1967. The single “Light My Fire” spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

After the release of their second album, Strange Days, The Doors would be the largest band in the United States, and Morrison would have fabled meetups with Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Mick Jagger. The legendary image of bare-chested Jim Morrison would become one of the most popular global insignias in popular culture. Morrison established a close bond with Michael McClure, who encouraged him to publish his poetry.

Alcoholism and drug addiction destroyed the golden years of Morrison’s career. After being wrongly arrested over supposedly exposing himself onstage in Miami in 1969, Morrison lost interest in being a pop star and eventually relocated to Paris to live as a poet.

Morrison died aged 27 of a heroin overdose on July 3, 1971, in a Paris apartment he shared with Pamela Courson. His grave in Père Lachaise Cemetery is one of the most often visited places in the City of Light. It attracts thousands of tourists and fans each year.

See more»