Rare Photos Capture Street Scenes of Tel Aviv in the Late 1930s and Early ’40s

Tel Aviv is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline, it is the economic and technological center of the country. If East Jerusalem is considered part of Israel, Tel Aviv is the country’s second most populous city after Jerusalem; if not, Tel Aviv is the most populous city ahead of West Jerusalem.

Tel Aviv is a beta+ world city and is ranked 41st in the Global Financial Centres Index. It has the third- or fourth-largest economy and the largest economy per capita in the Middle East. The city has the 31st highest cost of living in the world.

A “party capital” in the Middle East, Tel Aviv has a lively nightlife and 24-hour culture. It has been called The World’s Vegan Food Capital, as it possesses the highest per capita population of vegans in the world, with many vegan eateries throughout the city.

After the 1947–1949 Palestine war, Tel Aviv began the municipal annexation of parts of Jaffa, fully unified with Jaffa under the name “Tel Aviv” in April 1950, and was renamed to “Tel Aviv-Yafo” in August 1950.

Tel Aviv and Jaffa were later merged into a single municipality in 1950, two years after the Israeli Declaration of Independence, which was proclaimed in the city. Tel Aviv’s White City, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, comprises the world’s largest concentration of International Style buildings, including Bauhaus and other related modernist architectural styles.

Here below is a set of rare photos from aussiejeff that shows street scenes of Tel Aviv from the late 1930s to early 1940s.

Looking south along Allenby Road (now Allenby Street) at the intersection with King George Street, Tel Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), circa 1937

Great Synagogue looking south on Allenby Road (now Allenby Street), Tel Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), circa 1937

Looking east along Boulevard Rothschild (now Rothschild Boulevard) near the intersection with Herzl Street, Tel-Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), circa 1937

Looking north along Ben Jehuda Road (now a street) from the intersection with what is now Sderot Ben Gurion, Tel Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), circa 1937

Looking north along Ben Jehuda Road (now Ben Yehuda Street) near the intersection with Allenby Road, Tel Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), circa 1937 2

Looking north along Bialik Street, Tel Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), circa 1937. The historic Bialik House is on the right. The old Town Hall (aka City Hall) is in the centre of the image

Looking south-west across the old Tel Aviv port facility as dock workers wait next to a port crane, Tel Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), circa 1937

On the seaside. Commercial sign for “Cafe Semadar” can be seen on the multi-storey building at far right of the pic, along with some more advertising in Hebrew. Tel Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), circa 1937

The Bialik School in Tel Aviv was built in the 1930s in the Modernist style, by Yaacov Shiffman (Ben Sira), Tel-Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), circa 1937

The Zina Dizengoff Square, Tel Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), circa 1937

Mugrabi Opera, better known in later years as the “Moghrabi Theatre”, Tel Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), 1938

Reading Power Station, Tel Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), circa 1939

Soldiers relaxing outside the Australian Soldier's Club, Tel Aviv Yafo, Palestine (now Israel), 4 November 1940

The commercial is for “Bira Nesher” (Neshser Beer). “Nesher” means “vulture”. It was the first beer industrially produced in Israel/Palestine (It exists from 1936 until today), 4 November 1940

Wreck of a small illegal Jewish immigration ship that was deliberately beached at Tel Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), 4 November 1940

Wreck of the illegal Jewish immigration ship SS “PARITA”, beached at Tel Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), 4 November 1940

Allied troops and local Tel-avivians enjoying the sun, sand and surf on the crowded beach at Tel Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), July 1942

Australian Army 4th Anti-Malarial Control Unit mates in Tel Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), July 1942

Australian Army private WX5340 Sydney "Syd" Frederick Peters of 2/4 AMCU in a street of Tel-Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), July 1942

Australian Soldiers Club main entrance looking west with the Mediterranean Sea in the background, Tel-Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), July 1942

Australian Soldiers Club on the beach front, Tel-Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), July 1942

Looking south towards the old coastal town of Jaffa, along the crowded beachfront at Tel Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), July 1942

View south towards Old Jaffa as allied troops and crowds of local Telavivians enjoy a beautiful sunny day on the beach at Tel-Aviv, Palestine (now Israel), July 1942