Vintage Found Photos of People Reading in the Past

When thinking about reading, most of us take it for granted. It’s just there, it’s a thing we are given, nobody has to try hard to learn to read.

So why do we read? Because reading increases your vocabulary and your knowledge of how to correctly use new words, reading helps you clearly articulate what you want to say. The knowledge you gain from reading also gives you lots to talk about with others.

Unfortunately many people’s relationship with books is going through a rough patch due to the social media era and the convenience of smartphones. Before them, here is a vintage photo collection from simpleinsomnia that shows people reading in the past.

Family reading around the dining room table, circa 1900

Woman rests in a large hammock, circa 1900s

Couple reading books in front of a fireplace, circa 1910s

Group listening to a woman read aloud, circa 1910s

Man with a pipe reading a book, circa 1910s

Man sits in his library, June 29, 1912

Man smokes a cigar and reads the paper, circa 1915

Little girl reading a book in a burned-out forest, circa 1920s

Man reading the newspaper outside, circa 1920s

Little boy with spectacles reading "The Bow Wow Book", January 1924

Beautiful woman reading while having tea, circa 1930s

Elderly woman sitting in the dark reading a book, circa 1930s

Man reads while laying on a chair, circa 1930s

Two women having tea, circa 1930s

Two women inside a rustic cabin, circa 1930s

Woman reading in the sitting room, circa 1930s

Woman reading a magazine outside, circa 1940s

Young man reading The Saturday Evening Post, circa 1940s

Elderly man reads "Readers Digest" in the living room, 1943

Man reading Life Magazine, circa 1950s

Man holds baby while reading a book, July 1957

Elderly woman reading a book in her parlor

Elderly woman reading a book outside

Elderly woman reading a newspaper

Little girl reading a book outside

Little girl reading at a table

Man laying on a bed and reading a book

Man reading a book by the window

Man reading a book in his office

Man reading a magazine in his chair

Man reads a magazine in his office

Old Danish man reading the paper and smoking a cigar

Woman reading a book in bed

Woman reading a book outside

Woman reading a magazine outside

Young man reading while lying down