Back Then, Traveling Was Friendlier: 19 Interesting Vintage Photos That Show How Glamorous Train Travel Used To Be

Traveling by train was pretty swanky from the 1930s to the 1960s, and it hasn't gone out of style. First class cabins were furnished like living rooms and included radio gramophones. Passengers dined on fine china and played cards to pass the time.

Here's what train travel looked like in the good old days.

1. People used to dress up for train travel.

Passengers waiting with their luggage to board the first special passenger train to London. (Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

2. No sweats or hoodies here.

Employees of Messrs Carreras peer out of their railway carriage window prior to departure from Charing Cross Station, London, in 1934. (E. Dean/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

3. Traveling was an event.

Employees of Messrs Carreras waving from the platform prior to departure from Charing Cross Station, London, in 1935. (E. Dean/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

4. Railway carriages were spacious and well-lit.

The interior of a carriage circa 1934. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

5. First class cars in particular were tastefully decorated.

Cleaners at work in the luxurious coach 'Minerva' in 1938. (Fox Photos/Getty Images)

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Tallyho Coaching, 1889

Sioux City party coaching at the Great Hot Springs of Dakota. It was taken in 1889 by photographer John C. H. Grabill. The photograph shows a horse-drawn stagecoach carrying several well-dressed women, children, and men.

(Photo: Library of Congress)

Badass Danish Girl, 1969... WAIT FOR IT!

In 1969, a young Danish woman who’s being interviewed by a TV reporter about why she’s traveling alone on foot. She produces some papers to say it’s ok, her parents and the officials have approved hee walking in public. She even procures “a document with a stamp from the local police chief, to verify her story.”

The reporter is worried about her safety and the potential for unwanted harassment, and wonders how she’ll protect herself and... she shows him:

Led Zeppelin, Bowie, Queen, the Stones, and More... 25 Fascinating Photographs Capture Rock Stars As Tourists in Japan in the 1970s and 1980s

When Led Zeppelin arrived in Japan for a 1971 tour less than two months before the release of their fourth album, it was a time of great excitement for the band and for rock ’n’ roll in the land of the rising sun. Zep was one of the first big Western groups to visit, and the lads were welcomed with open arms during their five-gig stint—the more so after their September 27 benefit show for victims at Hiroshima. The city’s mayor even bestowed on the band an honorary medal, leading the ever introspective Jimmy Page to ponder: “It made me think long and hard about the concept of war and its concentrated horror.”

With its reputation for gracious hosting, a hip and young population, and number of large cities, Japan may be the ideal location for any band’s foreign tour. And if you were a visiting rock star in the 1970s or 80s, there’s a good chance your publicist would have scheduled you for a photo shoot with local photographer Koh Hasebe. Hasebe worked for Japanese music publisher Shinko Music and, starting with the Beatles in 1965, he photographed just about every major musician to visit Japan. “It was just as Western artists began to visit Japan, and I somehow became the go-to guy to document tours,” Hasebe recalled in a 2015 Rolling Stone interview.

The band ‘Japan’ on a rainy day in Kyoto, Japan, in February 1981.

David Bowie at a press conference in Tokyo, April 5, 1973.

Van Halen posing with roller skates in the Osaka Castle Park, Osaka, September 1979.

Kiss are presented with flowers by women in kimono at a welcome reception in Tokyo, March 1977.

The Police in the city of Kurashiki, Okayama, January 1981.

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What Passengers Actually Ate on the Titanic? Food Menus Reveal What Was Served on the Ship Before It Went Down

Since its infamous maiden voyage 105 years ago, the RMS Titanic has served as an endless source of fascination for casual filmgoers and hard-core history buffs alike. First, second, and third class menus from the Titanic allow a glimpse into what daily life was like on the infamous steamship before it’s catastrophic collision with an iceberg just before midnight on April 14, 1912. Unsurprisingly, the differences between eating as a first class passenger and a third class passenger were pretty extreme.

In first class, passengers were treated to as many as 13 courses for a single dinner. This menu from the ship shows what these passengers ate for luncheon on the day the Titanic hit the iceberg:

Clearly, first class passengers weren’t lacking in options. The second-class menu is considerably simpler than that for first class, with fewer choices, but it still offered delicacies like lamb, curried, chicken, and roast turkey.

Second class breakfast was also quite hearty and varied. “Grilled ox kidneys & bacon”? Yum!

In third class, dining options were much simpler, with fewer options:

Although these dishes may look a lot less exciting than the feasts served in first class, they were nevertheless substantial and filling, and were in general a lot better than the typical food served to third class passengers on similar ocean liners. Evans points out that, “[c]oming from countries like Ireland and Norway where fresh fruits and vegetables were scarce, many third-class passengers probably found their fare almost decadent.”

(via Bustle)

14 Remarkable Black and White Photographs Capture Air Travel in Its Glory From Between the 1930s and 1970s

It was a golden age of flying - glamorized by first class passengers being fed from silver service food trolleys and celebrities posing next to planes before jetting off around the world. Or in the case of Playboy's Hugh Hefner, posing on a rug with a girlfriend inside his luxurious customized aircraft 'The Big Bunny'.

These remarkable photographs capture air travel in all its glory between the 1930s and 1970s. They include Marilyn Monroe posing for photographers at New York LaGuardia Airport and legendary British rock band Led Zeppelin lined up on the tarmac next to their plane The Starship.

The president of Playboy Enterprises, Hugh Hefner, with girlfriend, Barbi Benton in his luxury DC-9 aircraft 'The Big Bunny' at Heathrow.

Two bartenders prepare drinks for guests at the bar on board the British rock band Led Zeppelin's private jet, July 30, 1973.

Interior view of a commercial passenger plane shows a woman as she contemplates a move in a checkers game she is losing to a young girl, while a man with a cigarette watches them. It was taken some time in the 1950s.

A Pan American (Pan Am) air hostess serving champagne in the first class cabin of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet (date unknown).

Interior view of the first class compartment of a commercial passenger plane (a Boeing) shows, in the foreground, a well-dressed couple as they smile and enjoy their meal, while behind them a flight attendant in a bow tie serves another happy couple. Taken in the 1950s.

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It All Started With a $50 Wager, Two Men and a Pit Bull Took the America's First Cross-Country Road Trip in 63 Days in 1903

Horatio Nelson Jackson (1872–1955) was an American physician and automobile pioneer. In 1903, he and driving partner Sewall K. Crocker became the first people to drive an automobile across the United States.

Besides his medical practice, Jackson was a 31-year-old auto enthusiast who differed with the then-prevailing wisdom that the automobile was a passing fad and a recreational plaything. While in San Francisco's University Club as a guest on May 18, 1903, he agreed to a $50 wager (equivalent to $1,333 in 2016) to prove that a four-wheeled machine could be driven across the country. He accepted even though he did not own a car, had practically no experience driving, and had no maps to follow. Jackson and his wife planned to return to their Burlington, Vermont, home in a few days, and both had been taking automobile driving lessons while in San Francisco. She returned home by train, allowing him to take his adventure by automobile.

Having no mechanical experience, Jackson convinced a young mechanic and chauffeur, Sewall K. Crocker, to serve as his travel companion, mechanic, and backup driver. Crocker suggested that Jackson buy a Winton car. He bought a slightly used, two-cylinder, 20 hp Winton, which he named the Vermont, after his home state, bade his wife goodbye, and left San Francisco on May 23, carrying coats, rubber protective suits, sleeping bags, blankets, canteens, a water bag, an axe, a shovel, a telescope, tools, spare parts, a block and tackle, cans for extra gasoline and oil, a Kodak camera, a rifle, a shotgun, and pistols.

Horatio’s route

Heeding the failed attempt by automobile pioneer Alexander Winton (founder of the Winton Motor Carriage Company, which manufactured Jackson's car) to cross the deserts of Nevada and Utah, Jackson decided to take a more northerly route. A route through the Sacramento Valley and along the Oregon Trail also allowed them to avoid the higher passes in the Rocky Mountains.


Journey

The car was transported by ferry from San Francisco to Oakland and points eastward. But only 15 miles (24 km) into the journey, the car blew a tire. Jackson and Crocker replaced it with the only spare they had, in fact, the only right-sized spare tire they could find in all of San Francisco.

The second night of their journey, they replaced the side lanterns, having discovered on the first night that they were too dim, with a large spotlight mounted on the front of the Vermont. They stopped early in Sacramento to accomplish this. The duo was assisted in Sacramento by bicyclists who offered them road maps. Jackson was unable to buy a new tire, but purchased some used inner tubes.

Going northwards out of Sacramento, the noise of the car covered the fact that the duo's cooking gear was falling off. They were also given a 108-mile (174 km) misdirection by a woman so that she could send them to the spot where her family could see an automobile.

The rough trek towards Oregon required them to haul the car across deep streams with the block and tackle. Somewhere along this route, Jackson lost a pair of his glasses. Items continued to be lost, including another pair of Jackson's glasses. They were also forced to pay a $4 (equivalent to $107 in 2016) toll by a land-owner in order to cross his property on a "bad, rocky, mountain road" as Jackson described it. When their tires blew out they were required to wind rope around the wheels. Jackson did manage to find a telegraph office and wired back to San Francisco for replacement tires to be transported to them along the journey.

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18 Astonishing Vintage Photographs Show Victorian Tourists Climbing Up the Pyramids in Fancy Dresses and Suits

Photographs of the Pyramids of Giza taken at the height of colonialism show tourists climbing the massive structures and offer more insight into the evolution of tourism in Egypt.

While it’s forbidden for tourists nowadays to clamber up Egypt’s pyramids to take a snap, back in Victorian times it was all the rage.

European holidaymakers clad in three-piece suits or long formal dresses and hats had their photographs taken while climbing landmarks and sitting on top of camels at the country’s most recognizable icons including King Khufu’s tomb and the sphinx in Giza.

These vintage photographs capture tourists enjoying picnics and having an after-lunch nap, inside a temple with hieroglyphics.

1860

1867

1867

1880

c.1880. European holidaymakers clad in three-piece suits or long formal dresses and hats had their photographs taken at the country’s most iconic landmarks including the Sphinx of Giza.

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“Stay Away From New York City If You Possibly Can” – An Anti-Tourist Guide to NYC in 1975

Travelers arriving at New York City’s airports in June 1975 were greeted with possibly the strangest object ever handed out at the portal to a great city: pamphlets with a hooded death’s head on the cover, warning them, “Until things change, stay away from New York City if you possibly can.”

Welcome to Fear City: A Survival Guide for Visitors to the City of New York (1975) was published by the Council for Public Safety—police, firefighters and other unions. New York City was in dire financial straits and Mayor Abraham Beame had proposed heavy cuts in municipal services.

The pamphlet—with a skull on the cover—was aimed to discourage tourists from visiting New York City. The pamphlet had received such negative publicity that it was not distributed, although the unions distributed other pamphlets to get their message out. Inside was a list of nine “guidelines” that might allow you to get out of the city alive, and with your personal property intact.

• Stay off the streets after 6 p.m. — “Muggings and occasional murders are on the increase during the early evening hours.”
• Do not walk — “Try not to go out alone.”
• Avoid public transportation — “Subway crime is so high that the City recently had to close off the rear half of each train in the evening so that the passengers could huddle together and be better protected..”
• Remain in Manhattan — “Restrict your travel to daylight hours.”
• Protect your property — “The city is urging everyone to engrave identifying numbers on all property.”
• Safeguard your handbag — “Never let it out of your hands; above all, never let it out of your sight.”
• Conceal property in automobiles — “Remember too that auto thefts have increased this year.”
• Do not leave valuables in your hotel room, and do not depot them in hotel vault — “Hotel robberies have become virtually uncontrollable.”
• Be aware of fire hazards — “Try to avoid buildings that are not completely fireproof.”

Negative nicknames for New York City during this economic crisis period included “Default City,” “Fear City” (by the police and fire unions), “Stink City” (sanitation unions), and “Stupid City” (teachers unions).

Road Trip - Summer of '54: Amazing Trip Diary Through Vintage Photos of A Freelance Photographer

On July 31, 1954, freelance photographer Rosemary Gilliat and her girlfriends, Anna Brown, Audrey James and Helen Salkeld, packed up Helen's Plymouth station wagon and began their 12,391-kilometre road trip across Canada.

During the next 38 days, they crossed five provinces and four states, travelling through Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Washington, Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota, and returning to Ottawa on September 6.

Here is their amazing trip diary through 98 vintage photos.

Helen Salkeld, Audrey James, Anna Brown and Rosemary Gilliat (left to right) getting ready to leave Ottawa, Ontario for their Trans-Canada Highway trip, July 31, 1954

Anna Brown, Helen Salkeld and Audrey James stopping at Deep River (Ottawa River), Ontario. July 31, 1954

Audrey James in a tent [possibly near Temagami, Ontario, July 31, 1954]

Audrey James standing at a large road sign on the Trans-Canada Highway near Kirkland Lake, Ontario, August 1, 1954

Audrey James, Anna Brown and Helen Salkeld erecting tents, Moonbeam, Ontario, August 1, 1954

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Rare Found Photos of Ches McCartney, the Legendary Goat Man That You've Never Seen Before

Charles "Ches" McCartney, (1901–1998) also known as the Goat Man, was an American itinerant wanderer who traveled up and down the eastern United States from 1930 to 1987 in a ramshackle wagon pulled by a team of goats.

He claimed to have covered more than 100,000 miles and visited all states except Hawaii. He was a familiar sight to many travelers and vacationers during those years, and one difficult to not notice or remember.

“The biggest shock I got while going through my box of slides was two pictures of the Goatman Ches McCartney”, Jacob - American photographer - said.

“My mother, who gave me this box of slides, had also given me a Goatman Postcard after my wife had tole her about my obsession with the mysterious traveler. When I found these pictures my hair stood on end with shock and delight and I quickly phoned my mom to thank her. What really suprised me was that she had NO idea that there were any pictures of the Goatman in the slide box, meaning the whole thing was a remarkable coincedence. I am starting to believe there are no real coincedences in life.”

(Photos from Jacob)

20 Early Color Photographs of the British Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition Taken by Frank Hurley in 1915

Frank Hurley (1885–1962) was an Australian photographer and adventurer. He participated in a number of expeditions to Antarctica and served as an official photographer with Australian forces during both world wars.

His artistic style produced many memorable images. He also used staged scenes, composites and photographic manipulation.

These are Frank Hurley's famous early color photographs of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated 'Endurance' voyage, as part of the British Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, from 1914 to 1917. Hurley was the official photographer on the expedition.

Frank Hurley photographing under the bows of the 'Endurance', 1915

Frank Hurley with cinematograph, 1915

Glacier in New Fortuna Bay, 1915

Glimpse of the ship 'Endurance' through hummocks, 1915

New Fortuna Glacier, 1915

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Amazing Vintage Photographs Documented a Road Trip Through Death Valley in 10 Days in 1926

The Death Valley Automobile Trip photograph album containing 76 prints appears to be the record of a sightseeing trip made from Los Angeles to Death Valley in 1926.

A written record--in the form of diary entries--is also included and consists of a series of detailed captions describing the landscape, landmarks, and individuals encountered in Death Valley. Neither the diarist nor the photographer is identified.

The photos and captions offer tantalizing but limited clues to an adventure we can only imagine; a risky mixture of moxie, foolishness and technology that only the first decades of the 20th century could meld. They chronicle a 10-day camping and sightseeing vacation, presumably round trip from Los Angeles to Death Valley, aboard a trio of early 1920s Ford Model Ts: two Touring Cars and a Runabout/Pickup. The photos are dated January 8-17, 1926.

DAY 1, 142 miles: The first night was spent at Black Hawk Mine near Randsburg, California; the mileage indicates that L.A. is one likely starting point.

DAY 2, 88 miles: Their trek east begins in earnest as they "start for the red hot pit, Death Valley." The first available water was in Atolia; then to Owl [Hole] Springs, "one of the water holes of the twenty mule-team borax days." They "arrive at Confidence Mills, a very aged mining venture" where one of the gents spies a most excellent but enormous souvenir: a three-foot-diameter cast-iron cog wheel which likely weighed several hundred pounds. "But when he came to pick it up decided for his flivver's sake to leave it."

Our first picture, a dry lake Jan. 9, 1926.

Start for the red hot pit Death Valley.

We dine on Sweet Bread, Jan. 9, 1926.

Our first water after leaving, Atolia was named Granite Springs; Granite Springs.

One of the mounds of Granite from which the Springs derived its name.

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