Victorian Women Bowling, circa 1900

As bowling moved into the 20th century, so too do the displays. A diorama from the early 1900s will show pin boys on the lanes. A newsstand will display how people learned about bowling in the printed media. These rare vintage photographs captured Victorian women playing bowling circa 1900.

(Photos by William M. Vander Weyde / George Eastman House Collection)

16 Rare Color Photos Capture Everyday Life in Kyoto in the 19th Century

These are some beautiful vintage pictures that show everyday life in Kyoto in the 19th century.

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Moscow Beauty ’88

The first Soviet beauty contest was the contest “Moscow Beauty-88,” and the first officially recognized by the national beauty became grader Masha Kalinina.

Final of “Moscow Beauty-88” was held in the Palace of Sports in the Luzhniki Stadium. The competition was held for three days.

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Swan in a Car, 1936

1936 Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England: A pet swan named Leila being helped into a car where it enjoys a ride to the shops. Its owner, Mrs. Watson, says that Leila, who has been a family pet for two years, can open doors and is a good guard dog.

(Photos by William Vanderson)

“I Was There” – Incredible Vintage Photographs Captured Tourists on the Overhanging Rock in the Early 20 Century

Overhanging Rock was a popular location in the early years at Yosemite. Perched 3200 feet over the valley floor, it has been a focal point of trips to Glacier Point ever since the first trails were built to Glacier Point in 1857. The nearby cliff was the site of the original Fire Fall started by James McCauley, who in 1871 had Four Mile Trail built from McCauley’s home in the Valley to Glacier Point, where he built the Glacier Point Mountain House in 1872. He started the tradition of pushing coals over the cliff to a ledge far below, which lasted until 1897 when the Washburn Brothers bought him out. They did not continue the tradition.

When David Curry established Camp Curry in 1899, he heard about the Fire Fall and beginning in 1900 he re-established the tradition. The Fire Fall was a major nightly attraction in the summer months until 1968, when the National Park Service ended it.

Overhanging Rock itself was used as a site for photographs of the “I was there” variety from the early days. The first automobile to enter Yosemite Valley was a 1900 Locomobile steam car driven by Oliver Lippincott. It was driven up the steep, winding road to Glacier Point, and the next morning it was hauled out onto Overhanging Rock by ropes for a famous photograph. This photograph was duplicated by many people after that, and many early automobile manufacturers had advertising photos done there with their cars. Some of the earliest images were done by Yosemite’s first resident photographer, George Fiske, in the 1880s and 1890s. After Fiske died in 1918, the young Ansel Adams made prints from his negatives. During the early years (and later), many people used Overhanging Rock as a location for group shots (sometimes with horses or cars), but there were also many people who performed numerous antics on the rock, perched 3200 feet over the valley. High kicks and handstands were made into early postcards, and there is even one with a worried-looking riderless horse peeking over the edge.

Below are some incredible vintage photographs from the early days.

Man and woman standing on rock extending from top of cliff; woman is raising her right leg as though to step off.

A 1916 Publicity shot of a Studebaker Roadster.

Locomobile steam car on Overhanging Rock in 1900. This was the first automobile to enter Yosemite Valley. Oliver Lippincott drove up the steep, winding road to Glacier Point. The next morning it was hauled onto Overhanging Rock by ropes for this famous photograph.

Kitty Tatch and Katherine Hazelston were waitresses in Yosemite’s Sentinel Hotel in the 1890s. They danced atop Overhanging Rock at Glacier Point for George Fiske’s famous photograph.

A man poses atop Overhanging Rock at Yosemite National Park’s Glacier Point, circa 1920s.

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Funny Photos of Cats by Nina Leen

Nina Leen was a Russian-born American photographer, a constant contributor to LIFE. She is remembered above all for her photographs of animals. Below are some of funny photos of cats taken by LIFE photographer Nina Leen.

Cat in a pot of milk

Cat going swimming

Cat in a maze

18 Amazing Colorized Photos of Jews in the Middle East and North Africa Around the Turn of the 20th Century

The photochrom prints were very popular around the 1890s. Although color photography has been invented, it had not yet been commercialized at that time. The Photochrom process won a gold medal at the Paris Universal Exposition in 1889. This technique was exported to the United States via the Detroit Publishing Company in 1897 as well. The company produced up to seven million photochrom prints in some years and offered ten to thirty thousand different views.

At the beginning of the 20th century, photochrom prints were sold a lot in tourist sites, particularly in the Middle East, which fascinated Europeans. The subjects were mostly grand monuments, landscapes, notable events, and exotic everyday life.

These amazing colorized photographs show the everyday lives of Jews in the Middle East and North Africa around the turn of the twentieth century.