30 Fascinating Vintage Photos Capture Everyday Life in Harlem in the 1940s

Harlem is a large neighborhood in the northern section of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Since the 1920s Harlem has been known as a major African-American residential cultural and business center.

During the early 1940s African Americans were fleeing from The South hoping for a better life in The North but when they got there it wasn’t what they had expected. In The North they were still treated with racism. When they went to town they would always have to wait until everyone passed by and then they could walk on the street, in some way African Americans were still suffering.

Take a look back at the neighborhood in the 1940s through 30 fascinating vintage black-and-white photographs below:

A double wedding in Harlem, 1940s. (Bettmann)

Couples dancing at Savoy Jazz Club, 1940s. (Bettmann)

Arm wrestling, 1940. (Andreas Feininger)

Easter Sunday, 1940. (Weegee)

A short man, wearing a zoot suit, stands on a chair to get a better view of the dance floor at the Savoy Ballroom, 1940s. (FPG)

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A Flock of Seagulls: One of the Most Influential Bands of the 1980s

A Flock of Seagulls are an English new wave and synth-pop band originally formed in 1979 in Liverpool by Michael “Mike” Score (lead vocals, keyboards), his brother Alister “Ali” James Score (drums), and Francis Lee “Frank” Maudsley (bass), with their most famous line-up consisting of the Score brothers, Maudsley, and lead guitarist Paul Reynolds.

The group first became notable in the 1980s for their music video for “I Ran (So Far Away)” that received airplay on MTV during the Second British Invasion. The band won a Grammy Award in 1983 for their instrumental “D.N.A” (1982).

A Flock of Seagulls were one of the most influential bands of the 1980s, mainly for their unique musical style due to the guitar work of Reynolds. The group also helped define much of what today is dance music, contemporary pop and electronic music.

They had a string of international hit singles including “I Ran (So Far Away)” (1982), “Space Age Love Song” (1982), “Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)” (1982), and “The More You Live, the More You Love” (1984).

In 2018, the members of the original lineup came together to record a new album with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra entitled Ascension.

Here below is a photo collection that captured portraits of members of A Flock of Seagulls in the 1980s.

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Women at Butlins Holiday Camp Wearing Marilyn Monroe Face Masks in Clacton-on-Sea, England, 1952

Ladies have fun in their swimsuits, wearing bizarre Marilyn Monroe papier mache masks, for a beauty pageant. The masks mean they are judged solely on their figure.

Women workers at Butlins Holiday Camp wearing Marilyn Monroe face masks as they parade in their swimsuits. (Photo by Fred Ramage/Getty Images)

Beauty contestants are judged solely on their figures, thanks to the introduction of papier mache masks, at the Butlins Holiday Camp in Clacton-on-Sea, May 27, 1952. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Butlin’s is a chain of large seaside resorts in the United Kingdom. Butlin’s was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families.

The first of the Butlins holiday camps was opened by Butlin in 1936 in Skegness, following his success in developing amusement parks. A second camp quickly followed in Clacton in 1938, and construction of Filey Holiday Camp began in 1939. With the outbreak of the Second World War, building at Filey was postponed, and the camps at Skegness and Clacton were given over for military use. Wartime use of Butlins camps continued, with resorts at Ayr, Filey, and Pwllheli being completed and opened as military camps. This camp was later renamed Wonderwest World, and is now owned and run by Haven, part of Bourne Leisure, who own both brands.

In 1945, with the war over, Filey was re-opened as a holiday camp. The camps at Skegness & Clacton opened in 1946, Ayr and Pwllheli in 1947 and Mosney on the east coast of Ireland in 1948. Butlins became popular in post-war Britain, with family entertainment and activities available for the equivalent of a week’s pay.

In 1948, Butlin acquired two hotels in the Bahamas, and in the 1950s Butlins began opening hotels in England and Wales.

In 1968, Butlin’s son Bobby took over the management of Butlins, and in 1972 the business was sold to the Rank Organisation for £43 million. The number of camps peaked at ten between 1966 and 1980, but the business experienced the problems that were being faced by the British seaside holiday industry at large, with the introduction of cheap package holidays to Mediterranean resorts from the 1960s onwards. It also had a specific image problem of being seen as providing regimented holidays, which caused it to all but abandon the Butlins name at its remaining resorts between 1987 and 1990.

All the Butlins hotels dating from the 1950s to 1990s were sold in 1998, but most are still open today under different ownership. The art deco style Ocean Hotel at Saltdean has been redeveloped into apartments, and the hotels at Cliftonville have both been demolished.

30 Fabulous Photos Show Fashion Styles of Patti Smith in the 1970s

Born 1946 in Chicago, American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and poet Patti Smith became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses.

Called the “punk poet laureate”, Smith fused rock and poetry in her work. Her most widely known song is “Because the Night”, which was co-written with Bruce Springsteen. It reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1978 and number five in the U.K.

In 2005, Smith was named a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. In 2007, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In 2010, Smith won the National Book Award for her memoir Just Kids. The book fulfilled a promise she had made to her former long-time roommate and partner, Robert Mapplethorpe. She placed 47th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of 100 Greatest Artists published in December 2010 and was also a recipient of the 2011 Polar Music Prize.

Take a look at these fabulous photos to see fashion styles of Patti Smith in the 1970s.

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Welcome to EUROBAD ’74, an Exhibition of Europe’s Worst Interiors of 1974

When it comes to fashion and design, no decade is both loved and loathed as much as the 1970s. The following photos – from a collection called EUROBAD ’74 – are breathtaking, but not in the way you’d think. Take a tour of what is described as “Europe’s worst interiors of 1974.”

There’s a dual-function kitchen, a bathroom that would make M.C. Escher proud, and a living room certain to cause lower back injuries. Are these digs really eurotrash or actually super hip? We’ll let you be the final judge.

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25 Cool Photos Show What Women's Swimsuits Looked Like in the 1920s

In the 1920s, the idea of going to the beach and actually getting into the water to swim was still relatively new. Functionality in swimwear was not as important as fashion, so the prevailing theory was that wool would help keep you warm.

As swimming for recreation came into vogue in the 1920s, makers of swimwear had to adapt and make swimwear, well, for swimming. They revolutionized swimwear material with a stretchy ribbed jersey that fit more snug than regular jersey and was certainly more comfortable than thick wool.

This made it easier to swim, but it also showed off more of a woman’s curves. Necklines dropped to deep boat necks or V-necks. Arm holes grew bigger to to making real swimming easier.

Take a look at these cool photos to see what women's swimsuits looked like in the 1920s.

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Piano For the Bedridden, 1935

Piano especially designed for people who are confined to bed, Great Britain, 1935.

This amazing bed piano comes with sheet music of 50 of your favorite melodies from classical to today’s Hit Parade faves! Operators are standing by...

(Photo via Nationaal Archief)