#1 Lota Cheek, Winner Of A NYC Beauty Contest In 1922

Image credits: Old-time Photos

#2 A Portrait Of Hollow Horn Bear, A Man From The Brulé Native American Tribe. 1907

Image credits: Old-time Photos

#3 Miss Mary Mccandlish, 1840s

Image credits: Old-time Photos

To learn more about the fascinating world of photography from the past, we got in touch with Ed Padmore, founder of Vintage Photo Lab. Ed was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda and discuss why it’s so important to preserve these old pictures.

“When I launched Vintage Photo Lab, I was lucky to still have three grandparents. Today, I no longer have any. Their generation was the first to experience affordable cameras, and whilst lots of families have photos pre-dating this time, it was this period where modern photographic family history began. The Baby Boomer generation came along after them and had even more options: cheaper cameras, instant cameras (Polaroids) and even home movie cameras. With global travel becoming more affordable and commonplace, families were keen to immortalize their new lifestyle (and possibly humble brag to The Jones’ next door).”

#4 Natalie Wood (1950s)

Image credits: Old-time Photos

#5 Men In Harlem Gather In Front Of A Shop To Listen To The Radio, 1940

Image credits: Old-time Photos

#6 A Smartly Dressed Lady From Kentucky, C.1900

Image credits: Old-time Photos

“My generation (Generation X) came along, and we had ‘real’ cameras and developed prints, but also lived the transition to digital,” Ed continued. “So, between us, this generational triumvirate accidentally became the creators – and keepers – of what was the printed, non-digital photographic memorabilia that tell the stories of our recent family ancestors.”

“All of the stories and information are held in the brains of parents and grandparents, and if we don’t record that information now, it will be lost forever,” the photo expert shared. “We’ve all sat round and listened to Grandma say ‘…and that’s your Great Aunty Mabel, she was an acrobat and married the ring master and ended up touring the continent’, or something along those lines. Humans have been telling stories for centuries, and now is no different.”

#7 Young Girl During The Great Depression, 1930s

Image credits: Old-time Photos

#8 San Francisco (1960)

Image credits: Old-time Photos

#9 The Opening Of The Eiffel Tower During The 1889 World’s Fair

Image credits: Old-time Photos

We also asked Ed what we can learn from these vintage photos. “So much! They’re actually very different. And if you think about the difference between then and now, it’s even more marked. We all have a camera in our pocket now. You could trip down some steps today, and several people have captured it, shared it on WhatsApp and posted it on Instagram. Every single photo back then was planned, or at least thought through and more thoughtful; just by the very nature of having to have had a camera with you (not common), having a roll of film, and having a spare exposure in order to take a shot in the first place,” he told Bored Panda.

#10 Handsome Man From The Late 1800s

Image credits: Old-time Photos

#11 Winona Ryder, Late 80s

Image credits: Old-time Photos

#12 Blackfoot Tribe In Glacier National Park, 1913

Image credits: Old-time Photos

“That’s why funny, unexpected and random events in old photos always seem so much more magical to me,” Ed continued. “The odds of capturing that moment were infinitesimally smaller than now. Photographs cost money to take as well. Buying the camera, buying the film, developing the film. You’d didn’t just shoot randomly, willy-nilly. Which, thankfully, means less photos of food, and certainly less selfies! So in a way, it’s a more honest snapshot throughout time. Because it was more real.”

#13 Rural Mail Delivery In 1914

Image credits: Old-time Photos

#14 Harley-Davidson School For Motorcycle Mechanics, 1917

Image credits: Old-time Photos

#15 Woman Packinghouse Worker From Tennessee With Three Of Her Four Children Eating Supper Of Fried Potatoes And Cornbread And Canned Milk. Belle Glade, Florida

Image credits: Old-time Photos

But Ed doesn’t necessarily think it’s a good thing that it’s so easy to take photos today. “I don’t know anybody who doesn’t think it’s ridiculous, the number of photos we now have amassed on our phones,” he shared. “We ran a straw poll recently, and the average was 23,000. What are you even going to do with all those? Which ones are people using or doing anything meaningful with? If you’re organized, you might order a print of a super-special one, or print a photo book to commemorate an event like a holiday or birthday. But it’s a fairly rare that people are that organized.”

#16 Wilt Chamberlain At 17. 1954

Image credits: Old-time Photos

#17 High School Teenagers Drive In Des Moines, Iowa, 1947

Image credits: Old-time Photos

#18 The Hindenburg Floating Past The Empire State Building In 1936

Image credits: Old-time Photos

In fact, Ed believes it’s a real problem that so many of us have thousands upon thousands of photos. “How will people pass down those images to the future generations? There’s likely quite a bit of sorting most people would want to do before they let anybody have full access to their entire digital camera roll. But when will we get around to that? Have people made provisions for allowing relatives access to their digital life? Some people might include passwords to their digital world in their will but not all.”

#19 One Of The Oldest Person To Have Been Photographed In 1840-1850

Image credits: Old-time Photos

#20 People Relaxing In The Sunshine During June Of 1922

Image credits: Old-time Photos

#21 Taken In 1924, Some Friends Enjoy Riding In This New Car, Which Could Travel At Mammoth Speeds Of Up To 25mph

Image credits: Old-time Photos

“And you can think again if you’re hoping Apple will help you access a device that isn’t yours,” the photo expert continued. “There’s actually lots of sad stories about this happening and couples losing photographic memories that they can’t access from each others’ phone and Cloud accounts. But I suppose future generations will learn a lot more about our day to day lives from the avalanche of digital photos they might receive one day. There’s just more. Even if half of that is shared pictures from other people via WhatsApp or random memes that were topical or even mildly funny in that moment but which now might not make all that much sense.”

#22 A Cable Worker During The Construction Of The Empire State Building

Image credits: Old-time Photos

#23 A Mother And Her Eight Sons, All Served, All Came Home

Image credits: Old-time Photos

#24 Behind The Scenes Photos From The Making Of The First Godzilla Movie, 1954

Image credits: Old-time Photos

Ed says that he’s always loved looking at old photographs, so he’s lucky to live in a time where his grandparents didn’t leave behind 25,000 selfies.

“I love the way it feels like a form of time travel. I particularly like everyday shots of real people just going about their business, but in the 1950’s, 60’s or 70’s especially,” he shared. “They also reveal a much simpler time. If you look at street scenery or pictures of town centers several decades ago, it just feels calmer. There’s no street signs telling you not to do this or not to do that, or not to park here, or to only park there. They don’t have metal barriers at every road junction because apparently people were trusted to cross the road sensibly back then.”

“There’s signs and street ‘furniture’ everywhere you look these days. But I suppose that’s all just rose-tinted spectacles and something that easily gives away my age,” Ed added. “Most generations think their childhood was the best, but growing up the 80’s was pretty hard to beat. But possibly only if you grew up in the 80’s.”

#25 Cowboys Enjoy Drinks At The Equity Bar In Old Tascosa, Texas, 1907

Image credits: Old-time Photos

#26 1970s

Image credits: Old-time Photos

#27 This Bride And Groom Were Photographed In The 1860s

Image credits: Old-time Photos

Are you feeling inspired to go digging through the photos that your grandparents left behind, pandas? We hope you’re enjoying scrolling through this list, and feel free to let us know in the comments which images stand out to you. Keep upvoting all of your favorites, and then if you’d like to check out even more photos from the past, we recommend reading this Bored Panda article next!