Photographs can have several functions. We can use photography to capture and communicate emotions. We can also document the present so we can look back on it later and call it ‘past.’ The Internet is full of enthusiasts of the former and the latter.
Here, we are covering an online community called Utterly Unique Photos. They describe themselves as a group that posts photographs “that can sometimes be odd or surreal but are always unique.” We’ve scoured the subreddit and found the most fascinating historical pictures for you to check out. So scroll down and let us know your favorites by upvoting them!
#1 A Piglet Which Is Being Treated By The Pdsa (People’s Dispensary For Animals) In Ilford With A Sun Ray Lamp, To Cure A Skin Ailment, 1938
Image credits: dannydutch1
#2 A Tactical Trick Used By Soldiers During The Mexican Revolution, 1913
Image credits: dannydutch1
#3 A Champagne Inspector Wearing A Special Mask To Protect Against Accidental Discharges, Ca. 1933
Image credits: dannydutch1
#4 1963: A Clown At The Lunch Counter
Image credits: morganmonroe81
#5 Children Playing With A Toy Guillotine, France, 1959
Image credits: dannydutch1
#6 ‘The Half Suit’ Photo And Concept By Pippa Garner, 1982
Image credits: dannydutch1
#7 An Iron Man Of The Past In A Diving Suit. The Suit’s Name Was ‘Iron Man’ Too. It Had Electric Charging And Pressure Protection Systems. New York, 1907
Image credits: dannydutch1
#8 Punk Rock Girl London, 1979
Image credits: Same_Possibility4769
#9 Prisoners At Dachau Concentration Camp Greet Their American Liberators From A Barbed-Wire Fence.(Germany, April 1945)
Image credits: dannydutch1
#10 An Enthusiast For Men’s Dress Reform Walking Down The Strand In London. The Mdrp (Men’s Dress Reform Party) Was Formed In The Interwar Years In Britain, 1930
Image credits: dannydutch1
#11 Seeing Two Mickeys On A Parisian Street In The Early 1930’s Either Elicited Pure Delight Or Sheer Terror
Image credits: dannydutch1
#12 British Military Equipment Disguised As Elephants, India, Wwii
Image credits: dannydutch1
#13 Breakfast Tea Being Passed Between Cars On A Train From Peshawar To Lahore In 1983. Photographed By Steve Mccurry
Image credits: dannydutch1
#14 Quality Control At Emi’s Vinyl Lp Pressing Plant In London (1965). The Beatles Rubber Soul
Image credits: dannydutch1
#15 British Hurdler Percy Hodge Demonstrates The Perfect Obstacle Jump While Carrying A Bottle And A Glass On A Tray. Percy Hodge Became An Olympic Champion In The 3000m Hurdles In 1920
Image credits: dannydutch1
#16 An Ultra Light Horse-Drawn Car In Traffic Paris (1943)
Image credits: dannydutch1
#17 Oldriev’s New Tricycle. Photo By Chas. W Oldrieve, 1882
Image credits: dannydutch1
#18 A Soviet Light Bath: An Ultraviolet Light For Children To Get Enough Vitamin D During The Long Winters Without Much Sunlight
Image credits: noveltyesque
#19 Straw Hats Made By Messrs Olney’s Of Luton, Bedfordshire Being Carried To The Packing Rooms, 1933
Image credits: dannydutch1
#20 Puritan Demonstrates Against Too Revealing Swimwear On A Florida Beach, 1985. USA
Image credits: dannydutch1
#21 Dr. Lewis Sayre Treating Scoliosis, Checking The Curvature Of The Spine – 1870s
Image credits: dannydutch1
#22 A Telepath Tries To Hypnotise A Chimpanzee, 1941
Image credits: dannydutch1
#23 Salvation Army Preacher Captain R. Brodie, Dressed Up In Costume To Make His Messages, Called “Character Sermons,” More Visual & Memorable, Pictured In North London In 1911
Image credits: noveltyesque
#24 Mask-Maker And Nebraskan Artist Doane Powell (1881-1951)
Image credits: dannydutch1
#25 A Fake Ghost Scene Taken By Two Brothers, Circa 1900s-1910s
Image credits: ZenCollects
#26 By Alfred Eisenstaedt. Student Nurses Getting Lessons, Roosevelt Hospital NY, 1938
Image credits: dannydutch1
#27 Physicists And Nobel Prize Winners Marie Curie And Pierre Curie Shortly After Their Wedding. France (1895)
Image credits: dannydutch1
#28 “Only In The Provinces Are The Great Melancholy Cultivated, The Silence And Solitude Essential To Succeed In Such A Tiring Sport As Cycling” The Words Of Gianni Brera Are Reflected On The Face Of Giusto Cerutti, The Piedmontese Runner Immortalized During The 1928 Tour De France
Image credits: dannydutch1
#29 Chrysler Corporation Offers $2,000 To Anyone At The 1976 Chicago Auto Show Who Could Break The Composure Of Living Mannequin Nancy Del Corral
Image credits: morganmonroe81
#30 Charles Godefroy Flies Through The Arc De Triomphe In Paris. The Height Of The Opening Is 29.42 M, The Width Is 14.62 M. The Wingspan Of The Aircraft Is 9 Meters Wide, 1919
Image credits: dannydutch1
#31 Welsh Spiritualist Colin Evans Feigns Levitation By Jumping Up And Down In Total Darkness And Filming Himself With An Infrared Camera. London, 1939
Image credits: dannydutch1
#32 A Circus Performer In An Aquarium Car With Crocodiles, Berlin, 1933
Image credits: dannydutch1
#33 Women Riding Chinese Men Working As Porters, Using A Frame To Mount, Control And Steer Them As A Means Of Transport. The Woman On The Left Is A Canadian, Ethel Vinden Née Dickson With The Protestant Missionary Group China Inland Mission. China, 1920s
Image credits: dannydutch1
#34 Lucille Ball, Once Called The Greatest Pair Of Legs On Broadway, In A 1930s Publicity Still As A Blonde
Image credits: TheWallBreakers2017
#35 A Beach Party In The 1970s
Image credits: dannydutch1
#36 A Lady Is Arrested During The Battle Of Cable Street, 1936. For Those Unaware, The Battle Was Between The Residents Of East London And Oswald Mosley’s Facist Blackshirts
Image credits: dannydutch1
#37 A Studio Portrait Of Hattie Tom, A Young Chiricahua Apache Woman, Photographed At The U.S. Indian Congress Of The Trans-Mississippi And International Exposition In Omaha, 1898
Image credits: dannydutch1
#38 ‘Coffin Beds’ At A Salvation Army Shelter In London. Operated By The Salvation Army, They Are One Of The First Homeless Shelters Created For The People Of Central London. Aka “Four Penny Coffin”, For Four Pennies, A Homeless Client Could Stay At A Coffin House, C.1900
Image credits: dannydutch1
#39 London Olympics, 1908, I Have No Info About This Photo But It’s Utterly Unique
Image credits: Same_Possibility4769
#40 Boy Poses With Deceased Brother – 1800s Tintype – Found At Thrift Store
Image credits: TabascoWolverine
#41 8-Year-Old Freddie Mcintosh In A Sun Protection Suit
Image credits: dannydutch1
#42 Boo-Koo Hamburger Stand In Harlingen, Texas. Burgers 5 Cents, Chili A Dime, Breakfast Two Bits, The 7up Is Real. (Photo By Russell Lee. February 1939)
Image credits: dannydutch1
#43 Around 1890, A Mother And Her Son Were Captured In A Photograph Taken In Lisdoonvarna, Ireland. The Son, Who Was A Ballad Singer, Can Be Seen Holding A Printed Poem In His Hand
Image credits: dannydutch1
#44 Families Whose Relatives Were Buried In A Cemetery That Was To Be Covered By Norris Lake Had The Option To Have Their Loved One Dug Up And Moved To A New Cemetery. Campbell County, Tennessee, Early 1930s
Image credits: Quick_Presentation11
#45 1st Black South African Olympians, Len Taunyane (Left) & Jan Mashiani (Right), Raced Barefoot In 1904 Olympics. Despite Challenges, Taunyane LED Until Chased By Wild Dogs, Finishing 9th & 12th
Image credits: dannydutch1
#46 This Photo Was Taken By Ethnologist Nils Keyland In Mangskog Parish, Värmland, Sweden In 1922. The Man Is Holding A Type Of Bloodletting Instrument Known As A Fleam
Image credits: dannydutch1
#47 Dr. Hawley Crippen After His Arrest On Board The Montrose, July 1910. Crippen Was Fleeing After Murdering His Wife In London. He Was Arrested With His Mistress Who Was Dressed Disguised As Boy
Image credits: dannydutch1
#48 A Lady From The Ouled Naïl Tribe In Algeria, Photographed By Rudolph Lehnert In 1904
Image credits: dannydutch1
#49 Six-Year-Old Anne Frank Holding A Jumping Rope Next To Her Friend, Sanne Ledermann, On A Pavement In Amsterdam. 1935
Image credits: dannydutch1
#50 A French Civilian Woman Pours A Drink Of Cider For A British Soldier With Bren Machine Gun In Lisieux, 1944
Image credits: Quick_Presentation11
#51 Riders On The New York Subway Sit Without Newspapers During A Newspaper Strike In The City (1953)
Image credits: dannydutch1
#52 Husband And Wife, Sunday Morning, Detriot, Michigan, 1950 By Gordon Parks. He Had Been Sent Back To Fort Scott (Where He Lived Until He Was 16) By Life Magazine To Find 11 Members Of His Segregated Elementary School And See What Became Of Them. The Story Was Never Published
Image credits: dannydutch1
#53 Old Vennel, Glasgow. From Thomas Annan’s Photograph Series Of ‘The Old Closes And Streets Of Glasgow’ 1868
Image credits: dannydutch1
#54 Wilton Lackaye As Svengali
Image credits: Same_Possibility4769
#55 A Pair Of Entertainers Unpacking Their Dummy Friend In 1925
Image credits: morganmonroe81
#56 G.o.e Herbert Tea & Dining Rooms, 10 New Street, Chipping Norton, England. 1910
Image credits: dannydutch1
#57 Because Of The Influenza Epidemic, Open-Air Police Court Being Held In Portsmouth Square, San Francisco. To Prevent Crowding Indoors, Judges Held Outdoor Court Sessions. (1918-1919)
Image credits: dannydutch1
#58 Two Kashmir Giants Posing With The American Photographer James Ricalton, 1903. One Of The Giants Was 7’9” Tall While The “Shorter” One Was A Mere 7’4” Tall
Image credits: dannydutch1
#59 Costermonger Joesph Carney Sells Fresh Herring From His Barrow In The Market Of Seven Dials, London. 1877
Image credits: dannydutch1
#60 Taken During The Sinking Of The Estonia In The Baltic Sea, 1994. The Photographer Was Using The Camera Flash To Try Signaling For Help. He And The Man Pictured Are Clinging To The Exterior Overturned Keel Of The Sinking Ferry. Both Men Survived. 852 Of The 989 Onboard Perished
Image credits: noveltyesque
#61 Rudolph Pohorschelek In 1864, Vienna, Austria. Victorian Manspreading…
Image credits: dannydutch1
#62 1942, Rio De Janeiro Brazil, Orson Welles At The Carnival
Image credits: dannydutch1
#63 “South End On Sea” Take By Chris Steele Perkins, These Are Called Teddy Boy’s If You Don’t Know. 1976
Image credits: Same_Possibility4769
#64 Air Travel Ltd’s Fox Moth Biplane At Bruce Bay, Westland, New Zealand, September 1935
Image credits: dannydutch1
#65 Boren City Citizens Await The Appearance Of The Virgin Mary At The Viaduct, Not Far From The Christian School, Where Children Allegedly Observed Her The Day Before. Belgium, 1933
Image credits: dannydutch1
#66 1934 Dance Marathon Participants At Crystal Lake Park In Marion, Ohio
Image credits: morganmonroe81
#67 Last Known Photograph Of A Barbary Lion Before Presumed Extinction, In The Atlas Mountains In North Africa, Taken In 1925 By Marcelin Flandrin
Image credits: noveltyesque
#68 A Swagman Using A Hollowed Gum Tree As A Campsite, 1880. A Swagman Was A Transient Labourer Who Travelled By Foot From Farm To Farm Carrying His Belongings In A Swag (Bedroll). The Term Originated In Australia In The 19th-Century And Was Later Used In New Zealand
Image credits: dannydutch1
#69 The Local Priest Takes A Strong Turn At The Front And Gives These Atala Cyclists A Break During Their Training Run In Preparation For The 1959 Giro D’italia Stage Race. Italy – Near Milan, 1959
Image credits: dannydutch1
#70 Cloth Fair, Smithfield, 1906, With What Appears To Be Weeds On Top Of A Ledge, On Close Inspection Looks Like Dead Plants In Pots. A Little Girl Plays With A Doll In A Box Pulled Along By String. Why An Opened Door So High Up?
Image credits: dannydutch1
#71 Explorer Henry Morton Stanley And His Adopted Son Kalulu, 1872. Born Ndugu M’hali He Would Only Live For 12 Years But In That Time He Visited Europe, America And The Seychelles. He Had A Book Dedicated To Him, A Model In Madame Tussauds, And Was A Guest At David Livingstone’s Funeral
Image credits: dannydutch1
#72 May 3rd 1960, Otto Frank Standing In The Annex That He And His Family Hid In During Wwii. Until They Were Found And Arrested By The Gestapo In 1944
Image credits: The0Goblin0Queen
#73 Blind Wwi Veteran’s Marriage, 1921
Image credits: dannydutch1
#74 Wernher Von Braun, Designer Of The Saturn V , Poses In Front Of Its Engines (1969). Braun Was The Head Of The German Rocket Industry In World War II. At The End Of The War, He Was Brought To The US
Image credits: dannydutch1
#75 Rural Life In England, Photographed By William Morris Grundy In 1855
Image credits: dannydutch1
#76 1968. My Grandfather In The Second Korean War, Dmz
Image credits: Longjumping_Vast5971
#77 Marchand D’abat-Jour (Lampshade Seller), Rue Lepic, 1900
Image credits: dannydutch1
#78 The Coffin Of The Red Baron Being Carried By Members Of The Australian No. 3 Squadron, Lead By An English Priest, For Burial In Northern France. The Ace Pilot Of World War I Germany Was Shot Down On April 21, 1918, And Given A Full Military Funeral By The Australian Unit Who Recovered His Body
Image credits: noveltyesque
#79 April 1974 – St. Cloud, Minnesota
Image credits: lasocs
#80 Wyatt Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) Photographed By His Wife Josephine Earp
Image credits: dannydutch1
#81 Edward Viii Wearing Japanese Garb While On A Tour Of Japan As Prince Of Whales In 1922
Image credits: noveltyesque