111 Photos From More Than A Hundred Years Ago That Continue To Resonate Today

Life before the digital age has become a distant memory for many who lived it. Thankfully, we have photographs to remind us about those simpler times.

Today, we’re not just doing any other throwback. We’re winding back the clock to the 1890s to give us a glimpse of how massively different things were. These antique snapshots are from a Facebook group aptly named “Photographic Traces from 1890 until 1950.”

If the group name isn’t enough of a giveaway, expect to see historic pictures of a tattoo parlor in the 1930s, a dance class in the 1900s, and a rare image of the ever-stunning Marilyn Monroe in a potato sack dress from the early ‘50s.

Enjoy scrolling, as these vintage photos may also enthrall you.

#1 “The Forbidden City.” San Francisco’s Chinatown’s World Famous Nightclub, Mai Tai Sing And Her Chorus-Line Dancers In A Publicity Shot For “Holiday Magazine” In 1948

Image credits: Francis Sistiague

#2 Edmund Kesting. Portrait With Shadow 1930

Image credits: Lise Baladanté

#3 Marilyn Monroe In A Potato Sack Dress (1951)

Image credits: Iny Vaini

Nostalgia is a powerful emotion. Everyone enjoys a trip down memory lane, even if that journey goes back to a century ago. It’s also why the vintage aesthetic is a popular photography trend, so much so that digital cameras have retro filters.

According to wedding photographer Lena Christine, the use of vintage and film “taps into our yearning for the good old times.”

“The grainy texture, muted tones, and soft focus of images invite us into the past the way we experience an old family album,” she wrote in an article for her website.

#1 “The Forbidden City.” San Francisco’s Chinatown’s World Famous Nightclub, Mai Tai Sing And Her Chorus-Line Dancers In A Publicity Shot For “Holiday Magazine” In 1948

#2 Edmund Kesting. Portrait With Shadow 1930

#3 Marilyn Monroe In A Potato Sack Dress (1951)

#4 Claude Cahun. Autoportrait 1929

#5 Subway Entrance, New York By Homer Page 1949

#6 Portrait Of A Oilof Family (‘oilof’ Is An Old Spelling For Wolof), Captured By French Photographer Emile Noal (1868-1903) Between 1890-1900 In St-Louis, Senegal (West Africa)

#7 A Young Berber Girl With Her Traditional Regalia, From The Ouled Nail Tribe, Algeria, North Africa. Photography By Lehnert-Landrock, 1905

#8 Bassano Ltd. The Model Andrea Mijinska 1930

#9 Mrs Amália Helena Mária Róza Putti Aka “Lya De Putti”. Silent Movies Era Austro-Hungarian Star

#10 Unknown Photographer. School Teacher At Her Desk 1899. Cyanotype

#11 Mrs Marlene Dietrich, Photography By Wolff Von Gudenberg In Berlin, 1929

#12 1933, Paris – Dutch-Javanese Model Catharina ‘Toto’ Koopman

#13 Bassano Ltd. Gabrielle Ray 1910

#14 Albert Einstein Joue Avec Son Violon Adoré, 1941

#15 Arnold Genthe. The Dancer Constance Stewart-Richardson 1913

#16 Adolf Miethe. Woman By The Sea 1903. Autochrome

#17 Paris Opera, 1949

#18 André Kertész. Satirical Dancer 1926

#19 J. Lacroix. Good Night 1901

#20 Johannes Fischer. Double Portrait Of Egon Schiele With Cigarette 1915

#21 Edward S. Curtis. The German Actress And Suffragette Hedwiga Reicher 1920-1925. Gelatin Silver, Toned

#22 Beatriz Michelena, Mignon, 1914

#23 Dora Kallmus – Arthur Benda Modèles Nus Aux Accessoires (Margot Di Tisoni, Lotte Heurs, Toni Rippel), C. 1925-1935

#24 Jacob Merkelbach. The Dancer Angele Sydow 1917-1919

#25 Amy Peterson’s Portrait Of A Champagne Inspector, Wearing A Special Mask To Protect Against Accidental Discharges

#26 On Easter Morning In 1941, A Group Of African American Boys Dressed In Their Finest Clothes Gathered On The South Side Of Chicago, Posing Atop A Parked Car

#27 Paul Almasy. Young Reader In The Park Of The Champs Elysées. 1947

#28 A Reflection Of Notre Dame Cathedral And A Sitting Dog Photographed In 1958 By Inge Morath In Paris, France

#29 Rudolf Koppitz. The Dancer Hedy Pfundmayr 1930

#30 Allan Grant. Edith Piaf, New-York 1952

#31 Guido Rey (Italian Pictorialism). Classical Costume Scene 1905

#32 Rudolf Koppitz. The Dancers Manon Chaufour And Otto Werberg As Cactuses 1929

#33 Peggy Shannon ♥️ (1907-1941) American Film Star Of The Pre-Code Hollywood Era Posing For A 1931 Photograph By Margaret Chute

#34 Lee Miller. Self-Portrait, 1932

#35 Martin Imboden. The Dancer Manon Chaufour 1930

#36 The 20’s Fabulous Rózsika And Janka Deutsch Aka “The Dolly Sisters” Were Hungarian-American Identical Twin Dancers, Singers And Actresses, Famous Stars Of The World Famous “Ziegfeld Follies” And The “Folies Bergere” In Paris

#37 Actress – Model Helen Bennett In A “Spider” Dress, 1939

#38 The Actress Myrna Loy In The Barbarian Directed By Sam Wood In 1933

#39 La Mariée De Notre-Dame, 1949

#40 Man Ray. Lee Miller And An Unidentified Woman 1930

#41 Korean War Kiss-Goodbye, Los Angeles, September 06, 1950

#42 Robert Doisneau. The Lovers, Opera, Paris 1950

#43 Actress Myrna Loy In “The Mask Of Fu Manchu.” 1932

#44 Alfred Stieglitz. The Cards’s Players 1894

#45 Eckersberg, Else, Actrice Allemagne Dans Le Rôle De « Christiane » Dans La Pièce « Das Schwache Geschlecht », 1931

#46 Angela Lansbury (‘princess Gwendolyn’ And Her Hamburger….) Eating With Basil Rathbone (‘sir Ravenhurst’)

#47 Paul Bergon. Portrait Of A Woman 1904

#48 Un Vol De Porto Rico À New York. 1946

#49 Claude Cahun. Don’t Kiss Me I’m In Training 1927

#50 Portrait Of Actress Jeanette Macdonald Holding A Cat Named “Pozzums” In 1932

#51 Mary E. Watts. The Water Spirit 1937

#52 1890s – Tibetan Lady Ani Chokyi By Photographer Thomas Parr, Darjeeling, India (Albumen Print)

#53 Arnold Genthe- Edna St. Vincent Millay ( 1914)

#54 Cette Italienne Inspecte Curieusement Le Kilt D’un Soldat Écossais. Colisée, Rome En 1944

#55 Jacques Biederer. Untitled 1920s

#56 Isidora Duncan’s Dance Students, Early 1900s

#57 “Gold Diggers” 1933

#58 Jacob Merkelbach. Portrait Of A Woman In Red Dress 1920s

#59 Unknown Photographer. Hilde Hager’s School Of Dance 1930

#60 1942 – Navajo Mother, Rose, And Her Son Ben Chee Henry, Canyon De Chelly, Arizona

#61 Martin Imboden. Axi Bleier 1933

#62 Tatoo Parlor, Late 30’s Archives. Winston, Salem, North Carolina

#63 Crowd Meets The “Graf Zeppelin” At The Airport Chemnitz/Germany On November 30, 1930

#64 A View Of The Acropolis Of Athens, Greece In 1860

#65 Guido Rey – Le Rosier, Ca 1903

#66 Kent Walmer. Summer School Students Of Miss Margaret Morris Rehearse On The Beach 1934

#67 Unknown Photographer. Hilde Hager’s School Of Dance 1930

#68 Yva (Else Ernestine Neuländer-Simon). Fashion Photo With Amphora 1930

#69 July 9, 1926. Washington, D.c. “Girls In Bathing Suits With Ukuleles”

#70 The Sisters Lois Waddell ❤️ And Ruth Waddell ❤️ Who At A Single Sitting Consumed 204 Oysters Between Themselves At The January 1925 Great Oyster Eating Contest

#71 Martin Imboden. The Dancer Gertrud Kraus 1929

#72 Edwina Booth (1904-1991) Ca 1930

#73 Miss Dubois Ferguson ♥️ Posing For Mccullagh Of Berkeley Circa 1918 Which Was Originally Published With The Caption “Who Has Been Judged Physically Perfect!”

#74 Hannah Höch And Her Puppets 1920

#75 Fred Daniels. Margaret Morris’s Dancers 1920s

#76 1949 – Chorus Girl Linda Lombard, Resting Her Legs After A Tough Night On Stage

#77 Chorus Girl, 1933 By James Jarché

#78 Hollywood Walk Of Fame Legendary Actress Jane Greer 09/09/1924

#79 Anonymous Photographer. Woman With Veil 1932

#80 Lewis W. Hine – Albanian Woman, Ellis Island (1905)