“A great, wicked and quite extraordinary city” was how, in 1947, LIFE described Shanghai. In 1947, four million people had made the City their residence (today, that number is 26 million). It seemed that at any one time, a very substantial proportion of the population was on the Shanghai streets. “The traffic has become aContinue reading “Street Life of Shanghai in 1947”
Category Archives: street scenes
Beautiful Photos of Venice in the Early 1950s
During the Second World War, Venice was largely free from attack, the only aggressive effort of note being Operation Bowler, a successful Royal Air Force precision strike on the German naval operations in the city in March 1945. The targets were destroyed with virtually no architectural damage inflicted on the city itself. However, the industrialContinue reading “Beautiful Photos of Venice in the Early 1950s”
New York in the Early 20th Century
During the years of 1898–1945, New York City consolidated. New York City became the capital of national communications, trade, and finance, and of popular culture and high culture. More than one-fourth of the 300 largest corporations in 1920 were headquartered there. New transportation links, especially the New York City Subway, opened in 1904, bound togetherContinue reading “New York in the Early 20th Century”
France in the 1940s Through a German Soldier’s Lens
In 1940, France was invaded and quickly defeated by Nazi Germany. France was divided into a German occupation zone in the north, an Italian occupation zone in the southeast and an unoccupied territory, the rest of France, which consisted of the southern French metropolitan territory (two-fifths of pre-war metropolitan France) and the French empire, whichContinue reading “France in the 1940s Through a German Soldier’s Lens”
Vintage Pictures of Post-War London in the 1950s
Edwardian London as Seen Through the Eyes of a Russian Tourist
Beautiful Vintage Kodachrome Photos of Mid-Century Chicago
Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the third-most populous in the United States, after New York City and Los Angeles. With a population of 2,746,388 in the 2020 census, it is also the most populous city in the Midwestern United States. As the seat of Cook County (theContinue reading “Beautiful Vintage Kodachrome Photos of Mid-Century Chicago”
Beautiful Postcards of Cape Town in the 1960s
Cape Town is one of South Africa’s three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest (after Johannesburg). Colloquially named the Mother City, it is the largest city of the Western Cape province,Continue reading “Beautiful Postcards of Cape Town in the 1960s”
Vikki Dougan in Black Backless Dress on the Streets of Hollywood in 1957, the Series Photo That Changed Fashion Forever
If you were to conjure an image of typical 1950s fashion, there’s no doubt the visual would be brimming with knee-length skirts and shoulder covering tops. It was an era, like most before it, of conservative clothing. The bikini had been invented only a handful of years before, and society was still grappling with theContinue reading “Vikki Dougan in Black Backless Dress on the Streets of Hollywood in 1957, the Series Photo That Changed Fashion Forever”
