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31 Amazing Photographs Showing Life in Amsterdam During the 1950s and 1960s

Amsterdam is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands with a population of 872,680 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban area and 2,480,394 in the metropolitan area. Found within the province of North Holland, Amsterdam is colloquially referred to as the “Venice of the North”, due to the large number of canals which form a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Amsterdam was founded at the Amstel, that was dammed to control flooding; the city’s name derives from the Amstel dam. Originating as a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century, and became the leading centre for finance and trade. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the city expanded and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned and built. The 17th-century canals of Amsterdam and the 19–20th century Defence Line of Amsterdam are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Sloten, annexed in 1921 by the municipality of Amsterdam, is the oldest part of the city, dating to the 9th century.

Amsterdam’s main attractions include its historic canals, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum, Hermitage Amsterdam, the Concertgebouw, the Anne Frank House, the Scheepvaartmuseum, the Amsterdam Museum, the Heineken Experience, the Royal Palace of Amsterdam, Natura Artis Magistra, Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam, NEMO, the red-light district and many cannabis coffee shops. It drew more than 5 million international visitors in 2014. The city is also well known for its nightlife and festival activity; with several of its nightclubs (Melkweg, Paradiso) among the world’s most famous. Primarily known for its artistic heritage, elaborate canal system and narrow houses with gabled façades; well-preserved legacies of the city’s 17th-century Golden Age. These characteristics are arguably responsible for attracting millions of Amsterdam’s visitors annually. Cycling is key to the city’s character, and there are numerous bike paths.

The Amsterdam Stock Exchange is considered the oldest “modern” securities market stock exchange in the world. As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered an alpha world city by the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) study group. The city is also the cultural capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters in the city, including: the Philips conglomerate, AkzoNobel, Booking.com, TomTom, and ING. Moreover, many of the world’s largest companies are based in Amsterdam or have established their European headquarters in the city, such as leading technology companies Uber, Netflix and Tesla. In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked the second best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and 12th globally on quality of living for environment and infrastructure by Mercer. The city was ranked 4th place globally as top tech hub in the Savills Tech Cities 2019 report (2nd in Europe), and 3rd in innovation by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow in their Innovation Cities Index 2009. The Port of Amsterdam is the fifth largest in Europe. The KLM hub and Amsterdam’s main airport, Schiphol, is the Netherlands’ busiest airport as well as the third busiest in Europe and 11th busiest airport in the world. The Dutch capital is considered one of the most multicultural cities in the world, with at least 177 nationalities represented.

A few of Amsterdam’s notable residents throughout history include: painters Rembrandt and Van Gogh, the diarist Anne Frank, and philosopher Baruch Spinoza. (Wikipedia)

(Photos © Leonard Freed/Magnum Photos)

35 Amazing Color Photographs Showing America from between 1940 and 1943

**Freight Depot of the U.S. Army consolidating station, Chicago, Ill. 1943**

**View down the main street from the Grand Hotel, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas Island, Virgin Islands. 1941**

**Chopping cotton on rented land, near White Plains, Greene County, Ga. 1941**

**View down the main street from the Grand Hotel, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. 1941**

**Small farm of John P. Collins, Taunton, Mass. 1941**

**Children gathering potatoes on a large farm, vicinity of Caribou, Aroostook County, Me. Schools do not open until the potatoes are harvested. 1940**

**Going to town on Saturday afternoon, Greene County, Ga. 1941**

**Women workers employed as wipers in the roundhouse having lunch in their rest room, C. & N.W. R.R., Clinton, Iowa. 1943**

**Going to town on Saturday afternoon, Greene Co., Ga. 1941**

**Skating, vicinity of Brockton, Mass. 1940**

**Cornshocks in mountain farm along the Skyline Drive in Virginia. 1940**

**Railroad crossing along the Skyline Drive, Virginia. 1940**

**Belt Railway, looking toward the west yard of clearing yard, taken from bridge of hump, Chicago, Ill. 1943**

**One of the steep streets on the hillsides, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas Island, Virgin Islands. 1941**

**Field of a mountain farm along the Skyline Drive in Virginia. 1940**

**The coast of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. 1941**

**One of the steep streets on the hillsides, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. 1941**

**Barker at the grounds at the Vermont state fair, Rutland. 1941**

**Commuters, who have just come off the train, waiting for the bus to go home, Lowell, Mass. 1941**

**A street in a town of the Virgin Islands, Christiansted, Saint Croix. 1941**

**Street in a town in the Virgin Islands. 1941**

**At the Vermont state fair, Rutland. 1941**

**Side shows at the Vermont state fair, Rutland. 1941**

**Children with adult in the tenement district, Brockton, Massachusetts. 1940**

**“Backstage” at the “girlie” show at the Vermont state fair, Rutland. 1941**

Trucks outside of a starch factory, Caribou, Aroostook County, Me. There were almost fifty trucks in the line. Some had been waiting for twenty-four hours for the potatoes to be graded and weighed. 1940

**Packing oranges at a co-op orange packing plant, Redlands, Calif. Santa Fe R.R. trip. 1943**

(Photos by Jack Delano, via Library of Congress)

20 Early 20th Century Portraits of a Young Evelyn Nesbit, America’s First Supermodel

Evelyn Nesbit (born Florence Evelyn Nesbit; December 25, 1884 or 1885 – January 17, 1967) was an American artists’ model, chorus girl, and actress. She is best known for her years as a young woman in New York City, particularly her involvement in a deadly love triangle between railroad scion Harry Kendall Thaw and architect Stanford White, which resulted in White’s murder by Thaw in 1906.

In her day, Nesbit was a famous fashion model, being frequently photographed for mass circulation newspapers, magazine advertisements, souvenir items, and calendars. When in her early teens, she had begun working as an artist’s model in Philadelphia. Nesbit continued after her family moved to New York, posing for legitimate artists including James Carroll Beckwith, Frederick S. Church, and notably Charles Dana Gibson, who idealized her as a “Gibson Girl”. She was an artists’ and fashion model when both fashion photography (as an advertising medium) and the pin-up (as an art genre) were beginning to expand.

Nesbit entered theater, first as a chorus line dancer. She was offered a contract as a featured star, and attracted attention from a variety of wealthy men, including Stanford White, nearly three times her age. In 1905, Nesbit married Harry Thaw, a multi-millionaire with a history of mental instability and abusive behavior. The next year, on June 25, 1906, Thaw shot and killed White at the rooftop theatre of Madison Square Garden.

The press called the resulting court case the “Trial of the Century”, and coverage of these well-known figures was sensational. Nesbit testified that White had befriended her and her mother, but had sexually assaulted her when she was unconscious. Thaw was said to have killed White in retaliation, based on his own obsession with Nesbit.

Nesbit visited Thaw while he was confined to mental asylums. She toured Europe with a dance troupe, and her son, Russell Thaw, was born there. Later she took the boy with her to Hollywood, where she appeared as an actress in numerous silent films. Russell also acted in some of these. Nesbit wrote two memoirs about her life, published in 1914 and 1934. Her son later became a pilot, working as a test pilot for the Douglas Aircraft Company after World War II.

Nesbit died in a nursing home in Santa Monica, California, on January 17, 1967, at the age of 82. She had been a resident there for more than a year. She was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. (Wikipedia)

41 Fascinating Photos that Shows Life in the Wicker Park Neighborhood of Chicago in the Late 1950s

Wicker Park is a neighborhood of about 26,000 residents within the West Town community area in Chicago, Illinois. Situated west of the Kennedy Expressway, east of Humboldt Park, and south of the Bloomingdale Trail, Wicker Park is known for its local hipster culture, art community, nightlife, and food scene.

In recent years, Wicker Park has seen record real estate and commercial development, particularly along the CTA Blue Line subway. Wicker Park is home to many luxury boutique shops and several flagship stores including Adidas Originals, Champion, Arc’teryx, and Yeti. Located within the 60622 zip code, Wicker Park is home to some of Chicago’s most expensive real estate with median home prices over $550,000.

22 Vintage Photographs of Children From the 1940s to the 1960s

Below are 22 fascinating vintage photographs capture children’s life in France, Switzerland and the United States by LIFE photographer Yale Joel from the 1940s to 1960s:

**Small flock of chickens in Swiss farmyard being fed by girl of the farm family, Switzerland, 1947.**

Elementary school music teacher playing F-Major chord on piano while corresponding keys light up on plastic keyboard model above him as do finger chart for L & R hand & notation for Treble a Bass clefs while student watch & immitate on dummy keyboards, 1947.

**A boy dancing while the French gypsies around him playing music and watching, France, 1948.**

**Children watching circus show, Switzerland, 1948.**

**Child actor Chet R. Allen mulls over his lines in a classroom in which boys’ choir used as a dressing room, 1952.**

**A small boy playing in a tree during springtime in Clarksville, Arkansas, 1953.**

**Kids playing outdoors during springtime in Clarksville, Arkansas, 1953.**

**Children petting on of the winning dogs of the Mutt Derby, Topsfield, Massachusetts, 1953.**

**Children petting a dog at a Mutt Derby event, Topsfield, Massachusetts, 1953.**

**Group of boys club little league baseball players putting on their uniforms while sitting in classroom of school prior to playing a game, Manchester, New Hampshire, 1954.**

**A boy playing catcher during a Little League baseball game, 1954.**

**Children participating in a bicycle safety program run by the police, New York, 1954.**

**Fathers and their children imitating giraffes during play period of special Father’s Day at co-op nursery school owned by parents, New York, 1955.**

**Children looking out the window of a building in the neighborhood of the Mad Bomber, 1957.**

**A father giving his children haircuts, 1958.**

**Children playing on a playground, 1958.**

**Second graders using abaci especially designed to teach them arithmetic, Columbus, Ohio, 1958.**

**Children playing on a swing set, 1958.**

**School children visiting the British aircraft carrier HMS ‘Ark Royal,’ 1961.**

**Children wearing Batman costumes in a New York dance class, 1966.**

**Two children, both dressed in Batman capes, jump in front of a studio mirror during a dance class, New York, 1966.**

**A girl playing with a clown at the ‘HemisFair’ in San Antonio, Texas, 1968.**

45 Vintage Photos Showing Couch Styles in the 1950s

23 Stunning Colorized Victorian Era Portraits

The series of stunning photographs show a young couple dressed in opulent clothing, teenage girls with their hair in ringlets and children all with a solemn look on their faces. Other breathtaking shots show a heavily bearded man and a young man casually leaning for his photo opportunity.

The images were expertly colorized by French bank technician Frédéric Duriez by using Gimp editing software. Duriez, who has been colorizing for three years, said he was attracted by the beauty of the clothes and especially the dresses of this period.

“I was fascinated by these portraits without expression because all the looks are frozen in time,” said Frederic. “It was very difficult to colorize these images because they are without relief and contrast… I was attracted by the beauty of the clothes and especially the dresses of this period.”

(Photos Colorized by Frédéric Duriez)

23 Amazing Color Portraits of Artist Frida Kahlo During the 1930s – 1950s

Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón, (6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country’s popular culture, she employed a naïve folk art style to explore questions of identity, postcolonialism, gender, class, and race in Mexican society. Her paintings often had strong autobiographical elements and mixed realism with fantasy. In addition to belonging to the post-revolutionary Mexicayotl movement, which sought to define a Mexican identity, Kahlo has been described as a surrealist or magical realist. She is known for painting about her experience of chronic pain.

Born to a German father and a mestiza mother, Kahlo spent most of her childhood and adult life at La Casa Azul, her family home in Coyoacán – now publicly accessible as the Frida Kahlo Museum. Although she was disabled by polio as a child, Kahlo had been a promising student headed for medical school until she suffered a bus accident at the age of 18, which caused her lifelong pain and medical problems. During her recovery, she returned to her childhood interest in art with the idea of becoming an artist.

Kahlo’s interests in politics and art led her to join the Mexican Communist Party in 1927, through which she met fellow Mexican artist Diego Rivera. The couple married in 1929, and spent the late 1920s and early 1930s travelling in Mexico and the United States together. During this time, she developed her artistic style, drawing her main inspiration from Mexican folk culture, and painted mostly small self-portraits which mixed elements from pre-Columbian and Catholic beliefs. Her paintings raised the interest of Surrealist artist André Breton, who arranged for Kahlo’s first solo exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York in 1938; the exhibition was a success, and was followed by another in Paris in 1939. While the French exhibition was less successful, the Louvre purchased a painting from Kahlo, The Frame, making her the first Mexican artist to be featured in their collection. Throughout the 1940s, Kahlo participated in exhibitions in Mexico and the United States and worked as an art teacher. She taught at the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado (“La Esmeralda”) and was a founding member of the Seminario de Cultura Mexicana. Kahlo’s always-fragile health began to decline in the same decade. She had her first solo exhibition in Mexico in 1953, shortly before her death in 1954 at the age of 47.

Kahlo’s work as an artist remained relatively unknown until the late 1970s, when her work was rediscovered by art historians and political activists. By the early 1990s, she had become not only a recognized figure in art history, but also regarded as an icon for Chicanos, the feminism movement and the LGBTQ+ movement. Kahlo’s work has been celebrated internationally as emblematic of Mexican national and indigenous traditions and by feminists for what is seen as its uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form. (Wikipedia)