If you’ve ever bemoaned the fact that you share a bathroom with several family members or housemates, you’re not alone. Most New Yorkers live in apartments and most units have just a single bathroom. A hundred and fifty years ago, however, the situation was much worse. At the time, New Yorkers had just a fewContinue reading “This Is What Life Was Like in New York City Before the Invention of Indoor Plumbing and Indoor Toilets”
Tag Archives: 1800s
World’s Oldest Bras From the 15th Century Discovered in an Austrian Castle
The bra and panty set were discovered hidden in a vault at Lengberg Castle in East Tyrol, Austria in 2012 and is thought to date back to the 15th century, a much earlier time period for these types of garments than previously believed. “We didn’t believe it ourselves,” Beatrix Nutz, the archaeologist responsible for theContinue reading “World’s Oldest Bras From the 15th Century Discovered in an Austrian Castle”
Amazing Vintage Photographs of Paris During the 1860s & 1870s
Beginning in the mid-1850s, Paris experienced a grand transformation. At the orders of Napoleon III, old, narrow streets made way for wide boulevards, thousands of gas lamps lit the streets at night, and a host of other public projects thoroughly modernized the city. Charles Marville, a photographer employed by the city, was charged with documentingContinue reading “Amazing Vintage Photographs of Paris During the 1860s & 1870s”
The Story Behind The Gruesome Wounded Knee Massacre, December 29, 1890
The Wounded Knee Massacre was one of the most notorious episodes of violence by the United States government against Native Americans. While most peoples know about the horrors of the Wounded Knee Massacre in South Dakota, few know the backstory to the incident, which involves a Paiute prophet named Wovoka. In 1889, Wovoka went intoContinue reading “The Story Behind The Gruesome Wounded Knee Massacre, December 29, 1890”
How Society Treated Children From Poor Backgrounds During the Victorian Era
For petty crimes such as stealing daily necessities such as food and clothing, they have faced hard labor and jail. And these haunting photographs show the stern and haggard faces of Victorian criminal children who were sentenced to tough punishments in the 1870s, with many looking remarkably older than their actual ages. The children inContinue reading “How Society Treated Children From Poor Backgrounds During the Victorian Era”
13 Amazing Vintage Photographs of American Pioneering Cowgirls
The word cowgirl originally emerged in the early 19th century. However, unlike the term cowboy, which defined a man as one who tended cows, herded cattle or worked in rodeos, the term cowgirl embodied an emboldened, pioneering spirit. That is perhaps, because in those days it was virtually unheard of for a woman to performContinue reading “13 Amazing Vintage Photographs of American Pioneering Cowgirls”
Amazing Photos of the Seven Sutherland Sisters And Their 37 Feet of Hair From the 19th Century
Sarah, Victoria, Isabella, Grace, Naomi, Dora and Mary: the seven Sutherland sisters were born in quick succession between 1846 and 1865. They were raised in a small log cabin in Niagara County, New York State. Education was a luxury, shoes were worn only on Sundays, the girls’ dresses were sewn from burlap and their motherContinue reading “Amazing Photos of the Seven Sutherland Sisters And Their 37 Feet of Hair From the 19th Century”
Valley Of Death: 33 Historic Photos From The Crimean War
These haunting Crimean War photos represent some of the first battlefield photos ever taken and reveal the history of this overlooked conflict that shaped Europe for decades. When the Crimean War broke out between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire and its allies in 1853, photographers took their new technology to the front linesContinue reading “Valley Of Death: 33 Historic Photos From The Crimean War”
Execution by Cannon in Shiraz, Iran From the Mid-Late 19th Century
Execution by cannon was a method of execution in which the victim was typically tied to the mouth of a cannon which was then fired. The prisoner is generally tied to a gun with the upper part of the small of his back resting against the muzzle. When the gun is fired, his head isContinue reading “Execution by Cannon in Shiraz, Iran From the Mid-Late 19th Century”
Early Photographs of Streets of Glasgow From the Late 19th Century
Created between 1868 and 1871 as part of a commission from the City of Glasgow Improvements Trust, the Fife-born photographer Thomas Annan’s photographs of the working class areas of old Glasgow helped document the impoverished living conditions of the working class at the time. Glasgow is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-mostContinue reading “Early Photographs of Streets of Glasgow From the Late 19th Century”
