Tag Archives: life & culture

30 Amazing Photographs Showing Life in Mexico During the Early 20th Century

Agustín Víctor Casasola (1874-1928), others cite: (1874-1938) was a Mexican photographer and partial founder of the Mexican Association of Press Photographers. Casasola began his career as a typographer for the newspaper El Imparcial, eventually moving to reporter then on to photographer in the early 1900s. He became a photographer in 1894. By 1911 Casasola wasContinue reading “30 Amazing Photographs Showing Life in Mexico During the Early 20th Century”

Twain in Tesla’s Lab: The Friendship Between Nikola Tesla and Mark Twain

Nikola Tesla and Mark Twain were friends and mutual admirers. Tesla – recognized as a scientist, inventor and discoverer, Twain – famous writer, travel writer and a satirist – both of them were real dreamers. As well as being a gifted writer, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) was fascinated with technology. When he was born inContinue reading “Twain in Tesla’s Lab: The Friendship Between Nikola Tesla and Mark Twain”

Secretly Photographing the Holocaust: 44 Rare Photos Taken by a Jewish Photographer That Show Daily Life in the Lodz Ghetto During World War II

The Lódz Ghetto or Litzmannstadt Ghetto (after the Nazi German name for Lódz) was a Nazi ghetto established by the German authorities for Polish Jews and Roma following the Invasion of Poland. It was the second-largest ghetto in all of German-occupied Europe after the Warsaw Ghetto. Situated in the city of Lódz, and originally intendedContinue reading “Secretly Photographing the Holocaust: 44 Rare Photos Taken by a Jewish Photographer That Show Daily Life in the Lodz Ghetto During World War II”

Major General Horatio Gordon Robley With His Collection of Tattooed Maori Heads, 1895

Horatio Gordon Robley (1840-1930) was a British army officer and artist who served in New Zealand during the New Zealand land wars in the 1860s. He was interested in ethnology and fascinated by the art of tattooing as well as being a talented illustrator. He wrote two books relating to his time in New Zealand,Continue reading “Major General Horatio Gordon Robley With His Collection of Tattooed Maori Heads, 1895”

Manhattan Project: 20 Black and White Photos Document Everyday Life in the Secret City, Oak Ridge, in the 1940s

Starting in 1942, the U.S. government began quietly acquiring more than 60,000 acres in Eastern Tennessee for the Manhattan Project — the secret World War II program that developed the atomic bomb. The government needed land to build massive facilities to refine and develop nuclear materials for these new weapons, without attracting the attention ofContinue reading “Manhattan Project: 20 Black and White Photos Document Everyday Life in the Secret City, Oak Ridge, in the 1940s”

Go West, Young Woman! A Short History of Mail-Order Brides of the Wild West

Why would a young woman leave her family, and her home – likely never seeing them again in this earthly life – to travel in sub-par quarters to become a mail-order bride? Why would a bachelor agree to marry someone he had come to know only through her letters? The phenomenon of a courtship correspondenceContinue reading “Go West, Young Woman! A Short History of Mail-Order Brides of the Wild West”

Rare and Amazing Vintage Photos Showing London in the Late 1940s

Photographer Ernst Haas (1921–1986) is best known for his color saturated images of post-war America, where he moved in 1951. Born in Vienna, Haas suffered under the Nazi occupation, turning to photography after being kicked out of medical school for being Jewish. His big break came after his photographs of prisoners of war returning toContinue reading “Rare and Amazing Vintage Photos Showing London in the Late 1940s”

The Luxury Apartment on Wheels: Camping in Style in a 1930s Jungle Yacht

The Jungle Yacht was created for and used by Italian explorer Commander Attilio Gatti and his wife, who both traveled extensively to the African Congo as a deluxe apartment “for his 1937-1940 (his 10th) and 1947 (his 11th) expeditions” and “equipped them quite lavishly.” The expedition used two streamlined trailers designed by Count Alexis deContinue reading “The Luxury Apartment on Wheels: Camping in Style in a 1930s Jungle Yacht”

Amazing Vintage Photographs Capture Harlem Street Life in the Late 1930s

Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harlem area encompasses several other neighborhoods and extends west to theContinue reading “Amazing Vintage Photographs Capture Harlem Street Life in the Late 1930s”