37 Unconventional, Strange, Funny, and Flat-Out Fascinating Pictures From the Distant Past

There was a time when taking a photo was a full-blown production. You didn't just casually snap 17 selfies while waiting for your coffee. No — you booked a time slot at the studio, wore your best outfit, maybe even got your hair done, and stood very still while a serious man with a mustache told you not to blink. A photo used to mean something.

And then came disposable cameras. And then came smartphones. And now, a photo isn't even a photo unless it gets a hundred likes or gets turned into a meme. Honestly, we scroll past so many faces every day that we don't realize how precious they are until it's too late. That happened to me recently. We had dozens of photos of my mother-in-law, but after she passed away, one of them — the last one, where she's smiling so brightly — suddenly became priceless.

So today, we're slowing things down and looking at photos the old-fashioned way. Not just any photos, though. These are 37 unconventional, strange, funny, and flat-out fascinating pictures from the distant past — back when every snapshot was a moment worth remembering.

Some are beautifully unique. Some are delightfully weird. All of them are a window into a time when photos weren't just taken — they were made.

01
Grandma in Hawaii

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02
Opera singer Fyodor Chaliapin with ballerina Iola Tornaghi, 1896

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03
Sunglasses Hat, 1975

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04
1960s hair

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05
Family, early 1970s

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06
Tattooed lady Betty Broadbent, Australia, 1938

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07
The haircut, 1930s

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08
Mrs. Maxwell at the taxidermy-laden Rocky Mountain Museum, 1875

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09
Girl meeting Jesus, 1940 (No photoshop!)

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10
German mascot dog from World War One

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11
1980s braids

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12
Portrait of courtesans in Shanghai, circa 1875

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13
Charles Augustus Stanhope, 8th Earl of Harrington, 1905

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14
U.S. Capitol police officer, 1873

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15
A boy named Pierre-Louis, 1860s

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16
Reverend Eavens, a man with a hole in his chest, circa 1890s

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17
Vicent Charles, The English Bullfighter

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18
Captain Nathaniel Flowers and wife Margaret, 1878

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19
Two Moons and American Horse, 1870s

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20
Married couple, Japan, 1900s

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21
Whatever the hell this is, 1980s

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22
I think this is my favorite picture ever, 1860s

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23
Mrs. Henderson and her dog, 1916

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24
Siblings, Canada, 1910

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25
Smoking and drinking with the gators

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26
Japanese wedding portrait

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27
Can you tell they are all from the same family? 1975

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28
1892, looks like a very good boy

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29
Goofball, 1960s

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30
Cabinet card of a man dressed as Robinson Crusoe, 1888

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31
Tooth Hairstyle, 1966

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32
The Divine Lady Greyhound

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33
Thomas Ustick Walter & family, 1850s

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34
Little fiddler and two doves, 1898

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35
There's something about Harry

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36
May this portrait haunt your enemy's dreams

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37
Hairdo, 1966

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