Time-Traveling Weirdos: 33 Vintage Photos That Prove People Always Had Jokes

Before smartphones, before selfies, before TikTok dances in grocery store aisles—there were people doing goofy stuff with nothing but film, flash, and a little bit of mischief. This incredible collection of 33 strange and hilarious vintage photos comes to us courtesy of Imgur user FAUST44, who might secretly be a time traveler with access to every dusty photo album in history.

It's oddly comforting to see that even back when taking a photo meant lugging out a camera the size of a shoebox, people still found time to dress up their pets, photobomb weddings, and generally act like lovable weirdos. These mostly black-and-white gems prove one thing: silliness is timeless. So go ahead—scroll through these strange and delightful snapshots from the past and remember that the human tradition of doing ridiculous things for the camera is older than your grandma's wallpaper.

01
Zookeeper at Bronx Zoo resting with gorilla, 1968

via FAUST44
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02
Child in oven, 1975

via FAUST44
03
Evinrude flying saucer fishing boat, 1957

via FAUST44
04
That won't be a problem (too soon?)

via FAUST44
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05
Mattress leaps, England, 1977

via FAUST44
06
Piper Gilbert Kerr and penguin during the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, 1904

via FAUST44
07
It's uhhh... hmm.... I don't know

via FAUST44
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08
Ladies with monkeys at circus, 1943 (photo by Weegee)

via FAUST44
09
Stuffed animal tenement, 1988 (photo by Matt Weber)

via FAUST44
10
Three heads are better than one

via FAUST44
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11
Edward Reece the famous strongman, NYC, 1927

via FAUST44
12
Annoyed boat lady, smiling doxie

via FAUST44
13
1962, sneaking into Drive-in movie

via FAUST44
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14
Parenting ideas, Rosedale, MS, 1985 (photo by Baldwin Lee)

via FAUST44
15
Artists created these inflatable decoy tanks during WWII

via FAUST44
16
Yugoslavian man with chicken and fine knit sweater, 1970s

via FAUST44
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17
Swans are removed from a stretch of the River Thames before the annual regatta, 1900

via FAUST44
18
Victorian mountaineers cross a crevasse in the Alps, 1900

via FAUST44
19
Man on a camel posing with a Soviet Soyuz rocket, 1980s

via FAUST44
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20
Kitchen Swan, 1963

via FAUST44
21
Don Patricio Causeway to Padre Island - first causeway connecting Padre Island to the mainland of Texas. Late 1920s

via FAUST44
22
Mr. Cig visits the hospital patients! 1948

via FAUST44
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23
Frankenberry!

via FAUST44
24
Iranian Wrestlers, 1919

via FAUST44
25
Ladies in mail sacks

via FAUST44
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26
Zoo corporate meeting

via FAUST44
27
Evangeline the Oyster Girl smashes Divena the Mermaid's tank mid-act, New Orleans, 1961 (apparently due to catfight about top billing)

via FAUST44
28
Whatever this is, 1983

via FAUST44
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29
Piano for the bedridden, 1920s

via FAUST44
30
The circus is in town, London, 1953

via FAUST44
31
Filming Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart wore these shoes because his co-star was tall, 1943

via FAUST44
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32
Reduced Gravity Walking Simulator, used as part of the Apollo project, 1965

via FAUST44
33
Just a lady with horns

via FAUST44

ok, it's on the wall behind her but it's still funny