Stunning Historical Photographs
Category Archives: Historical
Interesting Array of Old Photographs
This series of photographs is unique for me as I had previously only seen one of them viz switching the driving side of the road from left to right in Sweden. Notwithstanding that the photograph that had the most resonance with me was the series where the Race official Jock Semple tries to push Kathy Switzer off the road after she attempts to run the Boston Marathon, which at the time was a men’s only event. Number 390 pushing Jock away was Kathy’s boyfriend. The year is 1967.
In hindsight the original restriction on female and black athletes was reprehensible and morally wrong. In the case of females the justification for that prohibition was the belief that it would cause problems with child bearing. I can still clearly remember my paternal grandmother making such ludicrous claims.
Old but Fascinating Photographs
Many of these photographs are new to me. They add another view to mankind’s illustrious past.
Main picture: at 17h00 September 3rd, 1967 Sweden changed from driving on the left side to driving on the right. Look at the chaos that it generated.
Egyptian Modernity in the 1950s and 1960s
Egypt is paradigmatic of what has gone wrong over the past half century in Muslim countries. From creeping secularisation across the Arab world led by none other than Gamel Abdul Nasser of Egypt, the bête noir of the West, the modernisation of many of these countries continued apace including such countries as Afghanistan.
What happened since that momentous epoch?
During the 1950s and 1960s even that icon of secularisation and modernity, the bikini, made its appearance in these countries. It is not that these countries were becoming less religious, it was merely the acceptance that there would be a separation between temporal and religious affairs. Was this not the journey that Western Europe embarked upon after the Enlightenment?
Main picture: Sunbathers near the Port of Alexandria, 1955
Intriguing Photographs of the Past
My predilection in learning is experiental and by viewing pictures of things. As the well-known maxim states, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Why is this so? Partially by providing context and the emotions but not the stark facts of date & time. For without pictures, history is a uni-dimensional subject. Combined with prose, the pictures provide the full unembellished story.
Black and White Photos Converted into Colour
By converting these historic photographs into colour, they present history in a different light.
Main picture: A young newspaper vendor sells newspapers in 1912 in London announcing the sinking of the Titanic.
I had no option but to slip some photographs of a young Aubrey Hepburn in amongst the other more serious photographs.
Jobs of our Forefathers
Do most of us know what our forefathers even did for a living? I guess not but I could make some rather safe predictions about those jobs: they are now obsolete and they were manual.
As my paternal grandfather died in the 1920’s when my father was very young, I am clueless what trade he practiced whereas on the distaff side of the family, my maternal grandfather was a wool grader at a huge wool merchant in Port Elizabeth called Mosenthals. Any further back than that and it is a black hole.
Do you have a clue about your forebearers profession or trade? If you are aware of it, leave a remark in the Post a Comment section
Main picture: A scissors-grinder seen here in 1909 was a street merchant who sharpened the blades of knives and scissors. He would call out in the streets or knock at the doors to try and get business. He worked the stone grinding wheel with his foot using a treadle
Here is a collection of ten jobs which one would no longer see a job opening for.
D-Day: Then and Now
D-Day was the largest military operation ever in history. Maybe this is not true as regards the sheer number of men involved but more so in terms of the amount of equipment: ships, tanks and aircraft. Not only that but the area into which these forces were operating was a mere 70kms as compared with 1500kms on the Eastern Front.
This was the Second Front that the Russians had been demanding since 1942. Whereas the Americans and the British understood that a naval landing into the heart of German controlled France would result in a titanic struggle which if unsuccessful would set back the Allies plans for the ultimate defeat of the Germans by years, if not forever.
Vintage Cuba prior to Castro’s Ascendance to Power
This series of photographs by Ramiro Fernandez entitled Cuba Then highlights the cosmopolitan character of pre Castro’s austere Cuba. From an undemocratic dictatorship with a teeming mass of illiterate unemployed fun-loving people, Castro effectively transformed Cuba into an undemocratic socialist dictatorship under his personal control and a dour shackled people. The teeming mass were provided with low paying jobs with no promotion prospects and no chance of freedom.
Final Photographs of some Famous Icons
In most of these cases there was no indication that these famous people would be dead within days if not hours if these photos being taken. In some cases the debauched lifestyle of the icon such as an Amy Winehouse predisposed them to a premature exit to the afterlife whereas for others such as John Lennon their demise was untimely and unpredictable.
Most were sadly mourned including the mass murderer Adolf Hitler but some more than others. Each in their own way left an indelible mark on history.
In the main photo above, John Lennon former Beatle and prolific song writer is shown signing an autograph for Mark David Chapman who is also shown. Chapman who returned a few hours later to Lennon’s apartment, shot and killed Lennon who was returning home with Yoko Ono.