Made in the 1860s, these illustrated photo albums feel ahead of their time.
Illustrated Victorian Photo Albums
old photos
1951 Chevrolet commercial promoting The Road Trip
Sightseeing by automobile in and around Minneapolis.
Old highways: The Jefferson Highway
Started in 1917, the old Jefferson Highway connected Winnipeg to New Orleans.
1950s Germany
These old photos of 1950s Germany show an interesting overlap of past and present.
Steamboat trolleys of Lake Minnetonka
We take a ride on a restored turn-of-the-century steamboat trolley that spent 54 years on the bottom of a lake.
Iona’s Beach, Lake Superior
We find a pink pebble beach on Lake Superior and dig into the site’s past as a mom-and-pop resort owned by Finnish immigrants.
Bros
I do love little mysteries like this—I mean, who are these dudes my great-grandpa is hanging out with under a number of various photo shooting scenarios? Found in a box at my grandparent’s house, these are going to require a little sleuthing.
Johnny’s Accordion School
Click on the above image to look in the window of Johnny’s Accordion School on the second floor. Also in the second photo, I love the Mitzi Shop—a tiny little storefront with all of those mannequin heads in the window. Images courtesy of garon.us
Vintage Technology: Before Google Street View
I can’t look at the quasi-360 degree scope and everyday details of this image and not think about Google Street View, which keeps coming across my radar in the form of amazing projects—but more on that later. For now let’s look at this incredible daguerreotype from 1848 that shows a panoramic view of Cincinnati’s riverfront … Read More
Name
My dad found another box of stuff in the basement at my grandparent’s house. Going through it, we found a book from my great-grandfather’s funeral as well as his obituary and this letter to my great-grandmother from Podbiel, Slovakia—all of which spelled their last name as “Salus” (though I think that the letter on the … Read More
1936 Roadtrip
It’s the end of summer. There is a part of me these last weeks that has longed to be home, to go on a road trip, to be “somewhere in the West”—or at least have a valid Euro-driver’s license that would allow me to do a little adventuring. This road trip taken by my grandma … Read More
Fourth of July.
Last year’s Fourth was a scorcher; we picnicked in the Mauerpark with no shade. Afterwards, I went to a birthday party. It was one of those rare Berlin evenings when it stayed warm well past dark…and then a thunderstorm rolled in. Little did we know, but it was to be the beginning of weeks of … Read More
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