Tupperware baseball boy, 1954
A double exposure is not an uncommon thing to run across in old photos. I suppose you can do them with a digital camera(?) – and of course they can be made in Photoshop with ease. But nothing compares to the magic of an accidental one. So as film is used less and less, I guess double exposures could be considered a real endangered species. This is one I really like.
Cat latching on for dear life, likely 1920s
There must be literally millions of snapshots of people with their dogs, but you see far fewer of cats. Felines were still a popular subject, though, and for obvious reasons you see them being held in some fashion by their owners more often than with dogs. Here are a couple (the second being a detail of a larger photo — in the full shot the cat is a little too small to really see well). Personally my cat likes to sit on my shoulder (I have held – and carried – him that way since finding him abandoned in the street at about 3 weeks of age, so he is used to it), but not all take so kindly to such a perch.
Woman holding young cat, likely 1920s
Dog with Shadow (1920s)
Apart from the fact that that might be a French bulldog – I’m not sure – this could be seen as a pretty “American” image, with the car, dog and Coke sign. Interestingly, though, it looks like this photographer was holding the camera to their face, not at waist level as in the previous post’s photos.
Kiss with Shadow (1940s)
Something you often see in vintage snapshots is not just a shadow cast by the photographer, but one in which you can tell they are looking down through the camera rather than holding it to their face. That was, of course, just the way a lot of cameras were configured at the time. It also resulted – however slightly – in a different perspective, with the camera at waist height rather than the height of the subjects’ heads. I think you can see that here. Just another thing that gives these old images a little bit of their charm.
I also love this one, with its partial shadow, where you again can see the arms holding the camera at waist level.
Couple (1920s)
An office in the 1950s
It sure is a reminder of how thoroughly times have changed to see a photo of an office from before the computer era. Just typewriters, telephones and paper, that’s about all you see. There were probably a few more ashtrays, too. I bet they actually probably got more done in some ways.
"Arizona Welcomes You" (1939)
A staple of vintage amateur travel photography is the shot of a person or persons next to a state-line welcome sign. In a lot of ways it must have been a somewhat bigger ‘event’ to venture into other states in, say, the 1930s or ’40s, before the dawn of the interstate highway system in the 1950s (and of course before air travel became such a common phenomenon). I like this image a lot – the suit and slightly rakish hat, the sign itself, and also just the warm, vintage tone of the photo. Somehow the angle also gives it something, I feel. I’m curious about their story.
Here is another Arizona sign, which is pretty similar. I’m not, however, as intrigued by this photo’s subjects.
"Arizona Welcomes You" (undated but likely '40s)
Average cost of a new car in 1967: $2,750; average price of a gallon of gas: 33 cents; hitting the road for a day out with those guys: priceless.
Vintage Snapshots 