The past is a foreign country. This is your passport.

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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 4:03 pm

I recently discovered a very cool web site, Retronaut. Their motto is: The past is a foreign country. This is your passport. The site is full of images of all manner of things from the past. I am particularly fond of their Retronautic WTF series which includes inexplicable photos such as this:

I'm a bit of a history junkie so I really like this kind of thing. Perhaps some of you will, too. Have a browse...

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 4:06 pm

All the kids around here are wearing the animal hats for winter. I can't wait to tell them wearing a lobster on your head is so last-century!

It's a nice find. Thanks Raga Man.

Edit: I see trophy baiting isn't a new sport either.

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 4:14 pm

If you are not already aware of it, be sure to check out shorpy.com. HUGE high-resolution photos. Fantastic site.

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 9:26 pm

@bo - well... not to put to fine a point on it but that would be a crab on that lady's head. Wink

Not that it matters, of course. Anybody wearing a crustacean for a hat has some 'splainin' to do! Very Happy

@Juan - just took a quick peek at shorpy. Fabulous! I can see myself spending a good bit of time there. Thanks for the suggestion.

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 11:54 pm

Guy in the middle Familiar? Very Happy

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 12:10 am

The great thing about Shorpy is that the size of the pictures allows you to toally lose yourself in the tiny details. There are some great pictures of the retronaut site but they're small. I love scouring Shorpy images for the little things that tell a big story about life in those days. I'm a sucker for store signs and restaurant menus in those pictures. I keep wishing I could step into the photo and go open that door to see what's inside that curious store on the corner.......

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 12:35 am

I know exactly what you mean Juan.I recently bought a photo album on e-bay.Some very well composed pictures circa 1917-1920 or so.It was funny-,I went through it checking out the cars,structures,WW1 uniforms,etc.I went through it with a friend of mine,and to her it was almost a story book.
I would not want to live in the past,but oh what I would give to visit it sometimes.

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 12:59 am

doc holliday wrote:

I would not want to live in the past,but oh what I would give to visit it sometimes.

I couldn't agree more. It especially hits me when I see lush, vivid street scenes on Shorpy, with beautiful architecture, trees, cobbled streets, and lots of people, then someone posts a modern Google street view of the exact same scene today, invariably cold, sterile, devoid of beauty and life. Just cars, asphalt, and ugly blocks of steel and glass.

EDIT: for example, St. Paul, MN in 1908 and the same spot today.

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 2:58 am

At least the street lights (above the old car) looks original Smile

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 3:06 am

Sorry, the lights are reproductions. Most are LED now too.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 03 Dec 2011 Posts: 31

Excellent! Thank you. I see many hours of complete time wasting in my future. What a great site.

I had a good giggle at the celebrity yearbook.

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