About

What is this site about?

This site is dedicated to making the past come alive through old photographs, illustrations and images from long ago. We like to think of Photographs of the Past as a visual time machine allowing you to open a portal onto the lives of the men and women who came before us, and to see how they lived their daily lives; how they dressed, ate, earned a living, loved and hated, had fun, mourned, played, and everything else in between.

While we may post pictures of famous people or events, our interest lies in seeing how ordinary folk lived so you won't find a huge emphasis on wars or political leaders. You may find pictures of someone's grandmother, an old wedding album, advertising for long forgotten companies, children playing, store displays – in short, an eclectic collection of old photos, vintage images and historical pictures; a frozen memory giving us a glimpse of a world which is in many ways similar to ours yet so much different than the way we live now.

We hope that you will enjoy your journey to the past.