There have been countless events and incidents throughout history that seem just too strange to be true. Today, the historical medical cures and contraceptives that people used seem like they were the brain child of a mad scientist and not a legitimate solution. (At least people were creative.) Not only was medicine less developed, but the laws and socially acceptable behaviors were much different as well. You’ll be shocked to see some of the things that people did and used throughout history. The strange photos below are a perfect example of some of the weird stuff that has happened over the years. Even if the pictures were innocent, some of these seem sincerely crazy. What the?
1.) The oldest known selfie (1839).
2.) A portrait taken of a woman while she was mid-sneeze (1900).
3.) A “knocker-up” waking up clients (20th century).
4.) Nine kings gather to mourn the death of King Edward VII (1910).
5.) “Pin boys” set up bowling pins while people play games (1914).
6.) A prohibition and anti-saloon league sign, speaking out against liquor.
7.) A police officer on a Harley-Davidson transports a prisoner in a holding cell (1921).
8.) Two girls take a “horseman” picture together (1920).
9.) Two winners of a beauty pageant, back when the standards of beauty were much different (1922).
10.) A beach official measures bathing suits to make sure they aren’t too short (1920).
11.) A couple enjoys an old-fashioned zipline at a fair (1923).
12.) The Isolator was a helmet worn to help the wearer focus, rendering a person deaf. They even had a supply of oxygen (1925).
13.) A full-faced swimming mask that was to help protect women’s skin from the sun (1920s).
14.) Adolf Hitler rehearsing his speeches in front of a mirror (1925).
15.) The LA Public Library’s bookmobile program for the sick (1928).
16.) A zookeeper gives penguins a cooling shower from a watering can (1930).
17.) The One Wheel Motorcycle, which could reach a top speed of 93 mph (1931).
18.) A cat posed for a cigarette card, found in Army Club Cigarettes (1932).
19.) Makers of the London double decker bus prove that they weren’t a tipping hazard (1933).
20.) A mother is consumed by her worries and watches over her children during the Dust Bowl (1936). This photo of Florence Owens Thompson is actually one of the photos on this list that became quite famous in its own right.
21.) This is possibly the first GPS, an auto-scrolling map that would help people navigate in real time (1930).
22.) A Model T elevator garage in Chicago (1936).
23.) Salvador Dali and Coco Chanel sharing a smoke break (1938).
24.) This bicycle fit a family of four and it included a sewing machine (1939).
25.) Infants wear gas mask hoods during a London bombing drill (1940).
26.) WWII soldiers get their last kiss before being deployed (1940s).
27.) A small puppy sleeps in between Russian soldiers (1945).
28.) An Austrian boy is excited about his first pair of new shoes in years (1946).
29.) A bear cub laps up a bowl of honey in a cafe (1950).
30.) A man dresses his dog up in a suit and puts his cat in the dog’s lap for a picture (1950s).
31.) There used to be ice-cold whisky dispensers, sometimes found in offices (1950s).
32.) The winner of the Miss Atomic Bomb pageant is crowned (1950).
33.) Afghan women, casually dressed, use a public library before the Taliban rule (1950s).
34.) Paul McCartney takes a mirror selfie (1959).
35.) Young women attend a house party in this colorized photo (1950s).
36.) Fidel Castro lays a wreath at the Lincoln Memorial (1959).
37.) Fritz the bulldog, a TV celebrity, is groomed by a barber (1961).
38.) The Cat Mew machine, designed by the Japanese to keep away mice (1963).
39.) A young woman takes her pet lobster out for a walk (1950s).
40.) A young boy attends Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech (1963).
41.) “TV Glasses,” a product that never caught on (1963).
42.) A dramatic photo of a utility worker receiving CPR after being electrocuted, “The Kiss Of Life” (1967).
43.) Young Osama Bin Laden with his family in Sweden, in the green shirt on the right (1970s).
44.) Bill & Hillary Clinton play volleyball before getting married (1971).
The moments captured in time are completely out of context now, but even keeping that in mind doesn’t help how strange some of this seems. Don’t laugh, though. In 50 years, what you’re doing today might seem completely crazy to other people. Click below to share this strange gallery.
