40 Incredible Colorized Photos Show What Life of the U.S. Looked Like in the 1930s and ’40s 

And no plus size people

@@michelles2299 😐 so we’re body shaming now?

@@kurtcobainbong of course, obesity is illness not norm. We shouldn't encourage people to become fat and be positive about it. Moderation is the answer.

I think women were smaller. Whenever I find vintage stuff it’s always tiny. Gloves, hats, dresses.

It was all those fabrics from cotton and silk and wool--they had woven RAYON which draped and pleated pants with cuffs beautifully and parachutes or hosiery made of nylon mixes. There was no spun plastic (polyester) until the 60s...then, It never left, by the 70s they had begun to manufacture even denim with it in them.

What did they save the world from exactly? 😂

@@Gerald0613 A little group called the NAZIs for one...

@@emkkahn I'm pretty sure the average person in these photos did none of the sorts. And who knows, this was in the 30s/40s they could be racist, homophobic/transphobic, sexist, etc. They aren't saints.

@@xxbittertwink They were people of their time. You cannot "judge" the people of yesterday by today's standards. Doing so is a great Moral Sin of the present that is akin to the moral sins of the past. The current "Cancel Culture" of trying to erase the heroes of past generations is making thing worse, not better.

@@Gerald0613 There's always got to be a dick somewhere.

Nyc uncle

I do question that car from the 1930's being a yellow/beige. I think all cars were still black at that time. But otherwise, it was great I agree.

@@redpine8665 They had many colors in the 30's for cars.

@@redpine8665 Jesus... Do you kids learn anything or guess and call it a supreme fact. Oh and by the way, more than the Model T existed yes shocker.

The colorization is so good it seems like these pictures could be from today.

Clear photos that some almost resemble painted renderings of the sky and background buildings.

...and better cameras

even in Skid Row!

Thanks for sharing William Schlenger :]

I was born in 1949 and I remember my father working very, very hard but all the men in our neighborhood had jobs and kept them. The 1950's were good times to be alive. My father served in W W 2 over in England on an Army Air Corp base running a warehouse - he and mom did what they were supposed to do and did them well - we had good lives and we had no crime at all in your neighborhood or city.

God Bless

Maybe you did live in it. 🤔

I know exactly what you mean

What makes you think that way?

They had all the same problems we do

Yep they had the dignity to segregate others based on their race and they had the self respect to not do anything about it.

Yep, they treated women like property and kids were almost slaves. Good times.

@@ssjrose9641 After watching everything happening from Watts to the summer of 2020, you realize how wise that policy was.

Min, 4:11 Nebraska november say it's 1938, but behin I see that 1939,🤔

That would be a car magazine or catalog of the new cars coming out in the upcoming 1939 model year.

And the way they're worn, with the confident body language and presence that really sells a suit. These gentlemen knew who they were and wore the clothes that said it.

Yes, and the women

They weren't just men suits back then there were actually real men. Very rare today.

One day we will be like these people, 59 years by now.

@@Mike-ke4yp I will never understand people saying they have nostalgia of this, clearly they don't.

Yes , how our society has fallen!!! Yes , how we have all fallen from those times !!!

@Communism Is The Real Pandemic yes I agree, the people on the streets today are usually (not always) on some type of drug and that's the big difference.

Drugs were not an issue then….

@@webstercat I wish drugs never were used by society it would make a much better society if we stopped using em

Take a look at the streets of Kensington.

For most part people dressed when they went out in public.

Racism is not classy.

No piercings or tattoos. No torn jeans and no spandex pants.

They are seamed stockings no doubt held up with a garter belt. The poor guys having to dance in a jacket, that must be so uncomfortable!

@@golden.lights.twinkle2329 ??? What a disjointed reply.

Nylons weren’t invented yet

@@samanthab1923 LOL Not invented yet??? What???

@@benjaminperez1149 Well 1940, for sale but because of the war all the nylon was used for parachutes so tough to get.

I’m doing that too. Makes me happy To think of my grandparents in the situation as well as my parents…💜💜💜

The women (even the “pit” girls w their hairstyles) look so well put together and stylish! The pantyhose, shoes- entire outfits (even just waiting at bus stops) are to die for. And today I see females at work (!) wearing pajama pants and it’s just sad. And men...business casual and backpacks have replaced suits and briefcases. 🙁

@@JF-NYC-NJ-Girl Yes, grandparents, too. I wish they were alive, now that I'm old enough to ask certain questions about their early lives.

@@JF-NYC-NJ-Girl No one these days seems to care much about their appearances. My dad used to go into work in Washington D.C. in a three-piece suit, wing-tipped shoes, a hat and an overcoat in the 60s & 70s. (It took him forever to get there, too, because he had to commute from the suburbs where we lived.) I wish I could go back & do it all over again.

I love these photos and no matter what hard times they may have had I wish I lived in that time.

Yes. And the lack of diversity explains why there was so much less crime in those wonderful years. But mentioning that, even thinking like that is not permitted.

Yeah, like the Great Depression, fathers, sons, husbands dying like flies in WW II, ineffective, for the most part, cancer treatment. No antibiotics until WW II or vaccines for things like measles, whooping cough, tetanus. Horrid makeup, hose that drooped around your ankles, no nylon, bras which were just coverings, hair treatment that would burn your hair beyond recognition. WW II rationing of gasoline, some foods, tobacco (everyone smoked). This information came from 1st hand accounts of my parents and grandparents. If you want to go back, be my guest. As for me--no thank you.

Yeah! It was, in fact it was in WW2.

My mother lived in New Jersey during WW2, and she said she would be scared seeing anti aircraft gun emplacments near the waterfront. In 1945 while she was in New York city, she said she saw where the B25 bomber had hit the Empire State Building

Great White yes

There was also racism back then

@@gabrielguzman6018 Yeah no shit Sherlock...

the gold old days were a nightmare for most people.

@@gabrielguzman6018 and whats your point??

@@louisecoffey9843 my point is these days were hell

Most of these are all dead now.

Where are the "colored" people.?

Let's see, the Depression, Nazi Germany, Jim Crow , the most vicious war in history, good times

@@MGood-ij1hi oh shut up dude I understand those were bad things but it wouldn’t have been that bad to live in this time period. Stop being so negative

@@MGood-ij1hi Every generation has its troubles to endure. We were a stronger nation morally, spiritually and economically (lower inflation). Our people would not have endured, and ultimately prospered through a Great Depression, the Dust Bowl and fighting on 2 Fronts during WWII. People knew their neighbors. Children were taught manners and were really educated not indoctrinated. Yes we have our faults, but America was and still is a great nation🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

You must be white and not a jew

Ignorant comment

Where are the “colored” people?

I think the more hardships you have, the more you actually care, thats why so many people wanna live in that time

fr

Yes same here

7:35 I was amazed by this one in particular. I mean really, the effort put into the colors is just impeccable. Also It's a color camera and they just took Kodachromes and called them colorizations. Naive idiots who can't even believe color cameras existed. The 1940's were a very special time, beautiful colors, very American colored automobiles. The Cadillacs and Nash's, and Hudson, and we'll alright a few lot but typically the higher end models had the two tone colors, done wonderfully as well. The 1942 Cadillac in Oceana blue metallic and Pearl irid was a dream combination. And the sophistication of white walls and glossy city Firestones was a match made in heaven.

Pregnant by the age of 17 and living in a tent . The good old days

@@harrybriscoe7948 The big difference is that back then they were ashamed of themselves, the dirtbags of today strive for that kind of lifestyle and are proud of it.

@@SmokinGun55 yep

Poverty ages you.

@@rudolfschenker Amen to that!

Only because they didn’t yet exist. It would be no different if they had existed then. Guaranteed

God bless you sir

Only a bit after 1937. And yes more existed on the street than a Model T coupe from 1924 in the creative color of black.

You may have missed the farm workers pictures. Poverty was real then as it is today

They were dressed up all the time because society was more formal and they had many fewer clothes. The dressier clothes were a necessity for middle class life and that’s all they had to wear. And we had one or two pairs of shoes at a time.

@@harrietfishlow685 so dismal, could you even go to a store and purchase clothing like a normal human being does. Your like the people in 1960 talking about finally buying a refrigerator or getting a television set in 1968. As though they hadn't existed since the late 1920's for just an extra penny.

@Anaja Simbashu you sound jealous.

People took care of things & they were made better.

Low lives moved in so people moved to the suburbs.

@@wacobob56dad what you really mean is diversity came...then white flight to the suburbs.

I'm sure the thumbs-down are from the trolls that are everywhere now... commenting on things they know nothing about...

. . . and without CAPTiONS superimosed over the photo (that should be illegal!)

Guess what Johnny smith, color has existed since 1923. In fact, that "colorized" photo by the ingenious idiot who made up the stories of other's lives in this gallery, that says "Magazine stand, Omaha, Nebraska, November 1938 is not colorized. It is a Kodachrome.

That would be wonderful to do that with old family photos!

*cough* *cough* WW2 *cough* *cough*

@taun I rather back then than today because everything was just basic back then. oh well its your decision if you don't like it

*cough* *cough* Great Depression *cough* *cough*

Most of those people were racist

@@gabrielguzman6018 Bring up the big bad R word at any chance right?

@@gabrielguzman6018 So are you,but,unlike you they had class dignity and intelligence.

@@howl_with_the_wolves2861 Lmao, you don't know these people just because they dressed well means nothing it's called a wolf in sheeps clothing

@@gabrielguzman6018 You don't know any of them either,didn't stop you from making a uninformed comment.Your dismissed.

It wasn’t a trend. People strive for better lives. My mom grew up in a project. By HS her parents had moved to a nice apt. with river views & they bought a beach house out on LI. By the time she & my dad got married & had us they built 2 brand new homes & each had a car.

It’s interesting they showed the kids playing in the gutter of Georgetown. My step dad grew up back then & remembers it all a little ramshackle.