Browsing through old photo albums entails more than just looking at pretty pictures. They all tell a story—be it one of an extended family or many that somehow ended up in the same bunch—and it's the person with said album in their hands that gets to unravel it.

Nowadays, physical photo albums have largely been replaced by galleries on people’s phones or computers, or in the online world. However, that is not necessarily worse; while it is true that they don’t have the same feeling, digital albums allow more people to access them, consequently reaching a wider audience of curious humans.

And if you’re at all curious about what life was like back in the day, you ought to love the ‘The Way We Were’ subreddit, which, in their own words, covers “What **normal everyday life** was like for people living 50, 100, or more years ago”.

For people whose job it is to delve deeper into the stories of the past, pictures have immeasurable value. “Photographs are an invaluable primary source resource for historians as they provide a window into the past,” Dr. Laura June Davis pointed out in an interview with Bored Panda. “They might capture a specific event, reveal the clothing, culture, or values of the time, or put a face to a long-forgotten name. Sometimes, photographs are the only historical evidence we have of a person.”

“For many key moments in our nation's past, it was the photographic evidence that not only captured the event but helped give it meaning,” Dr. Davis continued, discussing the value of old pictures. “Photography was relatively new during the Civil War but photographers like Mathew Brady captured the carnage of the conflict and made Americans (from both sides) comprehend the human costs of war.

“Jacob Riis, the famous muckraker, highlighted the plight, dangerous working conditions, and unsanitary living conditions of the turn-of-the-century New York City slums, prompting reforms. And the graphic violence endured by peaceful protesting civil rights activists and captured by the media helped garner popular support for change, leading to things like the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act.”

Some historical pictures are so significant, they can even be recalled in the memories of people millions of miles away from where—or decades of years later from when—they were taken.

Take the picture of construction workers having lunch on an unfinished skyscraper in New York, for instance; chances are you already have the image of eleven men hanging above the city in your head – an iconic picture taken back in 1932, known under the title “Lunch atop a Skyscraper”.

In an interview with Bored Panda, Dr. Davis emphasized that by processing, digitizing, and archiving old photographs, we can help preserve our history.

“On a personal level, it's a great way to preserve our family stories, relive key moments of a collective past, and give faces to our long-lost loved ones. It's also a way to honor those who came before us, and remember where we came from,” she added.

Research suggests that on a personal level, browsing old pictures can even help alleviate low levels of pain, as the nostalgia it evokes can reduce activity in areas involved in pain perception.

According to Professor Huajian Cai of the Chinese Academy of Sciences responsible for carrying out the research, “As a predominantly positive emotion, nostalgia serves various adaptive functions, including a recently revealed analgesic effect,” The Mirror reports.

Whether it’s history-based research, curiosity, or a mild headache you’re trying to alleviate that encourages you to browse old pictures, we have plenty of them in store here at Bored Panda. So, when you’re done going through this list, feel free to continue to our previous editions on ‘The Way We Were’ here or here, or check out Bored Panda’s history category for more of similar content.