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Man Found Photos From Europe In 1904, Revealing How Everything Looked Before Modern Technology
When we get a chance to look at vintage photos, it always seems that things were completely different back in the day and it’s just so hard to imagine what life was like back then before modern technology took over.
25 years ago Bill Nelson, a vintage photography enthusiast, found a packet of negatives at an estate sale in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and has been trying to find as much information about these black and white photos as possible. “The negatives themselves are about 10 cm x 12.5 cm and are cut from roll film. The film stock is quite brittle and is, I believe, nitrocellulose, so I store them in a freezer. Because they are fragile and inevitably degrading, I took the time to scan these old photos at a high resolution. Still, it’s quite remarkable they survived at all, given their indifferent treatment for the first 90 years of their existence,” Bill told Bored Panda.
According to him, photos like these can give a palpable connection to the period in European countries and an opportunity to know it differently than you would from modern histories.
Scroll down to see these interesting photos yourself, and don’t forget to tell us what you think in the comments.
More info: Bill Nelson
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Four Boys From Volendam, Netherlands
Cockington Forge, Devon, England
Tourists At The Frauenkirche, Nürnberg, Germany
Mother And Daughter On Mountain Top, Austria
Two Gentlemen, London
Market, Bayreuth, Germany
Men And Girl On The Docks, Marken, Netherlands
Net Mender, Étretat, Normandy, France
Oldest Man In Clovelly, England
Mature Woman On Bench
Omnibuses, London, England
Girls In Cottage, Marken, Netherlands
Marken Girls, Marken, Netherlands
Steigersgrachtwater, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Fishing Boats, Volendam, Netherlands
On The Charles Bridge, Prague, Czechoslovakia
Great picture! But there was no Czechoslovakia in 1904. It was Bohemia, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Steep Street, Clovelly, Devon, England
Laundry On The Beach, Étretat, France
Such hardship to have clean clothing etc. These days people complain about turning a n*b in, and having to empty the machine when the job is finished for you. Oh how we "evolve" lol
Asparagus Sellers, Vienna, Austria
Women In Market, Bayreuth, Germany
Haying With Oxen, Austria
Zwinger Palace, Dresden, Germany
Dresden? Oh dear. ... Yup: "The building was mostly destroyed by the carpet bombing raids of 13–15 February 1945. The art collection had been previously evacuated, however. Reconstruction began in 1945, ...By 1963 the Zwinger had largely been restored to its pre-war state." Wikipedia
Cheese Market In Alkmaar, Netherlands
This ceremonial market process is still carried out every friday during summer
Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria
New Inn, Clovelly, Devon, England
Horses, Carts, And Bobbies, England
Farm Buildings, Normandy, France
Organ Grinder And Daughter, London
Woman With Heavy Basket, Location Uncertain
Punting At Magdalen Bridge, Oxford, England
School Children, Netherlands
Old Fisherman, Netherlands
Replica Windmill, Sans Souci Park, Potsdam, Germany
Caveé Saint-Firmin, Montreuil-Sur-Mer, France
Roadside Shrines, Austria
Ornate Doorway- Eglise St. Maclou, Rouen, France
Group Of Women On The Shore, France
The women seem to be in a hurry to get the fish to market, fresh as can be after the boats came in.
Chateau De Coucy In 1904, France
Old Street, Possibly Montreuil-Sur-Mer
Frenchwoman And Her Geese
Alice, London, England
The Boat Crush, Eights Week, 1904 Oxford, England
Bavaria, Germany
"So she says to me..Gotta hankie? As if i would give her the time of day after refusing to give me her strudle recipe, and all the guff i take from her on the holidays, her with her perfect schnitzle and how shes always mooning over my Roger..do i have a HANKIE?
Linderhof, Ludwig Ii's Palace In Bavaria
Mrs. Dixon And Alice, London, England
Men Killing Time, Germany
Kibitzers, Etretat, Normandy, France
This Is A No Longer Existing Windmill Called "De Maagd" In Dordrecht, Netherlands
De Maagd means the Virgin. It was not a reference to the virgin Mary, but a personification of the city of Dordrecht.
Men And Boat, Marken, Netherlands
Museum Of Natural History, Vienna, Austria
Market, Bayreuth, Germany
Two Men On Road, France
Laundry Day, Marken, Netherlands
The Quay At Clovelly, Devon, England
Street Vendors Below Josef's Fountain, Vienna, Austria
Cutting Hay With Oxen, Germany
Quay, Clovelly, Devon, England
Dining Hall At Christ Church University, Oxford
Steep Street, Clovelly, Devon, England
they still use sledges to take their shopping home as motorised vehicles are not allowed in the village.
Market, Nürnberg, Germany
Market, Nürnberg, Germany
Women Gathering Hay
The Cliffs At Étretat, Normandy, France
Chateau De Coucy, Near Étretat, Normandy
Mmmh, the Chateau de Coucy is so not near Etretat that it's not even in Normandy ;p It's been partly destroyed by German army in 1917 coucy-5b9a...80baf4.jpg
Man And Couple, Germany
Doorways, Vienna, Austria
Man With Dog Cart, Netherlands
Nowadays that would be labeled animal cruelty and all hell would break loose.
Laundry Day, Marken, Netherlands
Spuiwater Canal, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Two Windmills Along A Canal In Landsmeer, Netherlands
Volendam Street, Netherlands
Fishermen, Étretat, Normandy, France
Marken, Netherlands
Friedens-Engel Memorial In Munchen, Germany
Vienna Burgtheater, Vienna, Austria
Blue Ball Inn, Countisbury, Lynmouth, Devon, England
Hoher Markt, Vienna, Austria
Eights Crew At Keble College Barge
Fishermen Launching A Boat, Étretat, France
Château De Fréfossé, Normandy, France
Tower And Wall, Nürnberg, Germany
Building Shocks, Germany
The Ship Inn, Porlock Weir, Somerset, England
Stone Wall, Nürnberg, Germany
Marken, Netherlands
London, England
Fishermen, Étretat, Normandy, France
Fishermen, Étretat, Normandy, France
Riga, Latvia
Ireland
Fishermen, Étretat, Normandy, France
Some fascinating shots here! I'd also love to see then-and-now comparisons (though sadly, some locales may not have survived two world wars).
Some fascinating shots here! I'd also love to see then-and-now comparisons (though sadly, some locales may not have survived two world wars).