When it came to parenting the ’40s, were moms too easy on their kids? Was being a parent harder than the generation before? Here’s what people said in 1940.
Vintage newspapers
In June 1919, a peace treaty with Germany was signed in France, and formally brought an end to the Great War, which we now call World War I.
Many critics were surprised that the ‘Emergency!’ TV show was a success. One factor for sure: actors Randy Mantooth and Kevin Tighe, who played paramedics John Gage and Roy DeSoto, made indelible impressions on viewers.
Dog Day Afternoon is considered one of the greatest movies of the 1970s, and features a stellar lead performance by Al Pacino. And as fictional as the premise sounded, it was based on a real story. Here’s the scoop..
Try these old-fashioned buttermilk coolers with easy recipes that are fast to make, delicious, and a cool alternative to plain fruit juice, soda, punches or milkshakes.
In 1927, dozens of people tried to break the coffee-drinking record. In just over a month, the cup count went from 71 to a San Francisco man who more than doubled that number.
From the middle of the destruction after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, these detailed accounts of the damage were published in the city’s newspaper the very next morning.
The important events described here were the beginning of the end of the Civil War, though the official declaration was signed on May 10, 1865.
Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne’s death in the plane crash of TWA Flight 599 on March 31, 1931, resulted in more than just the loss of the football legend and seven others – it was a pivotal moment in early airline and aviation safety.
These wheat-free bread recipes come from 1918, during the height of World War 1, when the country was asked to save wheat for the troops.
If you don’t know your dingledangler from your Kluck from your zoozer, you’ll want to know this Flapper slang from the 1920s!
The Monkees may have been a prefab TV band, but there was nothing made up about their real-world success. Here’s a look back!
The demand for ’60s computer programmers was huge as business, industry, science, education and government all raced to reap the benefits of new technology. Here’s a look!
This is a detailed account of what would come to be known as The Battle of the Wilderness, which was the first battle of Grant’s
Inspired by the success of the first modern marathon at the 1896 Olympic games, the Boston Athletic Association decided to stage their own race in April of 1897. Here’s how it went, and the winning time.
These vintage images of the 19th century San Francisco skyline vividly portray how the California city by the Bay changed over a few short decades in the 1800s. Take a look back at how the city grew and grew and grew.
Bambi is pure Disney – a world of fun, beauty and imagination which Disney has made his own. Find out why it took so long to get just right!
Just two weeks after giving birth to her son, Jackie Kennedy met with First Lady Mamie Eisenhower for a tour of the White House, in preparation for John F Kennedy’s presidential term to start the following month.
Depending on how you count, between three and seven people died due to the very first Indianapolis motor car race back in 1909. Find out more here.
In the fifties, people wanted to know: What was rock ‘n’ roll music? Where did this wild dance noise come from – and was it safe for the kids? Should it be banned, or was it just a fad?
A Tom Collins isn’t a drink just named after some guy, somewhere. Find out the story of ‘Have you seen Tom Collins?’ – and get recipes for four original, old-fashioned versions of the Tom Collins cocktail.
Just 18 years old, Aretha Franklin moves flawlessly in her vocals — from spiritual, to blues to jazz and to pop; and her ability as a pianist is something more to reckon with. Aretha is the girl to watch!
Many of today’s Halloween costumes and the tales of pirate treasure we all know can be traced back to the life and times of the very real person, Captain Kidd. But where is his treasure?
There have been tales of what happened at Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota in 1890. Here, see original vintage news reports of the battle, plus a historical review of the events from 1976.;
Love ’50s comic strips? Here you’ll find more than 50 old names like Hopalong Cassidy, Flash Gordon, Curly Kayo, Brick Bradford, Etta Kett, Grandma, The Lone Ranger, Moon Mullins, Myrtle and more.
For those who have not seen it, ‘The A Team’ is a straightforward piledriver of a show, a blue-collar ‘Mission Impossible’ without the finesse. Here’s a TV show review from 1983!
This extra fun retro Halloween party idea from 1973 is a family-friendly way to celebrate the spookiest night of the year! Check out these timeless party recipes and games!
Here are three different recipes for vintage pumpkin meringue pies – one with a homemade pie and meringue topping, a second with a ginger-infused meringue, and the last using a pre-made pumpkin pie with a nutty meringue on top.
Samuel Colt, the millionaire inventor of the famous Colt revolver, died when he was just 47 years old. Here’s a look back at the original obituary for one of the wealthiest men in America before the Civil War.
On the top of one of the taller buildings of the time, the Hotel Majestic’s roof garden was where the elite partied back around the turn of the century.
Back in 1871, The Great Chicago Fire killed an estimated 200 to 300 people, destroyed more than three square miles of the city, and left 100,000 people homeless.
Iced Nesselrode Pudding, a chestnut-based chilled sweet, was considered to be very expensive, very fancy, very tasty — and was, consequently, very popular during the Victorian era.
What is VJ Day? It means “Victory in Japan” day – the celebration that marked the end of WWII when Japan finally announced its surrender to Allied forces in the summer of 1945. Here’s a look back.
In August of 1969, actress Sharon Tate and four others were found dead in what police said resembled a ritualistic mass murder. Four months later, Charles Manson and the Manson ‘family’ would be charged with the crime. Here’s how it all happened.
Below are terrifying and telling sketches of the Titanic’s last moments, drawn by Lewis P Skidmore, who was a passenger on the rescue ship Carpathia
While today’s players make multi-million dollar salaries and play in front of upwards of 15,000 fans a night, Wilt Chamberlain’s record-setting performance took place in front of 4,124 fans at the arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Starting in 1914, there was a lot of hype about Old Gilbert, Arizona, a little town near Phoenix: ‘the fastest growing and most prosperous community in the Southwest.” See how it’s grown!
Here is one theory about how the Liberty Bell was cracked, according to an old man who confessed to breaking the famous bell when he was just a boy.
Blazing Saddles is a western set in 1874, but this comedy also includes a gigantic pie-throwing scene featuring 40 swishing dancers, Tarzan, Cheetah and Hitler.
Nothing stays the same for very long — not the world, not the blues, not love, not a petite young Texas girl named Janis Joplin, who had ‘such a pretty voice,’ according to her mother.
Juneteenth is a celebration of Black freedom. The celebration fell out of favor for decades, and has made a couple of comebacks. Find out more here!
Even today, there are ships buried under downtown San Francisco that you might walk over, on land reclaimed from the Bay thanks to the Gold Rush.
See vintage car wreck photos of 35 of old auto accidents and crashes from the 1910s to the 1950s – before standardized seatbelts and airbags.
What is a mansard roof home – or a Second Empire-style house? Find out here, and take a look at more than 20 beautiful examples!
While books and articles on America’s slave trade can offer important historical insight, seeing ads for slave auctions casually placed in newspapers of the era really brings the brutality home.
The president’s walk across the bridge with cannon accompaniment from forts and ships The big bridge open: Two cities join in making a mammoth holiday
Back in 1961, a little 37-pound chimpanzee named Ham helped pave the way for human astronauts to launch into space.
Mrs Annie Edson Taylor, 63 years old, went over Niagara Falls on the Canadian side and survived, a feat never before accomplished when it happened back in 1903. Here’s how it went.
In 1977, alhough Tom Sneva’s four-lap average was just under 199mph, his first two laps were over the ‘magic’ 200mph mark – and the first official laps of over 200mph recorded at the speedway.
Albert Einstein was a man whose life, philosophies, discoveries and theories changed the way we looked at the world, and at life itself. Find out about him here.
A doctor smashed his way into a locked bedroom, and found Marilyn Monroe dead in bed. Here’s what else he found, and how the first news stories broke.
On the evening of December 9, 1977, a single punch altered the way the NBA regarded fighting forever when Kermit Washington and Rudy Tomjanovich ended up in a fight on the court.
