We found a treasure trove of letters to Santa dating back to the 1930s (and they are adorable!). Come see what kids were asking for back in the day.
Vintage family & old-fashioned parenting
A box supper social — or simply box social — was an old-fashioned way to have a party, share a meal, and raise money for
Before gummy vitamins existed, there were several other chewable supplements for kids – but none was more iconic than Flintstones vitamins.
As an alternative to paintings, drawings and sculptures, antique bust silhouettes like these – hand-cut from paper – were a relatively affordable way to remember loved ones.
While it’s not unusual today for a child’s growing up to be well-documented, a chronological series of vintage baby pictures like these were a rare advantage in the early 20th century!
Some hardware stores in the 70s used to stock tons of great toys and Christmas gifts for kids – like dolls and trucks, bikes and ride-on horses, car sets and craft kits. Take a look!
Take a look back at 12 monthly Woman’s Day magazine covers from 1950, and marvel at how much daily life – not to mention magazine marketing and graphic design – have changed since then!
Candy Land, the vintage board game that made millions of kids dream of an ice cream & lollipop world
Here, take a look back at some of the game pieces, cards, and several game boards for the vintage Candy Land game. Which ones do you remember most?
This article offers a perspective on “Twilight Sleep” from the year 1915, when there were fewer pain relief options nor as much understanding of labor and delivery.
The chance to take a trip through the aisles of Toys R Us in the 1990s is over forever, but you can join us in reminiscing with this collection of the toys and games kids wanted back then!
On the way to today’s super-simple, pregnancy test sticks that give results in minutes, women had to use these chemistry set-style vintage home pregnancy test kits, then wait hours for a result.
Old pregnancy test sticks like these were a huge step forward, and meant that millions of women finally had a way to find out they were pregnant without going to the doctor, and without having to do a more complicated liquid chemistry test.
Vintage ovulation predictor test kits: These home fertility tests from the 80s & 90s were like magic
By the mid-1980s, reasonably accurate home ovulation predictor kits hit the market, simplifying the process of pinpointing peak fertility.
They weren’t all that safe (most proved to fail crash tests), but these retro baby car seats from the 1960s, 70s and 80s were among the first on the market with child passenger safety in mind.
Some of the most iconic 80s school supplies have been revitalized for a new generation (assuming they ever went away in the first place). Here are some of our sentimental faves that you can buy new even now!
Over the years and across the miles, a tricycle has been a rite of pedaling passage for generations of toddlers and preschoolers. Check out our collection of vintage pictures of old trikes
If you’ve ever been curious as to why neckties and aftershave are considered the quintessential Father’s Day gifts, wonder no more. We also found some great modern-day gift equivalents just for dad.
See a dozen cute vintage play kitchens – toys for kids who wanted to pretend to cook, and have fun with mini appliances and plastic food.
A bouncy new baby is wonderful – but quite a burden, too! In the early 20th century, baby window cages like these were promoted as making babies more fun since they were easier to care for.
100 years ago, public swimming pools were vital for summer survival After the concept of public baths faded from favor, but before post-war homeowners started
If you want to have a little more fun with the holiday, pick a decade and try for a Mother’s Day celebration with vintage flair! We’ve rounded up a little inspo for your effort.
Look back at adorable vintage 1950s nursery decor and furniture from the 50s, plus get advice from interior decorators about old-school baby bedrooms.
Here’s a look back at some sweet vintage Mother’s Day cards from the 20th century, including a few of the 240 million greeting cards for mom that were sold in just one year, back in 1959.
What did Carowinds theme park look like back in the 1980s? Here’s a look at the vintage Hanna-Barbera-affiliated amusement park that straddled the line between two states.
Anyone obsessed with vintage Strawberry Shortcake probably dreamed of these pieces of sugary sweet delight featuring their favorite gal – dolls and toys, of course, but also bedding, wallpaper, roller skates and more.
With 3D lenticular printing on the covers and full-color stop-motion animation-like illustrations, these vintage Puppet Storybooks were irresistible to kids!
Barbie wasn’t just a doll – she had an empire! Look back at Vintage Barbie play sets, complete with friends and family, fabulous dollhouses, pools, pets… and lots and lots of fashionable clothing.
50 years ago, the coolest vintage banana seat bikes for kids also had bright colors, high handlebars and slick rear tires. Check ’em out here!
Do you recall playing with vintage clicker and Clacker toys trend of the early 60s and 70s. Inexpensive and fun hard plastic balls on strings, their popularity spread like wildfire over the course of just a few years.
It is said that superior men have superior mothers, and no matter the views of John Quincy Adams as a politician, he was considered a man of high morals. This insightful letter was written by his mother, First Lady Abigail Adams, from a volume published in the mid-1800s.
Remember how yummy baby aspirin tasted? Flashback to those fever dreams of yore with this collection of everything vintage baby aspirin.
Step back and time and enjoy these charmingly vintage Christmas scenes celebrations from the 1940s through the 1970s.
The official pictures of kids with Santa – once called ‘sitting on Santa’s lap’ – has been around for generations. Here’s a look back at this Christmas ritual!
In the 1974 holiday classic TV special from the Rankin-Bass team, The Year Without a Santa Claus, brothers Heat Miser and Snow Miser memorably performed their signature tunes.
Let Christmas stocking stuffers of yesteryear inform your Christmas list THIS year! We’ve rounded up over 30 vintage Christmas stocking stuffers we loved in days gone by.
Called ‘the world’s greatest toy catalog,’ vintage FAO Schwarz toy catalogs like this gives you a peek at what children of all ages loved to play with back in the sixties.
If you were a mid-century suburban kid you likely had a tubular metal swing set like one of these! Check out this nostalgia trip back to the backyards of your childhood.
When you were a kid, there was nothing else like the joy of old-fashioned treehouses or forts: a little getaway that you built (maybe with some help) that could be a clubhouse or castle or spaceship or simply a place for a little peace and quiet.
Follow us backward through time, and check out dozens of the old roller skates that were so well-loved in the heyday of roller skating!
These cute vintage 60s dolls seemed to offer something for everyone – from the mod Swingy doll to more traditional baby dolls, and mini doll sets to talking toys!
With these vintage Disneyland tickets, visitors could enjoy their choice of dozens of Disneyland rides and attractions in Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Frontierland and Adventureland.
Tiny Tears was a very popular baby doll back in the ’50s – and the big selling point was that she cried ‘real’ tears – and wet her diaper.
Remember these classic Fisher-Price preschool toys, like the vintage corn popper, colorful xylophone, music box TV and chatter telephone?
These little vintage kiddie swimming pools were the perfect size to help introduce babies and children to water fun in the safety of their own shallow wading pools!
In Hawaii in the ’70s, Waikiki was more than a beach. It’s a vibrant, exciting, cosmopolitan resort city on Oahu, only a few miles from bustling downtown Honolulu.
Look back at the fun kids generations ago had on dangerous old playgrounds – with towering structures, fast spinners, rickety rides & other unsafe old-school play equipment.
Today’s toddlers ride in style in the sleek and racy, brightly-colored, low-slung plastic numbers like the vintage Big Wheel from Marx – that whiz, spin, skid, slide, race and even roar.
The first vintage Etch-A-Sketch toy was made back in 1960. It was a big seller from early on, and over the years, Ohio Art made several other creative, artistic toys – such as those shown here.
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.
Some of the most iconic images of the Great Depression were the migrant mother photos of a woman named Florence Thompson, taken by Dorothea Lange. While one picture was famous, there were several other shots taken at the same time. See them here!
Remember getting drinks in vintage Dixie Cups? While many of us recall them from childhood because of their cute designs, they weren’t invented simply for convenience.
Do you remember Shrinky Dinks? They were DIY crafts that could be made by coloring on a plastic sheet, cutting out the various shapes, and then shrinking them down using heat.
