The Lost America
America, One of the Most Powerful Continent in World as well as, the Most Modernized and Advanced Continent of Today. But somewhere in this Race we have Lost the America that it looked before. Here we have Collected a Beautiful Pictures to Revive the Old Memories that how America was before the Development. Including the early Industrialization, Cultural Ethics and much more to see as follows.
Source: Shorpy.com
at 11:17 pm
very nice
at 9:44 pm
Terrific post… thank you for sharing this!
at 3:44 am
America before Rap and Dirty politicians!
Still Amazing picture though.
at 1:49 am
Seriously? You don’t think there were dirty politicians back then??? Do some reading, genius. I think you’ll find that in many ways, it was much, much worse back then.
at 3:55 am
Chill out terry ^
at 7:47 am
These were awesome!
at 3:28 pm
Amazing… Youngsters just can’t believe this is the way it was… Enjoyed….
at 1:07 am
Fantastic pictures…just one complain. America is NOT country, it is a continent, your country is called United States of America.
Anyway, great archive.
at 8:29 am
Actually the US is commonly referred to as America, US citizens as Americans, and The United States of AMERICA. It is our name that is also shared in the names North America and South America. If we cannot refer to our home as America and ourselves as Americans without a foreigner criticizing us, than what are we? United Statians? No. We’re Americans who live in America.
at 4:39 pm
That’s right Beau! We are Americans who live in The United States Of America! Who ever thinks different is more then welcome to go live in another Country. And Brian have you ever heard of Thomas Joseph Pendergast? He controlled Kansas City and Jackson County Missouri as a political boss from approximately 1925 to 1939. They called his group of people The Pendergast Machine. Tom was a patron of the early political career of Harry S Truman, a fact that caused some controversy after Truman became Vice-President and then President.
at 1:24 am
Do you know the reason for why we have lost that special culture? We have lost our culture because of two reasons. The first one is that we don’t expect foreigners to assimilate to our culture, thus eroding our culture. The second reason is just shockingly apparent in your introductory paragraph. YOU can’t even write English! Since people don’t assimilate to culture, or even SPEAK ENGLISH, our nation’s once rich and beautiful culture has died.
at 8:31 pm
Even if true, your comment is cruel and uncalled for. At least she cares about the history and legacy of the country. It seems all you care about is your own personal, and somewhat bigotted, view of the country. It doesn’t sound like the country in which I grew up.
at 5:51 am
Many of the people in these images could not read or write. A great majority of the working class were immigrants from eastern Europe and did not learn English in their lifetime. There were deplorable working conditions, rampant violence and culture/race wars, corruption, and sin. These are incredible images of a great nation, but so are the ones being created today in America and elsewhere around the globe. The reason our country is so great does not depend on our intolerance of other cultures and traditions.
at 6:07 am
Thank you for sharing these good old America…As a survived boat people from Viet Nam, I greatly appreciate your pictures and America is always in my heart.
at 6:56 am
Im sorry but I must disagree, America is not the most modernized country. That accolade goes firstly to Japan, then to South Korea.
As a photographer myself, these pictures have only amusement value, there is sadly, nothing informational about them, since ou have stripped off all relevant information about them. Information such as where they are, when they are, and who took the picture is necessary to make them truly interesting.
at 3:35 pm
It doesn’t matter what you think of them. I’m a photographer as well, and I see a lot of information within the photos. They are showing a literal snapshot of how people lived without the modern conveniences we have today. The information you require is just trivial information you want to know about the photos, but not the content matter.
at 7:23 am
Wow, these were great. Thanks!
at 12:40 pm
I have to agree with Jack about why our culture died. Its great to welcome all people, But if you want to live in America because it is so great. Why try to change it into the place you left? Just respect our country and the things we stand for just as your country would demand respect from us. Imagin an American going to a forign country and telling them that they are offended by that country’s flag or religin.
at 12:07 am
no matter what you’ve heard, ignorance is not bliss. our country was made by foreigners that were trying to create something of their own, and now you say that they should assimilate themselves to what you feel they need to be.
at 7:34 pm
The photo of the multi-tiered shopping complex (inside view) might be the Arcade in Cleveland, Ohio. It’s still in existance and very beautiful.
at 8:50 am
You know, everyone who isn’t American finds it immensely amusing how Americans blow their own trumpet thinking they are the greatest (well lets be honest, only) country in the world. Good job on the capitalisation btw (yes that’s an s).
at 4:28 pm
Very interesting. However, the photo of the people getting on the plane was not taken in America. it’s from sub-saharen Africa, possibly Kenya or Uganda. The plane is a British Royal Mail flight, and the staff in Fezs and Shorts (often used uniform for native staff in pre-independence British Africa) have Imperial Airways on their tops.
That aside, great bunch of snaps.
at 4:53 am
Loved these, I seen a lot of things I had only heard about.
at 5:20 am
It’s not like foreigners “Did” this to America. We pioneered the building techniques that freed the world from masonry, and made wood construction cheap. Unfortunately, too many Americans have always confused “value” with “cheap” and never really cared about how things looked, until something ugly got built, and often “ugly” was only something modern, which, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, or the Pyramid in San Francisco, mellowed as people got used to it and is now considered iconic.
Today, cheap and convenient rules. We have more kids in art and design schools, and more art and design schools than ever before, but almost everything is either ugly, dull, or heavily retro. I can’t see how kids dream about owning a brand new toyota, but I’ve seen them—they literally don’t have any imagination, it’s all they know.
America did it to itself. What we need to do now is shut down the nostalgia machine and stop pining for a lost age. Design isn’t dead, it’s just lost, and we’ve not been looking. Instead of resisting new buildings, demand better new buildings. Demand better new cars. And of course, you can always dress up, nobody’s stopping you. Go ahead, put on that tie, properly. And do it every day, right through the blazing summer.
at 5:27 am
I enjoy the pictures however my enjoyment is conditional. I am a photographer but find that when history is looked back at you see the picture of a lens that is from a lens that is not what America would like to reveal. There are hardly any pictures of people of color. Where are they. There has always been an ethnocentrism and rhetoric of the great old America. This is not true of greatness when it precludes history of the Nature of America and its relentless accounting of what is great about it. People of color could not enjoy nonetheless attend those institutions or the societies that are so revered in photography. If you had taken the pictures of people of color what would you get. To the author of this what if your ancestors where the labor that built the “empire” or were of the lineage that your history was insignificant I believe you would have the same response however the pictures are great, great production, they look flawless and obviously have taken time.
at 1:43 pm
I love the old subway line photo…truly beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
at 2:29 am
We’ve come a long way, baby. I especially loved seeing the old cars, the ladies’ fashions from the ?1920s I would guess
at 10:53 pm
These photos show me the following:
-Consumerism
-Infrastructure that we eventually couldn’t afford/ wouldn’t allot money to to maintain
-The invasion of the media in the home of Americans, as started with radio
Wonder how we got to where we are…
at 3:16 am
I wouldn’t say “lost,” perhaps matured through immigration and technology. The only thing I noticed that has been lost was the woman driving a stick shift. Laughable.
at 2:47 am
I love the photos, don’t get me wrong, but I have to agree with Allan. I’m dying to know the locations and dates of these photos. I recognized several from downtown Cleveland (its public square, the Euclid Arcade, and the railroad station). I’m wondering if there’s more that I didn’t catch.
Can’t you add more info under each photo please??
at 7:58 pm
For those seeking identifying info, #9 is none other than the original and magnificent Waldorf-Astoria, once the largest and tallest hotel in the world, occupying an entire city block in midtown Manhattan (at Fifth Avenue and 33rd Street). Completed in 1897, it was demolished (!) in 1929, the year of The Crash, to make way for a very modern art deco structure that would become the tallest building in the world upon its opening in 1931, though its occupancy rate was so poor that it didn’t turn a profit for almost 20 years…
at 2:59 pm
Very well done, I liked it very much ,Dates and places would be helpful.
at 4:22 am
Yeah, real bricks and mortar, and long before all the “wonderful” (ha) labor-saving devices, so people could have jobs back then.
at 3:43 pm
The picture of the barber shop woke up some memories for me! Please remember this is not a political statement or platform. It is simply the earlier days of some great American cities!
at 4:31 pm
I, also, would like to see info on where these pics were taken. It’s always interesting to look at a photo from back then and compare how the scene looks today.