'Olden Days' image gallery • 60+Club

‘Olden Days’ image gallery that the over 60s will enjoy

Enjoy our collection of images captured in the ‘olden days’. This page is updated regularly with new images and covers all types of moments in history. Enjoy a trip back to the good ol’ days, we hope you stay a while.

Note: Photography credit is referenced in each image or caption. 60+Club does not own rights or claim ownership of the below images.

French soldiers passing by a dog wearing googles and smoking a pipe, 1915.

In 1908, Houdini stood at the edge of the Harvard Bridge – commonly referred to as the Mass. Ave. Bridge – and was shackled by a Boston patrolman. His hands were handcuffed behind his back and chained to a collar around his neck. According to a Boston Globe article chronicling the feat, a signal was tooted from a towboat, and Houdini went overboard into the chilly waters below.
“There is always the possibility that I will be unable to free myself, as one never can tell what will happen to a lock,” Houdini told the newspaper. “However, I am a good swimmer, have confidence in myself, and I hope to perform this feat successfully.”
The Globe estimated some 20,000 spectators gathered to see Houdini’s leap, including the mayors of Boston and Cambridge. They waited 40 seconds for the magician to resurface, which he did with the shackles in his hands.
Source: Colorized by u/Philippattersonstl (Reddit)

Diane Keaton and Al Pacino during the filming of The Godfather, 1972.

Sean Connery poses as James Bond next to his Aston Martin DB5 on the set of Goldfinger, 1964.

Paul Newman’s United States Navy portraits. He served in the U.S. Navy in World War 2.

A young Frank Sinatra arrested in Bergen Country N.J, 1938.

Iron workers on the North Tower of the World Trade Center in 1973.

A beach in Iran a few months before the Islamic Revolution, 1979.

Princess William took this photo of his mum, Princess Diana, in 1989 when he was 7 years old.

In 1922, a group of scientists went to the Toronto General hospital where diabetic children were kept in wards, often 50 or more at a time. Most of them were comatose and dying from diabetic keto-acidosis.
These children were essentially in their death beds, awaiting what was at that time, certain death. The scientists moved swiftly and proceeded to inject the children with a new purified extract of insulin.
As they began to inject the last comatose child, the first one to be injected began to wake up. Then one by one, all the children awoke from their diabetic comas. A room that was full of death and gloom, suddenly became a place of joy and hope.
In the early 1920s, Frederick Banting and Charles Best discovered insulin under John Macleod at the University of Toronto. With the help of James Collip, insulin was purified, making it available to successfully treat diabetes. Both Banting and Macleod earned Nobel Prizes for their work in 1923.
Demonstrating his altruistic commitment to advance medicine, Banting sold the patent rights for insulin to The University of Toronto for $1, claiming that the discovery belonged to the world, not to him. This allowed insulin to be mass-produced, making it widely available to the public for the treatment of Diabetes.

In 1964 six high school friends skipper class to see the Beatles. While driving, Ringo Starr pulled beside them and snapped a picture of them. When they told their friends, no one believed them.
50 years later Ringo publishes a book of photographs. They were in it.
They reposed the shot as they look today. Gary Van Deursen was driving a borrowed, and brought along buddies Suzanne Rayot, Arlene Norbe, Charlies Schwartz, Bob Toth and Matt Blender.

The QE2 sails into Circular Quay, Sydney, February 1978.
“Harbour Bridge traffic banked up yesterday morning as drivers stole a look at the Queen Elizabeth 2, which berthed at Circular Quay shortly before 8 am on a world cruise. Soon after the ship arrived, many of the 1,350 passengers and 1,057 crew members set out exploring.
Throughout the day, sightseers flocked to the Quay to see the ship. “What a welcome,” said Captain Robert Arnott. “I’ve never seen a welcome quite like it”.”
Photo by Rick Stevens for @sydneymorningherald ID: FXB1272575

Circular Quay NSW, 1974. The ship in dock is the SS France.
Photo credit: Murray Views.

Workmen painting and cleaning the roof of Cannon Street Railway Station, London. 11 March, 1939.

The morning after prohibition ended, 1933.

1998. Fans gather in Times Square New York to watch the final episode of Seinfeld.

1947. A woman uses a new innovative crooked back brush, marketed by Los Angeles Brush Manufacture Inc., equipped with front and rear view mirrors so that you can see where you’re scrubbing.
Photo by Allan Grant.

David Attenborough and his son Robert, London. 1950s.

Nat King Cole with his family at London Airport, 1963.

Surfers Paradise QLD 1970s. Iluka high rise from north aspect looking south.
Photo credit: Murray Views.

Surfers Paradise at a different time, circa 1960s.

Sean Connery in Wavel Mews West Hampstead just after signing the contract to be next James Bond 1961.
Sean Connery is usually called the original James Bond. But Barry Nelson actually played 007 some eight years before 1962’s Dr. No hit the big screen, starring in an hour-long episode of the live American teleplay series Climax!

Beach Boys Surfin Safari 7-inch colored single released October 1962.

During the 1930s, “Baby Cages” were mesh cages suspended from apartment windows, commonly used to ensure children living in city apartment buildings were getting enough fresh air and sunlight.

A teenage girl poses for a photograph in her Elvis Presley themed bedroom, 1950s.

A busy day at Bondi Beach, Sydney, November 1929.
Photograph taken by unidentified photographer for Sydney Morning Herald (ID: FXT290671)

Cocaine toothache drops for children, 1885.

Wedding rings that were removed from Holocaust victims before their execution at Buchenwald concentration camp in Weimar, Germany, 1945. Each ring represents a destroyed family. Never forget.

The Mint was a hotel and casino in downtown Las Vegas. As soon as it started welcoming guests in 1957, the place became an instant favorite spot for gamblers and their dates. In this photo, some patrons and staff can be seen busying themselves with the slot machines.
Photo Courtesy: Archive Photos/Getty Images

Freemont Street can be found downtown in the “casino corridor.” Since the 1950s, cars would be whizzing down the street while people would flock along the sidewalk. The neon lights helped every establishment capture the attention of passersby.
Photo Courtesy: Hy Peskin/Getty Images

Completed in 1946, the Golden Nugget remains a sight for sore eyes even in the present. It is one of the few hotels from the original Vegas scene that was able to stand the test of time. During its heyday though, it was a certified hot spot.
Photo Courtesy: Gene Lester/Getty Images

Clint Eastwood photographed with Sammy Davis, Jr. after the latter’s performance at the Sands Hotel, 1959. The two appeared to be sharing an inside joke.
Photo Courtesy: CBS/Getty Images

Along with other members of the infamous Rat Pack, Frank Sinatra was definitely one of the major attractions of Las Vegas back in the 1950s. Just seeing his name on the promotional materials was enough to sell tickets and fill the Copa Room at The Sands Hotel.
Photo Courtesy: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty Images

Hailed as the “King of Cool,” Dean Martin was one of Las Vegas’ biggest music acts during the 1950s. Thanks to him, thousands of fans flocked to the city just to catch a glimpse of the legendary crooner. Every penny they spent was definitely worth it once he went behind the mic. Martin frequently performed in a showroom at the Sands Hotel called the Copa Room. The showroom was home to some of the era’s most iconic entertainers including Frank Sinatra.
Photo Courtesy: Diamond Images/Getty Images

Elton John and Slim Dusty watch John Farnham blitz the first ARIAs in March 1987.

1945. Men of the 6th Division, returning from Wewak, crowd the deck of HMS Implacable.

War time ration notice board, item allowance. Date unknown.

1935. Girls playing in Rhonrad wheels roll across Bondi Beach.

13 October 1945. 1300 ex prisoners of war arrive at Circular Quay aboard the HMS Formidable.

1935. Christmas shoppers along Pitt Street, Sydney CBD.

1940. A troopship with the 6th Division departs Sydney for the Middle East.

1938. Morning Rush hour Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Sylvester Stallone and Muhammad Ali play fighting at the 49th Academy Awards in 1977.

Russians playing chess in a park in Moscow, 1950s.

The Ford Aurora II station wagon from 1969.⁣
⁣
From the outside it looks like a normal station wagon, complete with wood paneling. However, if we look inside, the car comes with a wrap-around-couch and a passenger seat that can completely turn 180 degrees so you can socialize face-to-face with the people seated in the back. The rear of the car is also completely padded, allowing for extra seating.⁣
⁣
The Ford Aurora II never made it to the market most likely because it did not pass safety regulations. You can see that the car didn’t even come with seatbelts.⁣
⁣
It should be noted that seatbelts were rather controversial in the 40s and 50s. Despite the overwhelming evidence which showed the life-saving benefits of wearing seatbelts, many people still believed that seatbelts were actually dangerous and caused a slew of injuries. People who refused to wear seatbelts would even go as far as cutting them out of their cars.⁣
The opening paragraphs of Ford’s official news release dated 03/06/1969 reads:
Aurora II is a uniquely designed “luxury lounge” Ford station wagon with curved lounge seats, plush vinyl and “woodgrain” trim, deep pile carpeting, an eight-inch Philco television set, a Philco AM/AM stero radio and a stereo tape recorder and player.
This one of a kind station wagon has only three side doors … one of the left and two on the right. The read passenger door on the driver’s side has been eliminated because of the center lounge seat. The center door pillar on the passenger side has also been eliminated.

Frank Sinatra, George Peppard & Steve McQueen.

1964. Audrey Hepburn and William Holden on the set of “Paris When It Sizzles”.

Louis Armstrong playing trumpet for his wife Lucille Wilson in front of the Sphinx at the pyramids of Giza, Egypt, in 1961.
Photograph by Harry Warnecke.

Bride leaving her recently bomber home to get married, London. November 4, 1940.

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Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh relax on the set of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, circa 1951.

So the story goes…
On September 30th, 1956, during a drunken argument in a New York City bar, a man named Thomas Fitzpatrick claimed he could fly an airplane from New Jersey to NYC in under 15 minutes. To prove it, Fitzpatrick left the bar, stole an airplane from a New Jersey airfield at 3 AM, and flew without lights or radio before landing the plane on the street right outside the bar. Amazingly, the owner of the plane was so impressed, he declined to press charges, and Fitzpatrick only copped a small fine. Two years later, another bar patron called bullshit on his claim, so he did it again. The second occasion saw him cop six months in jail, but it was all worth it for the birth of the original “hold my beer” story.

Johnny Cash, on his farm in San Antonio Texas, 1959. Photograph by Don Hunstein.

Bondi Junction in the 1940s. Looking west down Oxford St from Bronte Rd.
Image source: Sydney Morning Herald

Old 16mm footage in the 1940s that includes Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.

Old 16mm vacation films were discovered at a garage sale in San Jose, CA by Tim Peddy and digitally converted courtesy of The California Pioneers of Santa Clara County. The unknown photographer traveled throughout 1940’s Australia, including Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. All Rights Reserved.

Photographs of Newtown (Sydney, NSW) before “modernisation”.

Video posted by Leslie Miller.

Grace Kelly on horseback on set of a film, probably ‘Mogambo’, circa 1953.

A couple walking down street wearing masks during the height of influenza, 1918.
Influenza killed over 100 Million people.

A mother and child walking down the street during a gas mask exercise in Southend, Essex, 1941.
Photograph: Science & Society Picture Library/Getty Images

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, 1950s. Kodachrome by Chalmers Butterfield.

18 year old Queen Elizabeth II serving as a mechanic in Auxiliary Territorial Service during WWII, England, 1945.

A Worker on beam of building at 40 Wall Street, 1930

Steel Worker on Socony Mobil Building, 1955. The building is a 45-story, 572-foot-tall skyscraper in Manhattan, New York City.

30 Sep 1932, Manhattan, New York City. Four construction workers take a nap, balanced on a steel girder hung 800 feet over Manhattan, during the construction of the RCA Building.
Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

Lunch atop a Skyscraper, 1932.
This iconic photograph taken atop the ironwork of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, during the construction of the Rockefeller Center, in Manhattan, New York City, United States.
The photograph depicts 11 men eating lunch, seated on a girder with their feet dangling 840 feet (260 meters) above the New York City streets. The photograph was taken on September 20, 1932, on the 69th floor of the RCA Building during the last months of construction.
Lunch atop a Skyscraper was published in the New York Herald-Tribune, Oct. 2 1932, with the author of the photograph still unknown – either Charles Clyde Ebbets, Tom Kelley, or William Leftwich.

The picture behind the picture. This is a picture of photographer Charles C. Ebbets, who took the world famous photograph, “Lunch atop a Skyscraper”.

Lunch Atop A Skyscraper: The Story Behind The 1932 Photo | 100 Photos | TIME

We don’t know their names, nor the photographer who immortalized them, but these men lunching 800 feet up show the daredevil spirit behind Manhattan’s vertical expansion. Source: TIME on YouTube

Footage of Construction Workers on the Historic Chrysler Building circa 1929-30

New York City’s Chrysler Building, one of the city’s most iconic skyscrapers, was built in a remarkably short time. Foundation work began in November 1928, and the building officially opened in May 1930. Even more remarkably, the steelwork went up in just six months in the summer of 1929 at an average rate of four floors a week.

At 1,046 feet (318.9 m), the Art Deco-style skyscraper was the world’s tallest building for 11 months before it was surpassed by the Empire State Building in 1931.It is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel framework.

Fox Movietone’s sound cameras visited the construction site several times in 1929 and 1930, staging a number of shots to maximize viewers’ sense of the spectacular heights. Movietone almost never put somebody in front of a camera without giving them something to say, so a number of scenes include some staged dialogue.

Scenes include:
0:35 A construction worker is posed out on the end of a beam on the north side of the building. Another worker supplies his words (or thoughts). When it’s over, he gingerly makes his way off.

1:32 Another shot, taken the same day, shows plasterers and bricklayers posing for the camera. Far below, trains can be seen on the Sixth Avenue El. The Avenue itself is mostly tenament buildings.

2:09 A pair of construction workers, posing precariously on the edge of some pipework, give a few facts and figures about the building.

3:05 Workers wrestle on of the 61th-floor eagles into place. Far below, streetcars run up and down Lexington Avenue.

7:55 Workers on the scaffolding surrounding the needle spire that, for 11 months, made the Chrysler building the tallest building in the world.

Video source: Speed Graphic Film and Video

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Four men climbing Brooklyn Bridge as part of a test for those wishing to be appointed to paint the bridge, 1926.

Flirting outside of J. Mendel & Sons, London, 1960s.

Father and daughter riding Penny Farthing’s together, England, circa mid 1900s.

The famous Hollywood sign, which originally said ‘Hollywoodland’ advertising the opening of a housing development on Mulholland Drive, 1924. The last four letters were removed in 1949.

Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis on the set of Ghostbusters, 1984.

Elvis Presley, Priscilla Presley, and Lisa Marie Presley relaxing at home, 1968.

Elvis in uniform, lying on an army cot 1958.

Diana Ross and the Supremes looking fabulous, 1967.

Coco Chanel, French couturier, circa 1936.

Christopher Walken at 10 years old, 1953.

British model and actress Jean Shrimpton walks barefoot in the rain down the Kings Road, Chelsea, London, 1964.

Brigitte Bardot at Pablo Picasso’s studio on the Cote d’Azur during the Cannes Film Festival, 1956.

Morning bathers in Las Vegas watch the mushroom cloud from an atomic test just 75 miles away, 1953. The cloud had a brilliant red and purple cast.

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Audrey Hepburn gets a kiss from her pet fawn, Ip, 1958.

Salvador Dali at his home in Figueres, Spain.

Russian writer, philosopher, and mystic Leo Tolstoy telling his grandchildren a story, circa 1890.

Relaxing by the Seine with a view of Notre-Dame de Paris, 1980.

Receipt from Elvis Presley’s second recording session for Sun Records, 1954.

Playboy Bunny girls arriving at a London Airport, 1966.

Paul McCartney playing piano at the wedding reception of Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach, 1981.

A young passenger asks a station attendant for directions, on a railway platform in Bristol, 1936.

The Eiffel Tower at twilight, 1932. Photograph by George Brassai.

A panda discussing the problems of the day over the washing line with a young admirer, 1939.

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A horse-drawn cart passes through a section cut out of the base of a giant sequoia at Yosemite Park, CA, circa 1879.

In the ’50s black musicians were often limited to small nightclubs. The Mocambo wouldn’t book Ella Fitzgerald until Marilyn Monroe said she would take a front table every night Ella played. The owner said yes, and Marilyn was true to her word.

James Dean sitting on his Porche Speedster in Los Angeles, California, 1955.

President Abraham Lincoln, Major Allan Pinkerton, and General John A. McClernand visit the Union camp at Sharpsburg, MD, 1862. Lincoln visited the camp in an attempt to persuade General George McClellan to take his army on the attack.

View of Circular Quay showing trams in operation, c 1926. Image source: State Records NSW.

Construction of the Sydney Opera House, Sydney, N.S.W. – circa 1970. Image source: Art Gallery NSW – NSW Government

Sydney harbour bridge construction, 1930.
By 1930, Sydney’s ferries faced a bleak future as the Bridge began to span the Harbour. In 1927, ferries had carried 47 million passengers to the North Shore. Today the figure is closer to 14 million.
The Bridge took eight years to build, from 1925 to 1932, including the approaches and supporting roads. Over 2,000 people were employed to work on the bridge, including engineers, boilermakers, ironworkers and stonemasons.

Tram Conductress, circa 1942. Image source: Vic Solomons Collection

Elizabeth Taylor posing with a cigarette during production of, ‘The Girl Who Had Everything,’ 1952.

Mid 60s fashion, France, with Twiggy on the right.

English boy scouts collecting funds for those affected by the Titanic disaster, 1912.

Elvis signing autographs on a boys head, 1959.

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Queen Elizabeth II at a garden party in Sydney, Australia, 1954

Marlon Brando in costume for, ‘The Wild One’, 1953

A London bus makes its way along Fleet Street in heavy smog, 1952.

Women using compact mirrors in a crowd to catch sight of Queen Elizabeth II, 1966. Photograph by James P. Blair.

Al Pacino’s life in pictures. Submitted by @officialmafiapage

English children huddle in a trench during a German air raid, 1940.

Two West German girls chat with their grandparents in the eastern zone, separated by a barbed wire barricade, 1961.

The first ever issue of Vogue, 1892. They hoped to attract “the sage as well as the debutante.”

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, married since 1947.

One Night Cough Syrup’ with some interesting ingredients. Manufactured in Baltimore, 1888.

A penniless mother hides her face in shame after putting her children up for sale, Chicago, 1948.
This photo was taken in August of 1948 and published in a Chicago newspaper. This truly encapsulates the experience of those families still down on their luck years after the war.
The woman, Lucille Chalifoux, was only 24 years old, but pregnant with her fifth child at the time. Lucille and her husband Ray, age 40, were facing eviction from their apartment at the time. Ray had lost his job as a coal truck driver. Faced with the prospect of being homeless – and the daunting task of feeding so many mouths – they chose to auction off their own children.
On the top step are Lana, 6, and Rae, 5. Below are Milton, 4, and Sue Ellen, 2.
Within two years, all four of the children pictured, as well as the child she was carrying, were sold off for as little as $2 or given to other homes.

A guard of honour passes out as Queen Elizabeth II rides past during the Trooping the Colour parade, 1970.

Australian soldiers carrying Prime Minister Billy Hughes down George Street in triumph, after his return from the Paris Peace Conference. Sydney, Australia, 1919.

The shells from an allied creeping bombardment on German lines, 1916.

Elephant-mounted machine-gun, 1914.

Simone Segouin, the 18 year old French Résistance fighter, 1944.

Testing football helmets, 1912.

NASA scientists with their board of calculations, 1961.

Female IRA fighter, 1970s.

Fidel Castro smoking a cigar and wearing two Rolex watches during a meeting with Khrushchev, Kremlin, 1963.

Theodore Roosevelt’s diary the day his wife and mother died within hours of each other on Valentine’s Day, 1884.

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Job hunting in 1930’s.

Women boxing on a roof, 1938.

The class divide in pre-war Britain, 1937.

German soldiers react to footage of concentration camps, 1945.

The last public execution by guillotine, France, 1939.

John F. Kennedy’s coffin lies in state in the Capitol Building, 1963.

American soldiers returning after V-Day to New York harbour on a crowded ship, 1945.

Due to a shortage of stockings in 1942 women would paint them on instead.

100,000 Iranian women March against the hijab law, Tehran 1979.

The first ever press pictures of dead U.S. soldiers that were presented to the public, “The Face Of War”, 1943.

Maori Battalion haka in Egypt, 1941.

Testing a bulletproof vest in 1923.

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Einstein’s desk photographed a day after his death.

A lucky British soldier showing off his damaged helmet, 1918.

Aftermath of The Great Fire of Toronto in 1904.

Navajo riders in the Canyon de Chelly, Arizona. 1904, photo taken by Edward Curtis.

Relatives of Titanic survivors waiting for their loved ones at Southampton, 1912.

U.S. gun crew from Regimental Headquarters Company, 23rd Infantry fires a 37mm gun against German entrenched positions on the first day of the Meuse-Argonne offensive (September 26, 1918).

The bodies of Benito Mussolini and other fascists hung up for display after being executed, 29 April 1945 in Milan.

Russian soldiers in a Gaoliang field. Russo-Japanese war, 1904-1905. Photo taken by Prokudin-Gorsky.

Highway of Death, The result of American forces bombing retreating Iraqi forces, Kuwait, 1991.

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