A selection of interesting and unusual photos from the USA (21 photos)

All the pictures were taken during the 20th century and allow you to take a different look at the life of another country.





A car riddled with bullets and the body of Tommy Curran, recovered from the Swingles quarry. USA, 1933. He testified against gang members who attacked a police officer.

The 1930s in the United States is a period when gangster groups reached their peak and then began to gradually lose influence under pressure from law enforcement agencies. The decade was a time of legendary underworld figures, major shootouts, and government attempts to control organized crime.

The economic crisis of the 1929–1930s created favorable conditions for the growth of crime. Millions of unemployed people were looking for ways to survive, which increased the flow of new members to criminal gangs.



The Titanic's lifeboats at Pier 54 of the White Star Lines in New York after the sinking, 1912.

On April 18, 1912, the steamship Carpathia delivered thirteen lifeboats from the sunken Titanic to the White Star Line pier in New York. These were the last physical witnesses of the majestic vessel, considered unsinkable. Under pouring rain and peals of thunder, these boats were carefully removed from the deck of the Carpathia so as not to interfere with the process of mooring and disembarking the rescued passengers.

The sailors of the Carpathia rowed eleven lifeboats closer to the White Star Line pier, and the two remaining on board were delivered to their destination a day later, on Friday morning.

However, the tragedy did not end even after the rescued reached dry land. By dawn, when the embankments were empty, looters entered the pier and stole many identifying items from the lifeboats. Among the "souvenirs" were: 25 number plates, 37 flags of the shipping company, 23 plates with the name of S.S. Titanic, 19 plates indicating the port of registry of Liverpool.

As a result of the outrageous looting, the management of the White Star Line decided on Friday evening to post guards to protect the remaining evidence of the tragedy from further encroachment.

Thus, the lifeboats of the Titanic became not only symbols of hope for those who survived, but also objects of attention for both historians and unscrupulous people who tried to use the tragedy for their own selfish purposes.





Gangsters Arrested

American gangsters suspected of murdering Russian Jewish immigrant Charles King Solomon, who controlled bootlegging, drug trafficking and gambling in Boston. He was shot dead at Boston's Cotton Club in January 1933.



Photographer: Arthur Fellig.

"Unknown Animal." USA, 1960s.



A rescuer searches the swollen Big Thompson River for possible flood victims. Loveland, Colorado, 1976. On July 31, 1976, heavy rains caused the Big Thompson River in Colorado to overflow its banks, killing at least 144 people, injuring more than 250, and leaving at least five missing.



An American child receives food rations from a food stamp book. USA, 1943.



Case Study House #22, Los Angeles, 1960

The Stahl House, also known as Case Study House #22, is a modernist house designed by architect Pierre Koenig in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. In addition to being the home of the Stahls, it is also one of the most photographed buildings in the world, often appearing in American films and television series.



Photographer: Julius Shulman

Rogers Curtis Johnson goes for a ride, 1925.



A ride at Coney Island. Brooklyn, New York, 1955.

This parachute tower is a symbol of Coney Island, although it has been closed since the late 1960s. Originally intended for training paratroopers.

The structure consists of an open steel parachute tower 76 meters high and weighing 150 tons. Twelve steel cantilever arms extend from the top of the tower; when the ride was in operation, each arm supported a parachute attached to a lift cable and a set of guide cables. Passengers were strapped into a two-seater canvas seat, lifted to the top, and dropped. The parachute and shock absorbers at the bottom slowed their fall.



William A. Swift, a retired farmer with his dog. USA, 1938.



A convenient and practical portable kitchen from the 1920s.



Aftermath of a snowstorm in December 1958, Oswego, New York.



Luncheon of the unemployed at the Tacoma Commons Mission, Tacoma, Pierce County, 1930. Tacoma Commons is an American charitable organization that helps the homeless and unemployed.

The man in the foreground is wearing leggings, a sign of the times... they look like the Army leather ones for officers in World War I, so he's probably a veteran who brought his precious leggings back from the front and still wears them.



Photographer: Chapin Bowen

A freight train winds through the mountains, 1909.



Photographer: Mark Jay Goebel

Sobering-up station. Boston, USA, 1930s.



Crying Nancy. USA, 1945.



Photographer: Kurt Hutton.

US Navy Girls. Obstacle Course. Florida, 1944.



Easter Sunday. Philadelphia, 1951.



Photographer: John Mosley

Circus acrobats, 1948.



Two American fruit tree pruners take a rest in the 1950s.