13 strange photos from the past that seem to tell us: "These were the times" (14 photos)

Sometimes the past seems to us something dusty, serious and a little boring. But you only have to look into old archives - and it turns out that people back then knew how to have fun, surprise, amaze the imagination ... and, it seems, did not always know what they were doing. These pictures seem to wink at us through the decades and whisper: "Yes, it was weird. But we are fine."





Imperial Japanese Army General Nagaoka Gaishi, 1920s



London police testing life jackets by jumping into the Thames, 1930s years





American racer Ab Jenkins sits inside his Mormon Meteor, 1930s



In 1935, Jenkins set a world speed record in it, covering 2000 miles (3,253 kilometers) in 24 hours at an average speed of 135 mph (217 km/h) on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. This is from there.

A photo of conjoined twins Margaret and Mary Gibb taken while Margaret was kissing her boyfriend, 1940s



An amusement park ride called "Flying Machines", 1950s



The drum would spin, and people would slow down to avoid making a full rotation. They were fastened securely.

Peel P50 — three-wheeled microcar-motorcycle, 1960s



Still holds the record for the smallest production car. Weighs only 59 kg.

Typist exam, 1960s



"Typist" — which does not have a masculine form meaning "a person who works on a typewriter", since the word "typist" is already taken to designate another profession. But this did not become a big problem, since this specialty has almost disappeared.

A man records a concert, Poland, 1980s



US Air Force SR-71 strategic reconnaissance aircraft pilots pose in their pressurized uniforms, 1980s



Sudanese Manute Bol is the tallest basketball player in NBA history. Defends the ring



He was 231 cm tall and weighed about 100 kg. He shared the title of the highest with Romanian Gheorghe Muresan.

A terrible crowd of people during the Gold Rush in Serra Pelada. Brazil, 1980s



After the discovery of a gold deposit in 1979, tens of thousands of prospectors (at its peak, more than 100,000 people) flocked there hoping to get rich. People manually mined gold in extreme conditions - with mud, heat, cave-ins and, as usual, violence. This place became a symbol of chaos, greed and hard physical labor, and the photos from there are still frightening. Judging by the shots, it seems that the events must have happened much earlier than the 1980s, it all looks so uncivilized.

A man poses for a photo in front of a Soyuz rocket, Baikonur, 1980s



A Los Angeles police officer's mobile jail cell, 1920s