40 Beautiful Vintage Photos We Can’t Look Away From

Looking at beautiful vintage photos is a past time that many people hold near and dear to their heart.  It brings back memories from simpler times that may have not always been the most friendly.  While our history is dotted with both good and bad moments, it’s the whole of those experiences that makes us who we are. The beautiful vintage photos in this article may bring back fond memories or teach you something about the past that you didn’t know.

That’s the thing about beautiful vintage photos – they tell a story that not everyone knows.  Sometimes they tell a story that was secret or hidden from the world until decades later.  And remember, beauty is in the eye of the beholder so some of the photos may not represent beauty in the traditional way.  Beauty is more about progress, understanding and discovery than it is aesthetics and these beautiful vintage photos prove that.

1. Frank Zappa with a cute cat

Frank Zappa in purple in this purple room chilling with his parts while cradling a cat is such a beautiful vintage photo.  Zappa’s work was also beautiful.  A composer, musician and producer – he was known for bending genres and his experimental approach.  Like many well-loved artists, he used his music to communicate how he felt about the times and the problems people faced.  Vocal about his criticisms, the was not a fan of the education system or any organized religion.  He communicated the causes he believed in the art he produced.

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2. Sharon Tate before her murder

Sharon Tate looks elegant and gorgeous in this beautiful vintage photo.  Perched upon a footstool, her high heels are tossed to the side in the background.  Her acting career is only half of what people remember about her.  After getting great reviews, she took on a role in that earned her a Golden Globe.  While many know her for the role she played in that cult classic, Valley of the Dolls, her name made headlines for more than just that.  In 1969, just two years after her Golden Globe award, Sharon Tate was murdered by the Manson Family.

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3. Farrah Fawcett 

Farah Fawcett’s natural beauty is the highlight of this picture.  The tanned blonde beauty won Americans over with her smile as soon as she appeared on television.  Her rise to fame began with her role as one of the Charlie’s Angels.  Her acting skills did not go unnoticed. She won 4 Emmy Awards and was nominated for a Golden Globe 6 times.  As she aged, her health declined.  She fought a 3 year battle with cancer before she was taken far too soon. Loved by all her fans, they were sad to hear of her struggle.

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4. A domesticated Marilyn Monroe

Taken in 1958, this beautiful vintage photo shows Marilyn Monroe playing a more traditional role.  It was rare that her life was as put together as this picture.  While she was a role model for many women and also how they took charge of their lives – she had many skeletons hidden in her closet.  In this photo, she pours the husband who betrayed her a drink while he chats with a colleague.  Marilyn wasn’t cut out out for the housewife duties of her time, she was usually late and often messy.

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5. Another side of Samantha from Bewitched

Before she was the nose twinkling witchy mother that stole the heart of America, Elizabeth Montgomery had some very different roles in the movies and TV. In this beautiful vintage photo, she was playing the role of a high class woman who fell in love with a gangster.  In the film, the man she was in love with murdered men in cold blood, but that didn’t change her opinion of him.  Perhaps that was because she too had played the role of a murderer before.

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6. Sally Fields Promo Shot from the 70s

This beautiful vintage photo of Sally Fields is a promotional shot for “Smokey and the Bandit.”  Many regard the part with Sally and Burt Reynolds as the best of the 3 part series.  This photo shows the captivating and warm look that we all know AND LOVE Sally Fields for.  That look sparked chemistry with her co-star and the two began to date after filming was over.  While Sally Fields has been beautiful in almost every role she’s played – the character pictured here really suited her and her spirit during that time.

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7. Christina Applegate and Brad Pitt looking flawless for the 80s

The teenage daughter from Married with Children reportedly only spent one evening with the charming yet rude womanizer, Brad Pitt.  It’s our best guess this photo was taken on that night in 1989.  Standing side by side in this beautiful vintage photo, the two stars are the epitome of 80s style.  Her hair, her heavy lip and those high gloss nails just add to the look.  Brad is looking very vintage too, wearing a broken-in leather jacket and unruly hair.  Rumors say that shortly after this photo was taken, Christina ditched Brad for another guy and left with him.

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8. Students joining together

This beautiful vintage photo was likely taken in the mid-60s.  While it’s unclear what the students are protesting, it does look like they are joining together in a peaceful one.  During that time it was most likely one of two causes they were standing up against.  Teenage students often fought back against the segregation and racial injustice in their schools.  Also during that time, the Vietnam war was starting.  It’s impact helped bring groups together that may have otherwise fought.  This photo shows togetherness in a beautiful way.

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9. London in the 60s

This beautiful vintage photo tells an amazing story.  Two shoppers in vibrant colors and hemlines above their knees symbolize so much in this picture from the 60s.  Taken on Carnaby Street in London, these two women could be part of the youth driven revolution of the late 60s.  Tired of conforming, the kids of the “Swinging 60s” started their own version of normal and that included fashion.  The freedom they have compared to the women who walked those same streets just 5 years before is entirely visible.  Back then, the desire for freedom was worth the risk.

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10. An elegant photo by a well known photographer

This beautiful vintage photo was taken by Louise Dahl-Wolfe.  He is well known photographer who worked with Harper’s Bazaar.  He took many cover shots and personal black and white sets for actresses.  He is most often associated with photos of Marilyn Monroe, but many of his photos, like this one are gorgeous.  Pictured here is June Vincent, who played many different roles during her time as an actress in the 40s and 50s.  This photo of June shows exactly why she commonly played the young attractive women trying to steal a husband.

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11. Vintage Wedding Photos

These 1920s wedding photos are much more elegant than what today’s couples have on their mantle.  Beautiful vintage photos like this one tell a story of when details mattered.  Every bit of makeup, angle and placement is nearly perfect.  These photos were taken to remember a special event and would be kept forever.  These days, people carry cameras around in their pockets and snap a photo whenever it suits them.  In the 1920s when this photo was taken, pictures and what was shown in them meant something. While photos are still important, they lack the extra effort seen in vintage pictures.

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12. Vintage Disneyland

There isn’t anything more beautiful than seeing a little girl happily look at one of her favorite Disney Princesses. In this beautiful vintage photo, a young girl and boy visit Disneyland.  They are surrounded by Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs but look at Snow White adoringly.  Holding their balloons shaped like the trademark Mouse ears of Disney, they do look like they are in the happiest place on Earth.  The vintage costumes of the characters aren’t as flashy as those seen in the Magic Kingdom today.

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13. Vintage Ice Cream Truck (and outfits)

This beautiful vintage photo depicts a favorite from around the world.  Ice Cream trucks have been delighting kids inside neighborhoods across the globe for years.  Seen here is a Mr. Whippy truck in England, where it got it’s start.  Mr. Whippy trucks have been driving around passing out cold treats in every country since the 60s. This picture of a vintage ice cream truck was likely taken in the 70s, judging by those outfits.  Fewer Mr. Whippy trucks are in circulation today, but the ice cream truck tradition is still alive and well.  Every one of us knows the delight of hearing that music coming on a hot summer day.

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14. Real life Outsiders

Looking like the real life version of The Outsiders, the teenage boys in this beautiful vintage photo are proud to be Greasers.  During the 50s and 60s, when this photo was likely taken, working and low class teenagers embraced a specific subculture.  Starting with teenage boys greasing their hair, the lifestyle spread quickly throughout lower class America.  This photo was taken in New York and shows the typical dress and hair style of the boys. They also often smoked cigarettes, worked on  cars and listened to Rockabilly music.

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15. Vintage Harlem

Proof of resilience in an already crushed community, Harlem in the 70s is a true image of strength.  This beautiful vintage photo shows a couple, still in Harlem carrying on life as usual while the world around them crumbled.  Clinging tight to each other and their community after riots rocked their neighborhoods, the folks living in Harlem when this photo was taken knew the struggle and many still know it today.  Following the deaths of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr in the 60s, many fled from Harlem.  Those who stayed rebuilt while their fashion and music taste influenced the nation.

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16. 1930s Feminists

This beautiful vintage photo shows women fighting a struggle they still fight today. Of course, these women fought against many more unfair rules than women do now.  These women weren’t allowed to wear whatever type of bathing suit they wanted.  When this photo was taken some beaches still had police with measuring tapes determining whether or not a bathing suit was fit to wear in public.  Standing in front of a sign that prohibits what they are wearing, these women stand for their right to choose what to do with and how to present their bodies, just like the feminists of today.

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17. Proof of Progress

It may be hard to see the positives in this beautiful vintage photo.  Today, it’s illegal in many states to even smoke in the car with a child.  In the 1950s, because of advertising, it was thought that smoking cigarettes was virtually harmless and people smoked them and offered them to kids like in this photo.  While the beauty isn’t readily apparent, this photo shows just how much progress we’ve made with protecting the public from the harms of tobacco products and nicotine.

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18. A Vintage Burger King

We aren’t going to lie, we sort of wish that Burger King still looked like it did in this beautiful vintage photo.  Sporting a style straight from the 1970s, the Burger King in this picture is bright and lively.  The exterior walls are plastered with the reds and orange hues so loved during that era.  Today, Burger King looks much more bland and much more modern.  Often referred to as retro by today’s youth, the color scheme and patterns tell a tale of a better time, a time when more effort was put into aesthetics and quality.

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19. A row of Telephone Operators

This beautiful vintage photo shows a relic of the past, the telephone operator.  This photo was taken at the Capitol switchboard, but does feature a common scene from switchboards across the country.  Operators were on the other end of the line when you picked up the original telephones installed in houses.  They aided in connecting the telephone line to another line that either was local or to a line that left the area.  Operators and their work were responsible for making communication possible in the early days of the phone, but their efforts are rarely recognized.

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20. The Chicago Theater on the rise

A great shot of the Chicago Theater just 6 years after it opened can be seen in this beautiful vintage photo from 1927.  Opening in 1921, the Chicago theater didn’t become a hotspot right away.  A few years after it opened it became the flagship theater for the Balaban brothers.  Business started booming in 1925 and began to slow down in the mid-40s due to the war.  Like many theaters from the 30s, this one used discounted rates and used other gimmicks to sale customers on coming to see a show.

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21. Detroit before the depression

This beautiful vintage photo shows what America is all about.  Taken in 1920 on a street in Detroit, this photo shows innovation, tourism, and the evolution of the working class all in one moment.  The double decker bus with excited travelers and the cars on the road signifies the growth that built the nation we live in today.  Regardless of where we stand as a nation, the history of our infrastructure started with some of the people and creativity we see in this picture. Progress is not perfection, but this photo is a reminder of how far we’ve come.

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22. Wedding rings that represent massacre

This hauntingly beautiful vintage photo is also a reminder from our troubled past.  The wedding rings in this picture belonged to those who were taken by the holocaust.  Ripped from their family and shred of any personal rights and dignity, the people who wore these rings were killed because of what they believed and what they looked like.  Photos like this have beauty because they remind us what we stand for and help us remember what we must not allow to ever happen again.

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23. Violence vs Love

This beautiful vintage photo shows is a timeless representation of the war within us and the wars we fight against each other.  Facing bayonets just inches from her face, a brave woman holds a single flower in protest of war.  She is not alone, although the photo makes it look like she is.  In fact, she is just one of many protesters at the Pentagon that day.  The year was 1967 and they were taking a stand against soldiers in the National Guard during an anti-war demonstration.  This protest against the Vietnam War was not the first and it won’t be the last demonstration against military action.

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24. When guns were allowed in school

In the early days, guns weren’t considered a big deal.  Before the days of Columbine and more recent school shootings, students were allowed to participate in shooting clubs like the one pictured in this beautiful vintage photo.  Even women, like these, were allowed to be part of the shooting club.  In the 1930s, hand guns weren’t used in violent acts like they are today.  The spread of poverty, mental illness and systematic oppression coupled with the normalizing of violence and gun ownership has made shooting clubs at schools a thing of the past.

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25. New Orleans in 1950

New Orleans in 1950 was booming.  After the Storyville district was disabled in the 20s, the folks were craving the music that had become part of their culture.  Hiding for years in living rooms and underground venues, by the 50s, when this beautiful vintage photo was taken, the culture was coming back to life.  Depicted in this picture is the famed Bourbon Street at a time when nightclubs and live music was beginning to ramp up.  Just 10 years after this photo was created, burlesque clubs and scantily clad servers would be used on this very street to lure in customers.

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26. Before there were cubicles

This beautiful vintage photo shows life before cubicles.  The history behind the photo isn’t completely known but it is believed that this one of the first “computerized” offices photographed.  At this “computing station” it was common for data entry clerks, secretaries and other typing jobs to sit all day and work.  Several managers stand around in suits supervising them. The mix of men and women workers in the same common space is not something seen today.  Today, many larger companies, like Google and Facebook, are navigating back toward co-working spaces like this one, but more fun.

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27. A Peddlers Wagon

The story of the peddler and his wagon is often a troubled one.  Peddlers got a a bad reputation because the prices they asked were often too high for the neighborhoods they were forced to sale in.  Not to mention, they were often travelers and not local, so those who were from the area were dubious of their tactics.  Peddlers were basically the street vendors of yesteryear.  They sometimes drove loaded down wagons or trucks just like this one filled with useful, occasionally second hand goods.

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28. A bike with a sail

This beautiful vintage photo has a story behind it.  And just like many old photos, there is more than one story.  Some say that this was one of the first bikes designed to also sail and some say that isn’t the case.  What does seem to be certain is that between 1900 and 1905 this photo was taken on a beach in Florida.  While what the 4 people are actually is doing is unclear, it does seem to look like 3 women out on a joyride, not as sophisticated as the parasailing we have today.

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29. The elegance of the Good Witch

Elegance and glamour from the Edwardian era floods this beautiful vintage photo.  Pictured is Billie Burke, an American actress from the 30s.  The beauty and poise that Burke had is shown in this photo and it’s quite eye catching.  That same charisma carried her into her most famous role.  Billie was known most commonly for being Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the 1939 classic, The Wizard of Oz.  She and many other actress of her era embodied the grace and elegance that was expected of women in those days.

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30. A dance party on the beach

Dance parties on the beach don’t happen nearly as often as they did in the days of old.  In this beautiful vintage photo we see several people gettin’ down in the sand.  Loved by many, these beach parties were a hit in the 50s.  Folks from all over the neighborhood would gather on the beach and show off their dance moves.  These parties were often thrown by teenagers when school was out and throughout the summer. It wasn’t unheard of to catch some people dancing on the beach around a bonfire all the way thru until Fall.

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31. Actual bathing suits

This beautiful vintage photo includes several things that used to be pretty common but aren’t so much anymore. This young woman and a much older man hold hands as they wade thru water in Belgium.  In the early 1900s, bathing suits and beaches were used for more practical things, like actually bathing.  Seen in the picture are wooden boxes with wagon wheels on them.  Those were commonly called bath houses and provided a place for folks to bathe.  Of course, fun in the sun was still had but bath houses often sat close to shore.

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32. Forgotten Victims of the Depression

Everyone was impacted by the depression.  It was the biggest economic downfall the country had seen. In this beautiful vintage photo we see both worry and hope in an African American family.  During the depression, African Americans seen cuts in hours and wages far before their white counterparts.  Since systematic oppression had already forced African Americans into lower paying jobs, they had no means to get thru the hard times.  In this photo a young family sits on their steps trying to keep going in the face of despair.

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33. A progressive Italian woman

You can see the strength of this woman in this beautiful vintage photo.  Pictured here is Franca Viola, one of the first women to refuse to marry her rapist.  After she was kidnapped and raped by her ex-boyfriend, who also happened to be a member of the mafia, she refused to marry him.  Prior to that, victims of rape were expected to marry their abuser.  Often called “rehabilitation marriage,” this was a common way that victims of rape were treated in the past.  The stance Franca took happened just over 50 years ago.

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34. The Gym on the Titanic

This beautiful vintage photo is of the gymnasium that was on board of the Titanic. First class passengers had the luxury of accessing the state of the art gym.  For 1912, the equipment in the picture was top of the line.  Although nothing like the gyms we have on every corner today, this gym did have some equipment that would be recognized by a modern day gym rat. The gym at the Titanic had different hours for the binary genders.  Women were allowed in from 9am to 12pm and men were allowed to workout from 2pm to 6pm.

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35. 1969 fashion and freedom

This beautiful vintage photo captures the 60s perfectly.  Seen here is a young student named Rosemary Shoong, who claimed to have made her own dress.  Style and fashion was more DIY than it had been in previous years as the kids from the 60s horrified their parents with their open expression and exploration.  During that time, hippies and showing midriffs rocked the boat that society had created.  These kids were often taking a stand against injustice and trying to instill peace.  Misunderstood and discounted, the hippies of the 60s were taking part in an awakening they were years to early for.

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36. The old way to make a phone call

These phone lines may not LOOK that gorgeous, but what they did is where their brilliance lies.  In this beautiful vintage photo we are able to see the early stages of how we began to communicate with one another.  Very different than just pulling a small computer out of your pocket, phone calls in the days of this picture had to be connected in a much more tangible way.  Each phone connected to a business or hub that then connect to an operator.  That operator then connected a caller to another set of wires that went thru hubs and businesses to another house.

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37. The first female body builders

The appeal in this beautiful vintage photo doesn’t lie in the muscle definition but instead in the power the women of the 19th century had.  Their resilience and fight to be equal paved the way for the fights women of today are having. Pictured here is Louise Leers, a Strongwoman from the 1930s.  Originally, muscular and strongwomen were used as sideshow acts at circuses and other sporting events.

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38. Funeral in Chinatown

Not recognized for what it is, this beautiful vintage photo depicts a funeral in Chinatown.  During a very trying time for many immigrants, Chinatown was a refuge.  Back then it wasn’t a very pleasant place as the people there were stricken with poverty and in a new a strange country.  Together, the people there built up a community they could be proud of.  In the face of adversity, they found beauty in their struggles and transformed their situation.  Their story and this image is the story of America, immigrants making the best out of what they have.

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39. Marilyn Monroe’s First Marriage

Before she was Marilyn Monroe, she was married to a man named James Dougherty.  She was just 16 when she tied the knot for the first time and her wedding dress was gorgeous. Their marriage was a rouse to keep her from having to go back into foster care but the two were reportedly happy until she struck it big. Then named Norma Jean Baker, she would later get a divorce and go on to be a Hollywood icon.  During her time in the spotlight, she would have several lovers and not keep a husband.  She was married 3 times before her death.

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40. A stunning library

Sadly, this amazing relic from history is now a parking garage.  However, it’s grandeur is preserved in this beautiful vintage photo.  The Old Cincinnati Library was a wonderful display.  Cast iron shelving and checkerboard marble tile made the entrance and the whole library have that classic old world feel.  The floors were lit by skylights in the vaulted ceilings and patrons enjoyed both the sights and the plethora of books stocked on the library shelves.  Libraries this grand rarely exist today but the longing to enter a nice library that looks like this never goes away.