Throughout history, there have been iconic moments that defined an era and thanks to the advent of photography, we've been lucky to capture many of those moments. From the fashion trends of the '20s and '40s to a night out at Studio 54, there's always something to look back at as a reminder of those times. When looking back at these photos, it's pretty unfathomable to think about how far we've come in society. Photos like these can really take us back. Let's look at some of the most memorable times over the decades and see if they make you feel nostalgiac.
'70s: A Typical Night At Studio 54
Jerry Hall, Andy Warhol, and Debbie Harry were among Studio 54's regulars and in this photo, they're enjoying the night with friends Truman Capote and Paloma Picasso (on the right).
The infamous establishment on West 54th Street in Manhattan started out as an opera house before it was used as a studio by CBS. In 1977, the space was converted into a nightclub, but it wasn't long until the club came onto the IRS's radar. After it was raided, owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager were arrested for embezzlement. Studio 54's final party was in February 1980.
'50s: Milkshake Dates Were Very Sweet
Here's a photo of a teen couple sharing an Awful Awful ice cream drink back in 1958. Back in the day, Awful Awful drinks were anything but. They were slightly different from milkshakes in that instead of regular ice cream as the base ingredient, Awful Awfuls were made with ice milk and flavored syrup.
New Jersey chain Bond's came up with the recipe in the late '40s and the drink became popular all across the east coast. People loved to get their Awful Awfuls from Friendly's or Newport Creamery.
'30s: City Lights Premieres In New York City
In 1931, people flocked to the cinemas to see Charlie Chaplin's City Lights. In this photo, people are lining up at the George M. Cohan Theater on Broadway in New York City's Times Square.
Silent films were left behind in the previous decade in favor of the "talkies," but Chaplin decided to keep working with the silent format. He had already started developing the script for City Lights in 1928. In this film, Chaplin's tramp character falls for a blind girl, played by Virginia Cherrill, while he also starts a whirlwind friendship with an alcoholic millionaire.
'70s: Ford Pintos Weren't As Safe As They Seemed
In this photo a woman laments having to put a sign on the back of her Ford Pinto that reads "Keep off my rear, I'm explosive!" Back in the 1970s, Ford Motor Company apparently didn't care about safety regulation so much as they did selling cars.
They introduced the Ford Pinto with size, cost efficiency, and "product superiority" as its top features, but that superiority fell short of safety. The poorly designed fuel tanks made the Ford Pinto susceptible to exploding, even with crashes that happened at low speeds. Dozens of people died in Ford Pinto fires that decade.
'20s: The Original Hollywood Sign's Embarrassing Past
The famous Hollywood sign didn't always appear how it does today. This photo from 1924 shows that the sign once read "Hollywoodland". It was built in 1923 to advertise a whites-only housing development in the hills of Mulholland Drive, overlooking Los Angeles.
It was only meant to stay up for a year and a half, but it soon became an internationally recognized symbol so it stayed up. The sign suffered years of deterioration and was restored in 1949 under the condition that "land" be removed. It now represents the entire district, rather than a defunct segregated housing development.
'40s: Children Gathered Around The Radio To Hear The President
This photo from 1942 depicts Betty Jean and Henry Schwaber (standing) listening to the radio with their friends at their home in Jamaica, Long Island. Betty and Henry, 13 and 10 respectively, wrote a letter to then-President Roosevelt suggesting that he time his address to the youth of the world so that they'd get to listen to it.
President Roosevelt made many addresses to the nation during his presidency, but none will be more important than the "Infamy Speech" he gave on December 8, 1941, just after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
'20s: Men Letting Their Liquor Go In The Street
These two guys are sadly pouring bottles of alcohol down a street drain in the 1920s. All that liquor was going to waste as a result of the Prohibition era in the United States. A widespread temperance movement swept the nation in the early 20th century, which led to the 18th Amendment that banned the manufacture, transportation, and sale of intoxicating liquors.
Throughout this time, there was a rise in gang violence and illegal drinking due to lack of enforcement. Eventually Congress repealed the 18th Amendment with the 21st in 1933.
'60s: Fifteen Minis Squeeze Into A Mini
In the '60s, clothing got a little smaller, especially with the advent of mini skirts. In this photo from 1966, a group of women in London are all wearing mini skirts and coincidentally, they are lining up to break the world record for most passengers in a BMC Mini.
They were about to break the standing record at the time by fitting 15 girls in one car, which was just enough to beat the record set by American students the previous year. Many decades later in 2012, a group of 28 women made a new world record!
'50s: American Crowd Watches Queen Elizabeth's Coronation
In this photo, New Yorkers gather around a store window to witness the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953. Americans were just as obsessed with the royal family as they are in the present day and back then, television networks battled it out to be the first to broadcast the ceremony for American viewers.
People were enamored with Elizabeth even before she became queen, after her father, King George VI, brought his family to America as a symbolic gesture during World War II. Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne after her father passed away in 1952.
'60s: Mission Control Receives A Photo Of Neil Armstrong
This photo from July 1969 was taken in the Mission Operations Control Room at NASA's Mission Control Center. This photo was taken on the second day of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission, as a photo of Neil A. Armstrong was getting transmitted from the onboard camera on the Apollo 11 as it hurled toward the moon.
Armstrong was approximately 130,000 nautical miles into orbit when the photo was taken and sent back down to Earth. Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first men to set foot on the moon.
'70s: The Very First Flight Of The Concord
British Airways took off for its first commercial Concorde flight on January 21, 1976. This flight was headed to Bahrain, while another from Paris was headed for Rio de Janeiro. For 12 years, Britain, France, America, and Russia were in a race to develop the first supersonic passenger airlines.
The supersonic planes known as Concordes had powerful engines that could achieve cruising speeds of 1,350 miles per hour, which cut travel times in half. Britain partnered with France and successfully completed the project, after the U.S. backed out and Russia's attempts were fatal.
'60s: Sonny And Cher Were Too Avant Garde
This photo from September 1966 shows Sonny and Cher, who were in Frankfurt, Germany during their European tour. Their amazing outfits were definitely ahead of their time and these getups caused quite a shock. Sonny and Cher reportedly were refused entry to certain hotels and restaurants because their outfits were too bizarre.
At that point in time, Sonny and Cher already had two hit songs, "Baby Don't Go" and "I Got You Babe." They became such a success, they even had their own TV show, which ultimately lost popularity after their divorce.
'20s: These Lovely Ladies Lived Through The Roaring Twenties
This photo from 1925 shows the quintessential style of the 1920s. These models are wearing coats with fur trim and the cloche-style hats that were popular in those days. Suffice to say that these women are the perfect visual representation of the "Roaring Twenties."
One might even go so far as to consider these ladies "flappers," who in those days were young women who celebrated their freedom by partaking in an outrageous lifestyle that many considered to be immoral. Flapper women are considered by many as the first generation of women in America to celebrate their personal independence.
'60s: People Were Tied Up In Knots
Back in 1968, kids liked to have good, wholesome fun by gathering around for a game of Twister. There was no better way to keep an eye on your kids than to have them in your very own home.
Twister was invented in 1966 after its inventors had the idea to use people as playing pieces. The game became widely popular in 1966 when Johnny Carson played it with Eva Gabor on an episode of The Tonight Show. Back then, Milton Bradley's competitors accused them of selling "an explicit activity in a box."
'40s: Suburbs Take Over America
On May 13, 1949, it was just another glorious day to take your children shopping in Levittown, Pennsylvania. Back then, it was perfectly alright to leave your baby carriages along the side of the building and parking stalls were spacious and abundant.
Pennsylvania's Levittown was the second development Levittown built, after the one built on Long Island. They were conceived by William J. Levitt, who is considered the creator of the modern American suburb. There were only six styles for homes in Levittown, Pennsylvania, but they were moderately priced and required only a low down payment.
'70s: The Tallest Buildings In The World Getting Built
This aerial shot of Manhattan was taken on October 20, 1970, amid construction of the World Trade Center. The World Trade Center, of course, featured the Twin Towers, which were officially opened on April 4, 1973. At the time of their completion, they were the tallest buildings in the world.
Almost 30 years later, in what would go down as one of the darkest days in American history, the September 11 attacks in 2001 caused the buildings to collapse, which resulted in thousands of deaths. Since then, the World Trade Center complex has been rebuilt with a memorial for those who lost their lives.
'50s: Drive-Ins Were At Their Peak
Back in 1955, there was no better way to spend a night out than at the drive-in! In this photo, folks on Long Island drove their cars out to the local drive-in to watch the latest and greatest movie releases.
Though the earliest drive-ins date back to 1915, the concept was at its peak during the '50s and the '60s. They were popular for the privacy of watching a movie within the comfort of your own car. It worked well for adults with young children, as well as for young couples on a first date.
'70s: The Oil Crisis Made Many Thirsty Cars
Here is a line of cars outside a filling station in Boston, Massachusetts in 1973. That year, there was a huge oil crisis that began after the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Counties proclaimed an oil embargo.
The embargo targeted nations that were deemed to be in support of Israel during the Yom Kippur War, the United States included. During the crisis, the price of oil had risen from three dollars per barrel to twelve dollars all across the world. The embargo had serious implications for the international economy.
'40s: Zoot Suits Were All The Rage
These young men attracted a lot of side glances from passersby during a walk through the city in 1943. They're drawing so much attention because of their "zoot suits," which were not common streetwear in the early '40s.
Zoot suits were comprised of high-waisted, wide-legged trousers, paired with long coats that had wide lapels and shoulder pads. They were particularly popular among immigrant and minority communities in America at the time, but they were also made popular by jazz bandleader Cab Calloway. Calloway often wore exaggerated zoot suits on stage and in the 1943 film Stormy Weather.
'60s: Hippies Gather At Golden Gate Park
Here is a crowd of "hippies" at a "happening" at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park in 1967. Hippie counterculture became so prominent in the area at the time that Golden Gate Park is now home to an area dubbed "Hippie Hill." Back then, hanging out with your friends at the park was a perfectly fine way to spend an afternoon.
The term "hippie" to describe these young people was reportedly coined by journalist Herb Caen, who wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle. 1967 was the same year that Golden Gate Park first had its "Human Be-In."
