Vintage Photos That Are Making Us Nostalgic For The Good Ol' Days

The fashion. The food. The hairstyles. Was everything better back in the day? There was no internet, no cellphones, no 24-hour news channels — and no distractions. Life was, arguably, much more straightforward. And while it may seem as though the 1960s and '70s were a whole other lifetime ago here in the 21st Century, these vintage photographs will bring the memories rushing right back to you. Get ready for a trip down memory lane.

Saturday night fever

The '70s was undeniably the decade of disco. You couldn't turn a corner in most cities without spotting at least one or two discotheques packed with people dancing and having a good time. With the signature move of the '70s being a simple finger point — thanks to John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever of course — it's no wonder those dance floors were so full. Even the dad dancers could master that move!

Fancy plane attire

Remember when people used to dress up on planes? These early days of commercial air travel certainly had a sense of glamor and occasion about them. Better yet, remember when planes actually gave you room to breathe? Sure, you may have had to put up with a few toxic clouds drifting over from the smoking section, but that's a small price to pay for a little extra legroom.

Racing slot cars

Ah, Christmas morning. What fun it was to tear downstairs at the crack of dawn, rip every last shred of wrapping paper off your presents, and spend the rest of the day racing slot cars with dear old dad. These toys still exist today, but unfortunately for the big-kid dads of today, most youngsters would rather be playing something on the iPad or TV.

James Dean and his Porsche

James Dean will always be the epitome of 1950s cool. Here, you can see, Dean began to pursue an interest in motorsports in tandem with his burgeoning Hollywood career. This is his beloved 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder, and Dean looks as if he doesn't have a care in the world. You'd never know that this picture was taken mere hours before his fatal car crash.

Fun in the sun

There was really nothing better than a '70s amusement park. The snacks were tastier, the prizes were bigger, and, let's face it, there were fewer rules governing the carnivals and fairs moving from town to town. In this decade, parks around the states seemed to be in a race to build the tallest, fastest, sleekest rollercoaster. This, of course, meant more fun for the public!

Grocery shopping

Back in the day, supermarkets were quaint and tidy, filled with clean and straightforward packaging instead of the busy, in-your-face designs of today. Is it a cereal aisle or an adventure to a magical cartoon world? Make up your mind, Kellogg's! Fun fact: it wasn't until 1974 that stores started using price scanners. And the first item to ever be scanned? Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum.

Roller disco

Roller skating was all the rage in the '70s, and there was no better place to get your four-wheeled groove on than at the local roller disco. As the guy in the dress shirt on the left could attest to, the funkadelic outfits were clearly optional. Who knows, maybe he loved it so much that he came straight from work!

Clashy kitchens

What would it look like to have knotty pine, florals, and plaid in one room? In the ’70s, people were determined to find out! Homeowners experimented with all kinds of colors, patterns, and furniture during the grooviest decade — and with questionable results. You can't deny it, though. The kitchen in this photo simply screams "good food was made here."

Bike boom

Before the roads got so clogged with cars, it was bikes that took kids from point A to point B. But admit it, there was never a greater feeling than when you were cruising on a Schwinn with your group of friends. You felt pretty darn cool coasting down the block together. Maybe that's why we loved Stranger Things so much!

Buying Chatty Cathy dolls

Unlike many other toys, dolls rarely need to be assembled before a child can play with them. That's part of the reason why kids can quickly dive into their playtime without waiting around. The Chatty Cathy doll was no different in that regard, but it did have a unique feature that made it stand out from the crowd: it could talk!

Mayor Rock Hudson?

Rock Hudson ascended to Hollywood superstardom following the 1954 movie Magnificent Obsession. The year before that happened, though, he auditioned for quite a different role: Mayor of Universal City, California. With the help of his campaign manager and actress, Kathleen Hughes, he won the election and took his oath to run the 400-acre town’s government.

No room for beige

High fashion has certainly evolved since the '70s. What most people don't know is that these four ladies actually inspired the creation of Skittles (just kidding). In reality, they’re modeling Guy Laroche’s cooler-weather designs that were due to hit the shelves in time for the fall of 1971. Which color would you have chosen? That's right: all of them.

Paperboys rule

Fake news wasn't a problem back when young Timmy Thompson from the cul-de-sac was launching newspapers onto your doorstep. A few may have landed on the roof, but, hey, he was trying his best! By the middle of the 1980s, a combination of television and fewer people reading the newspapers meant that the need for paperboys kind of dried up. The young boys in the neighborhood had to find new ways to make their pocket money.

A phone with a cord

Long before teens were being chastised for using their thousand-dollar smartphones at the dinner table, college students had to wait in lines if they wanted to call home to check on their mas, pas, and grandparents. Late-night calls would have been common, as that's when phone rates dropped. Cord phones weren't just reserved for students, though, anyone could while away the hours twiddling that curled cord if they could afford to have a handset at home.

Pinball party

This might seem insane to think of now, but up until the 1970s, pinball was illegal in some parts of America. For one reason or another, authorities thought that playing it would push youngsters into committing crimes. Here are Debbie Harry and her Blondie bandmates posing for a photo with a fun arcade game — after the prohibition had been put to rest, of course.

Headscarves and floppy hats

The wide-brimmed floppy hat was an essential item for many women in the 1970s and paired nicely with a floaty peasant dress. The cloche hat and beanie hat were also popular, as was a French beret. Many women also chose to wear scarves around their heads, a style that had carried over from the 1960s.

Lunchtime glamor

Looking notably casual, this bunch of students are engaged in that great old tradition: lunch in the school cafeteria. It's difficult to see exactly what’s on the menu, though fresh fruit appears to figure prominently. An apple, an orange, and a banana are all clearly visible. But our favorite thing is that all these teenagers seem to be drinking small cartons of "light cream"!

Wrap dresses

The wrap dress became so popular that in 1975 designer Diane von Furstenberg was manufacturing 15,000 per week. Interestingly, von Furstenberg was the wife of a German prince, but she was determined to have her own career. And her creation — an all-in-one ballerina wrap top and cotton jersey shirt dress — had a huge impact on women’s fashion.

The Farrah Fawcett hairstyle

Arguably the most iconic hairstyle of the 1970s belonged to Charlie’s Angels star Farrah Fawcett. The style was feathered, with either a center or a side parting, and was layered, giving the impression of a bird’s plumage. The style was massively popular among American women and girls, many of whom added blonde streaks to their hair to further emulate Fawcett. And, of course, Fawcett's iconic swimsuit poster was also massively popular with American men and boys...

Double denim leisure suits

Leisure suits became popular with men in the mid-to-late 1970s and sprung out of a culture that rejected formal dress. A leisure suit was a shirt-like jacket and matching pants, with the bonus of being relatively inexpensive. Men could feasibly wear a leisure suit in both business and casual settings, and that was a real selling point. The fact that it looks unquestionably cool was a fabulous side effect.

The Glam Rock look

Many women adopted the glam look in the 1970s, but the androgynous trend had its most dramatic effect on men. Glam rock was a British style of music that was popularized by the likes of David Bowie, T. Rex, and Mud. The men wore flamboyant clothes, glitter, and elaborate makeup, and it challenged stereotypical gender roles. There would be no Harry Styles without David Bowie!

Drum majorettes

Here’s that staple of 1950s high schools: the drum majorette troupe. These ones are representing Oak Ridge High School. Oak Ridge and its school have a particular, and secretive, back-story. Both city and school were founded during WWII by the Army Corps of Engineers. Its scientists were working on the Manhattan Project — the massive confidential research effort that went into the manufacture of atomic bombs. You'd never know it from looking at these four!

Sportswear as fashion

The tracksuit, which many may associate more with the 1980s due to music acts such as the Beastie Boys and Run DMC, actually first came to prominence in the late 1970s. In fact, sports clothing became everyday wear for many men at the time. They wore velour or terry cloth shirts, puffer vests, low-top sneakers, tennis wristbands, and headbands.

The team huddle

We still see the huddle today, of course, but it's the uniforms here that really grab the attention. Considering that these kids are playing basketball, we have to wonder how much those tiny shorts would really protect their modesty. You wouldn't catch LeBron wearing those things! Come to think of it, we can't remember the last time we saw a coach wearing a full suit, either.

Colorful classroom

These students at an unnamed high school look commendably engrossed in their studies. Perhaps they were simply on their best behavior because of the camera pointing at them. But it’s certainly great to see all those bright colors. As most photos from the 1950s were shot in black and white, it’s all too easy to believe that it was a gloomy, gray-toned world.

Royal Grace

Grace Kelly won her first Oscar in 1954 for The Country Girl, but the role of her life came two years later. She met Monaco’s Prince Rainier III at a Cannes festival photo shoot in 1955. In January 1956, the two said “I do” in an extravagant wedding that looks a lot like one of her movies. After becoming real-life royalty, Kelly retired from her reign over Hollywood — but she kept a place in fans' hearts.

Cheerleader fashion

These 1950s fashions are simply extraordinary. The three students are modeling high school cheerleader outfits with real panache. It's difficult to say which is our favorite... The one in the middle with the stylized cowgirl outfit certainly catches the eye. The right-hand model also offers much to admire. But the one on the left with the musical motifs is the winner for us.

Sophia Loren forgetting the diet

Here’s Sophia Loren in 1954 absolutely going to town on some flatbread — proving she was a trailblazer in more ways than one. The beautiful Italian actress wasn’t a fan of diet culture and simply ate Mediterranean food whenever she pleased. She even allegedly once said, “I’d rather eat pasta and drink wine than be a size zero.” You go, Sophia.

Audrey Hepburn — icon

Breakfast at Tiffany’s star Audrey Hepburn was a woman not at all afraid to get her hands dirty. Sure, she wore her trademark white gloves for stylish Hollywood shindigs, but at home, she happily took them off and helped her husband Mel Ferrer dig his vineyard. And she looked great while doing so, of course. Come to mention it, when did Audrey Hepburn ever not look great?

Leatherheads

Looks like these two football coaches, Messrs Chaney and Orlando, have some crucial information for the team. These students from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, were members of the Jefferson High School Football Squad. As you can see, helmet technology’s come a long way in the past 70 years or so. And so has the padding the players are wearing. And we have to admit that is one thing that has changed for the better.

Cash register like no other

This formidable cash register really reminds us that things have moved on a bit in the world of shopping over the last seven decades or so. This 1950s cashier had to read the price of each item and enter it into the till — no convenient scanning of barcodes here. At least things had progressed from having to add up with pencil and paper.

Thrift shopping

The trend came about in the middle of the 1960s, as certain individuals looked to stand up to corporations in America. Alongside that, the Vietnam War also added fuel to fire, inspiring others to join the cause and stick it to The Man. That led people to create their own outfits, often using stuff bought from thrift stores.

Mister Billie Holiday

Songstress Billie Holiday’s legacy will always be as one of jazz’s most influential and talented artists. Behind the scenes, though, she had another reputation as a dog lover. And, although no parent should pick favorites, rumor has it that Lady Day had a special place in her heart for this guy, a boxer named Mister. We can see why, though.

Let’s go to the movies

Grauman’s Chinese Theatre gets all of the attention these days, but Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre — also on Hollywood Boulevard — has plenty of history in its walls, too. The first-ever film premiere took place at the lavish cinema, built in 1922. When the red carpets weren’t out, though, everyday Los Angelinos could pop in to watch a movie, as this woman did in 1951.

Drinking Tang

When you’re parched, soft drinks such as Coca-Cola or Sprite can be incredibly refreshing. But at one point in the 1960s, kids embraced another drink that hit the market. Unlike Coke and Pepsi, though, you needed to mix Tang up yourself — as it was sold in a powdery form. It might not be popular today, but you can still buy it online should you want a true hit of nostalgia.

A wallaby fit for The King

Elvis received an interesting gift from a fan while shooting the video for his iconic song “Jailhouse Rock.” The King’s Aussie admirer handed over a wallaby, which the crooner decided to keep as a pet. Eventually, though, he handed over the marsupial to the Memphis Zoo but kept a slew of more domestic pets at his estate in the same city, Graceland.

The Easy-Bake Oven

The Easy-Bake Oven first hit the shelves in 1963, and it offered youngsters the chance to cook certain food. From cakes to cookies, the toy included recipes that put them to the test. And according to the National Easy-Bake Oven website, 23 million units have been purchased since the oven came out all those years ago. It was on everyone's Christmas list for a while there!

Barbie girl

Following Barbie’s debut, the dolls really started to pick up steam throughout the 1960s. The wide variety of dolls were dressed up in trendy new outfits and given flexible legs during that period. And while the brand has grown much bigger since then, the '60s youngsters certainly played a role in its rise. We love the hairstyle Barbie is flexing in this picture!

Ol’ Blue Eyes gives back

He could sing. He could act. And he could help raise money for a good cause. Frank Sinatra — nicknamed “Ol’ Blue Eyes” for his pool-colored peepers — performed as part of the Olympic Telethon in June 1952. As you likely guessed, the event was a fundraiser for the U.S. Olympic team as they prepared to compete in Helsinki the next month.