50 Extremely Rare Historical Photos That Show Just How Completely And Totally Unhinged The World Used To Be

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a day ago

1.This is the eight-year-old bodybuilder Patricia O'Keefe, carrying a 200-pound man on her back:
For reference: she's 64 pounds, he's 200.
2.Speaking of which, this is "Boy Samson," the 14-year-old "strongest boy in the world" holding up a grown man on a motorcycle circa 1932:
Today, that very same boy might have a Podcast. The mind reels.
3.This is Diane Stopky, winner of International Posture Queen in 1957, posing with her award-winning spine:
Diane — congrats on the spine.
4.Speaking of high honors, here's Gail Hooper AKA Miss National Catfish, 1954:
(Kevin Garnett voice) ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!
5.This is a scene from the I'm sure absolutely electric "Prettiest Ankle Competition" in London in 1930:
Let me know in the comments which ankle you think won.
6.This is how some scientists tested the effectiveness football helmets in the 1950s — by banging themselves in the head with a heavy object:
I'd imagine it's always a long, long day at the heavy-object-head-banging factory.
7.People used to be able to have picnics at the Los Angeles alligator farm:
I wonder what an alligators favorite cheese is.
8.This is Henry Behrens, at one time the world's smallest man, doing a little tango with a cat:
He stood 30 inches tall, and, we can safely assume, was one heck of a dancer.
9.These gigantic contraptions are apparently one of the first life preservers ever made:
They're made out of mattresses but something tells me they aren't comfortable.
10.This is a rubber beauty mask designed to eliminate wrinkles, massage the face, and promote skin health from the 1920s:
It's definitely not a parasitic, terrifying alien life form.
11.This is Robert Earl Hughes, the one-time world's heaviest man and his pet dog:
At his heaviest, Robert weighed over 1,000 pounds.
12.The Michelin Man not only used to be absolutely terrifying, but he used to run with a gang of several other musically inclined Michelin men:
Chet Baker is shaking.
13.Horse diving used to be all the rage. No, really. This is Eunice Padfield and her horse diving head first into a pool of water:
Let's be thankful this is no longer a thing.
14.This is George Stern and his prized invention, a fast-vaporizing fluid that basically let you light your hands on fire and not get burned:
George looks so happy with his hands on fire. Good for him.
15.Here's a picture of a very safe, normal setup for parents and a baby to enjoy ice skating from the late 1930s:
No problems here.
16.Speaking of babies, they used to travel up with the luggage on planes:
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17.Looks totally fine to me:
Yup, nothin' to see here. Out of sight, out of mind.
18.Here's another terrifying rubber beauty mask designed to eliminate wrinkles from the 1920s:
AHHHHHH!
19.Here's a totally non-unhinged inventino: a GUN was designed to take a picture each time its trigger was pulled:
Can't image why this didn't catch on.
20.This is Martin Laurello, AKA "The Human Owl," a sideshow performer from the early 1900s who could turn his head almost completely around:
Good for Martin.
21.Here's what a treadmill looked like in the 1920s:
Looks like you could take that thing OFF ROAD.
22.Speaking of exercise and weight-loss, for a brief, wonderous moment, portable saunas were a thing. Just look at how happy this man is:
Lookin' good, bud.
23.In 1924, a game of Human Chess was played in the Soviet Union:
You know, if you weren't able to watch Babe Ruth hit 46 homeruns back then, you had to find some other way to entertain yourself.
24.In 1918, over 30,000 soldiers came together to make a giant human-shield:
This is what life before the Nintendo Switch was like.
25.This picture, from the early 1900s, shows an early basketball game, kneepads and all:
Josh Hart would make that man CRY.
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26.Here's another photo of a vintage basketball player, standing in front of a piano and striking fear into the hearts of his opponents:
I think Jalen Brunson could put up 176 on this dude.
27.For one brief, strange moment, WOODEN bathing suits were a thing:
Bring them BACK.
28.This is apparently a group of teachers getting lit and celebrating Spring Break in the early 1900s:
Not sure how accurate the teacher and spring break thing is, but they are certainly getting lit.
29.In 1948, one brave man invented a spoon with a fan on it, meant for cooling soup:
Although, according to the Getty Images caption, there's more than meets the eye with this spoon. Apparently, it was for "inedible soup," and "the offending soup is drained away through the hollow handle, via a tube hidden up the sleeve, into a hot water bottle attached to the leg."
30.I know you've seen a bicycle built for two... but how about a bicycle built for FOUR:
What's next... a bicycle built for five? Probably.
31.This is the Dynasphere, a giant wheel vehicle invented by Dr. J. A. Purves that could go as a fast as 30 MPH:
Doc is having the time of his life.
32.This is how condoms were tested in the 1930s:
Water balloon fights at the condom factory probably went crazy.
33.This is Norwegian speed skater Oscar Mathisen pictured with his many, many, many, many awards and honors throughout the early 1900s:
He set numerous world records, some even apparently lasting until the 21st century.
34.Here's a scientist testing out a hands-free shaving machine that used robotic arms:
Okay, it was actually meant to be used with radioactive material, but shaving is a cool second use-case.
35.This is the cross-section of the 1,300 year-old Mark Twain sequoia tree, cut down in 1892 for display in New York:
The unfortunately maimed tree measured 16 feet across.
36.Huntington Beach in California used to have a bunch of oil derricks on top of it:
Looks like something out of a Star War.
37.This is Alfred Langevin, a man renowned for his very useful talent of being able to smoke out of his eyeball:
Flight? Invisibility? Nah. Gimme the smoking eye power.
38.This is Stephan Bibrowski, otherwise known as Lionel the Lion-faced Man. Stephan had a condition known as hypertrichosis that caused hair to grow up to eight inches long all over his body including, obviously, his face:
He performed for years with Barnum & Bailey and spoke five languages.
39.This is the cyclomer, an amphibious bicycle meant to work on both land and sea. It, unfortunately, didn't catch on:
That looks very difficult to ride, not going to lie.
40.During World War II, some soldiers would utilize their gas masks while cutting onions:
Our strongest, our bravest, and our least-teary-eyed.
41.This right here is a piano specifically designed for people on bedrest:
We need a theramin designed for people on bedrest.
42.Before airplanes were pressurized for commercial use, flyers had to wear oxygen masks at higher altitudes:
This picture is from 1939 and taken while 20,000 feet in the air.
43.This is a giant elephant seal, pictured here at a Paris zoo in the 1930s:
That's my guy right there.
44.In 1936, architect André Basdevant proposed making the Eiffel Tower accessible by car. It would look like this:
Imagine taking a Dodge RAM up there and just lettin' her rip. Bliss.
45.Here's a bunch of soldiers practicing their swimming moves while on land:
46.And here's a bunch of kids doing the same:
Can we please get these kid some WATER.
47.Here's another strange way to learn how to swim. Each one of these kids is connected by rope to this "merry-go-round" contraption:
Looks very safe.
48.In the 1930s, this couple won an Atlantic City dance marathon after dancing for 1,473 hours:
Mamma mia!
49.This is one of the earliest designs for roller skates. They didn't catch on for some reason:
Maybe make the wheels even bigger?
50.And, finally, here's a lady covered head to toe in potatoes:
Not much to say here. That's a lot of potatoes.
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