We like to think that the age we’re living in the most advanced and that the people who came before us we’re simpletons, but we have a feeling the photos you’re about to see will completely change your mind about that.
Because you’re about to lay your eyes on amazing examples of OLD technology that was way ahead of its time and is honestly still pretty impressive today.
Are you ready to go back to the future? Let’s go!
1. I’ve never one of these before!
But I like it!
300 year old library tool that enabled a researcher to have seven books open at once, yet conveniently nearby (Palafoxiana Library, Puebla)
byu/Blackenix737 ininterestingasfuck
2. Wow. Pretty impressive.
And I’m willing to bet this is extremely rare.
350 year old pocket watch carved from a single Colombian emerald
byu/_–_—_-_ ininterestingasfuck
3. That is so cool.
But I bet that poor officer got tired of sucking in fumes all day.
In 1955, this tiny electric narrow gauge train was installed in New York’s Holland tunnel to monitor traffic speed.
byu/MrBonelessPizza24 ininterestingasfuck
4. This is kind of crazy.
But also pretty brilliant.
A British couple sleeps inside a “Morrison shelter” used as protection from collapsing homes during the WWII ‘Blitz’ bombing raids… March 1941 – [1280 × 965]
byu/Reporter_at_large inHistoryPorn
5. The forerunner to the Roomba.
I wonder if it was ever popular…
Robo-Vac, a self-proppeled vacuum cleaner part of Whirlpool’s Miracle Kitchen of the Future, a display at the 1959 American National Exhibition in Moscow, 1959.[1600×2116]
byu/RoadRunner71 inHistoryPorn
6. Wow! Get a load of this thing!
That is awesome!
This car is a French ‘Delahaye 175S Roadster’, introduced at the Paris Motor Show in 1949. Only one was ever made. It was recently sold at auction for around five million dollars.
byu/5_Frog_Margin ininterestingasfuck
7. I bet you sank all the way to the bottom.
Looks pretty heavy, doesn’t it?
The world’s oldest surviving diving suit: The Old Gentleman, from 1860.
by ininterestingasfuck
8. That is one HUGE cell phone.
Zack Morris style!
Motorola Vice President John F. Mitchell showing off the DynaTAC portable radio telephone in New York City in 1973 [495×622]
byu/ibkeepr inHistoryPorn
9. Not too easy to lug around.
But it got the job done.
Kodak K-24 camera, used for aerial photography during WW2 by the Americans
byu/CroatCuck inDamnthatsinteresting
10. A rail zeppelin.
German engineering at its finest.
A rail zeppelin and a steam train near the railway platform. Berlin, Germany, 1931 (more info in comment)
byu/dubhead_dena ininterestingasfuck
11. I wish this would make a comeback!
I’m all about this!
Motorized roller-skate salesman in California, 1961 [1600×1666]
byu/GallowPlaceholder inHistoryPorn
12. You don’t see something like this every day.
Time to hit the open road.
Jay Ohrberg’s ‘double wide’ limousine. Built by the man who also created the ‘american dream’ superlimo
byu/Compact8909 inWeirdWheels
13. I think a lot of us could use this right about now.
I need my alone time!
The ‘Isolator’ , by Hugo Gernsback: a helmet for insulating the senses against distraction; from the journal Science and Invention, vol. 13, no. 3, July 1925 [850×717].
byu/PunyaPunyaHeytutvat inHistoryPorn
Those are so cool!
And now we want to hear from you.
In the comments, share some more photos of old technology that you think we’ll enjoy.
Thanks in advance!