Let’s rewind the years, going back to a much simpler time. To the days before World War II. Kids walked miles to school, among Hollywood’s brightest stars were Katharine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart, and family dinners on Sunday were the norm. Today, we’ll journey back through the pages of time for a glimpse of life in Pennsylvania in the 1930s.
- Children get ready for a little sledding in Mt. Pleasant on a cold February day in 1936.
Photogrammar/Carl Mydans
- Three men chat outside of a coffee shop in Aliquippa in July 1938.
Photogrammar/Arthur Rothstein
- Laundry hangs out to dry in the alleyway between apartment buildings in Ambridge in July 1938.
Photogrammar/Arthur Rothstein
- Trespassers are forbidden from entering this abandoned mansion in Bucks County in April 1939.
Photogrammar/Arthur Rothstein
- Houses sit in front of a slagheap in Nanty Glo in 1937.
Photogrammar/Ben Shahn
- Pennsylvanians can fill up their gas tank and dig into a delicious barbecue meal at Convict’s Barbecue in Connellsville in October 1935.
Programmar/Ben Shahn
- A group of boys, Sons of the American Legion, pose for a photo in Bethlehem in November 1935.
Photogrammar/Walker Evans
- A car drives down a lonely road, passing a sign that points toward Mount Joy and Mount Hope. Photo taken in Lancaster in 1938.
Photogrammar/Sheldon Dick
- An auctioneer auctions off items from a house before beginning the bidding for the house itself in York County in June 1939.
Photogrammar/Marion Post Wolcott
- This aerial shot of the homes in Johnstown was captured in December 1935.
Photogrammar/Walker Evans
- Youngsters picket during the King Farm strike in Morrisville in August 1938.
Photogrammar/John Vachon
- An elderly Pennsylvanian sleeps on the front porch of his home in Washington, PA, in July 1936.
Photogrammar/Dorothea Lang
- A post office and general store sit in the forefront, with an abandoned lumberyard in the back, in this photo of Chaneysville in December 1937.
Photogrammar/Arthur Rothstein
Which of these photos of Pennsylvania in the 1930s is your favorite? Join the conversation in the comments! Then, fast forward a decade and check out some rare footage of the construction of the PA Turnpike. Click here for more.
Photogrammar/Carl Mydans
Photogrammar/Arthur Rothstein
Photogrammar/Ben Shahn
Programmar/Ben Shahn
Photogrammar/Walker Evans
Photogrammar/Sheldon Dick
Photogrammar/Marion Post Wolcott
Photogrammar/John Vachon
Photogrammar/Dorothea Lang
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