Today, let’s look at the odd and unexpected. Historical photographs aren’t just stoic Victorian men and women staring fixedly at the camera, we also see those same women wearing only stockings and posing with skeletons. Historical images are not monochromatic, boring, or straitlaced, they can be hilarious, seductive, and sometimes so creepy and macabre that they make you shiver.
The scary valley of the nuked dolls
During World War II, the main world powers began a race to create the most destructive weapons to assure their victory in that long and devastating war. Needless to say, the ultimate winner in this ruthless competition was the United States. The destructive powers of the atomic bombs have been seared into our minds, but this did not stop the competition between rival nations. During the Cold War, researchers tested out their new inventions in isolated areas deep in the desert, and to really measure the impact of the weapons, they created villages inhabited by lovely mannequins.
Welcome to the Creepy Mouse Club
Mickey Mouse is one of the cute emblems of our innocent childhood, but we’ve got to admit that the first drawings of this iconic character were far from adorable, and this photo proves my point. A whole audience wearing the same creepy mask would surely make you think twice before taking the stage. It looks like a gathering from a secret sect doesn’t it?
Sin-easter Bunny
Talking about ruined childhoods, how about the creepy Easter Bunnies from the early twenties? After suffering the catastrophe of WWI and the resulting flu pandemic, people looked for light forms of entertainment and the Easter Bunny was just the right thing. It makes you wonder if your Santa Claus picture will look just as creepy in 50 years time.
Alligator Park
Need a holiday? How about spending your summer holiday at a lovely resort in California where you can have a nice dinner on a lake? Oh, did I forget to mention that the place is infested with alligators? Don’t worry, they’re kid-friendly, you can ride them or feed them. With metal contraptions strapped to their jaws it is tragic to see the lives these poor animals led. Apparently, places like this were a hot spot for tourists during the first decade of the nineteenth century.
Full spa treatment
Treat yourself to a nice day at the spa with facials that look as if you’re getting a lobotomy or weird face masks that make you look like Jason. During the thirties, after the Great Depression, people wanted to treat themselves and spas were the perfect place. What will people think in 100 years about our Korean rubber face masks and glitter butts? Best leave that to the imagination.
Lovely carcinogenic baby tans
Yes, grandmothers have always said that sitting for a little while under the sun is good for your health, but getting UV therapy is a whole other ball game. So what if you lived in an area with hardly any sunlight? I’m not talking about countries that get sunlight only a couple times a year, but more like gray and foggy places like London. Well, during the late twenties, people really wanted to continue this old wives tale so they used potentially carcinogenic machines for UV therapy. This practice continued, and it was a treatment for malnourished children during the late forties. Although it helped them reduce their nutritional deficiencies, these machines ended up harming them more.
Wall of hunting treasures
I think this wins the prize for creepiest picture of the day. This man devoted his life to collecting macabre indigenous objects and that included severed heads, which were then mounted in his living room. What more can be said? Sick, sick, sick.
The house of wax horrors
Wax figures are creepy and looking at this picture proves my point. This picture was taken in 1925 after a terrible fire that reached Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museum in London. What’s macabre is that they look incredibly life like, as if we’re witnessing the casualties of war or some other heinous act.
These are just a few images of the huge collection of creepy and macabre photos taken throughout history, and once you start looking at them, it makes you wonder if there’s more. We’re attracted to the macabre and the grotesque, it brings out sensations that you can’t get anywhere else.
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For more photographs take a look at these:
25 Photographs That Prove Humanity is Doomed to Die
Late Victorian Erotic Photographs Of Women Dancing With Skeletons
When The Macabre and Grotesque Come To Life In Photography
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