35 Vintage Photos That Capture Life in 1935
1935 was a year of grit and quiet transformation. Still reeling from the Great Depression, Americans from all walks of life found ways to endure — and even thrive. Kids played stickball in vacant lots, mothers stretched meager rations into multiple meals, and men all across the country were celebrating the end of Prohibition. In the South, dust-bowl migrants packed up whatever they could carry before heading West in search of better opportunities, while in northern cities, assembly lines roared back to life as auto workers clocked in for the first time in years.
From city streets lined with men in fedoras to boarded-up stores and ghost towns, these 35 vintage photos capture both the exciting and quiet slices of life that made 1935 an unforgettable year.
1. Colorized Image of Two Boys Hanging Out at a Farm, 1935
2. A Civil War Veteran Shares His Stories With Some Shoeshining Boys
3. Colorized Image of the Only Post Office and General Store in Nethers, Virginia, October 1935
4. Colorized Image of ‘People Waiting in Old Newark Penn Station, 1935’
5. ‘Dad’s Grade School Picture in Panama, Nebraska, 1935’
6. Colorized Image of the Manhattan Bridge From a Street in Brooklyn’s DUMBO Neighborhood
7. Colorized Image of the Hoover Dam Under Construction
8. California’s First Drive-In Theater Debuts With ‘Talking Pictures’
9. Just Two Gals Enjoying Some Drinks at Jack’s Saloon in Arkansas
10. A Young Boy Beams With Pride After Winning a Watermelon-Eating Contest During a Fourth of July Celebration in Brooklyn, New York
11. ‘Dust Bowl Refugees Along the Highway Near Bakersfield, California, November 1935’
12. Colorized Image of a Fearless Worker Standing on the Unfinished Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
13. ‘Cavalry Training in England, 1935’
14. ‘My Grandparents Very Scaled Back Wedding in 1935 Due to the Great Depression’
15. ‘New Year’s Eve, 1935’: Looks Like a Fun Gang!
16. Photographer Margaret Bourke Perches on the Top of the Chrysler Building to Capture New York City’s Skyline
17. ‘Yearbook From 1935. The Senior Quotes Were Wild’
18. A Young Gerald Ford During His College Years at the University of Michigan
19. A Settler Family Pictured in Finland
20. ‘My Grandmother on Her Wedding Day in Her Parent’s Parlor, 1935’
21. ‘My Grandfather in Sydney, Smiling After Being Released From Prison for Being an Illegal Immigrant From Sweden’
22. A View of Midtown Manhattan
23. Katharine Hepburn Tinkers With a Rifle While on a Movie Set
24. ‘College Dorm Room in 1935’
25. Streetcars Pictured in Downtown Atlanta
26. Talk About a Stylish Family: ‘My Great Grandparents Holding My Grandmother’s Hand in Fort Worth, Texas, February 1935’
27. ‘My Grandma and Her Twin at Their First Communion, 1935’
28. ‘A Woman Plays a Piano Designed for People Undergoing Bedrest’
29. A Massive Dust Storm Engulfs a Small Town in Texas, April 14, 1935
30. Colorized Image of a Circus Performer Helping a Clown Put on His Makeup
31. A Sears Catalog From 1935. Just Look at Those Prices!
32. A Woman Gets a Perm Using This Alien Contraption
33. A Young Marilyn Monroe, Then Known as Norma Jean
34. A Police Officer Directs Traffic in Foggy London Using a Gas-Powered Torch
35. A Young Rita Hayworth Looking Glamorous
