31 Historical Photos of Everyday Life in 1932
The year 1932 was caught between hardship and hope. On one hand, the Great Depression still gripped much of the world; on the other, you had bright-eyed folks looking to the future as they rebuilt their lives piece by piece. Even as jobs grew scarcer by the day, people still found moments of laughter, work, and community.
From soup lines that snaked around for blocks to workers eating lunch in the clouds without any safety gear, these 31 vintage photos capture the ups and downs of life in a pivotal year.
1. ‘My Great-Grandparents and All Their Children’
2. ‘Lunchtime Atop a Skyscraper’ by Charles C. Ebbets Captured Steel Workers Eating Lunch While Working on the Empire State Building
3. Graduating Class Poses for a Group Portrait Outside Their School in West Berlin, New Jersey
4. Dozens of Men Wait in Line for a Free Meal at a Soup Kitchen in California During the Great Depression
5. ‘Passengers Board a New Upgraded Pan-American Sikorsky S-40 Plane’
6. A Group Enjoys a Dog Sled Ride Through the Snow in Yosemite
7. ‘My Grandmother on My Mother’s Side in Depression-Era Detroit, Michigan’
8. A Family Poses Beside Their Car on a Snowy Day
9. ‘America’s Oldest Person, Edith Ceccarelli, Aged 24 in 1932’
10. Three Boys Stay Cool by Taking a Splash in the Creek
11. ‘Hop Pickers at a Camp in Faversham, England’
12. ‘My Great-Grandfather Siegmund (Right) Pictured With His Boss Mr. Zimmerman in 1932’
13. A Young Shirley Temple Signs Her First Contract for ‘War Babies’
14. A Group of Well-Dressed Musicians Pictured in Uppland, Sweden
15. ‘Harpo Marx and Amelia Earhart on the Set of ‘Horse Feathers’
16. ‘My Great-Grandmother Disembarking in Sydney’
17. Exhausted Contestants Struggling During a Grueling Dance Marathon in the Bronx, New York
18. ‘My Dad Celebrates His 5th Birthday With His Dog Bruno’
19. Resourceful and Probably Not the Safest: A 1932 American Bantam Used as a Ferry To Cross the Pudding River in Oregon
20. Children Pictured Grinning Ear-to-Ear as a Mailman Delivers Donated Christmas Gifts to Their Home in Detroit, Michigan
21. ‘My Great-Grandparents at the USSR’
22. A Couple Photographed With Their Cadillac V-16 in Harlem, New York
23. A Massive Dust Storm Approaches a Small Town in Texas During the Dust Bowl Era
24. ‘A Stylish Edward VIII When He Was Still the Prince of Wales, 1932’
25. Thousands of People Show Up for an Anti-Nazi Demonstration in Berlin, Germany
26. Spanky From the ‘Little Rascals’ Driving His Puppy Around
27. French Socialite Daisy Fellowes Looking Effortlessly Chic
28. ‘The Harvard Lampoon Building Pictured in 1932’
29. Dressed in Their Finest Attires for the First Annual Dinner and Dance at the Robin Hood Inn
30. ‘A Portrait of My Family in Poland, 1932. Out of 90 Members, Only 4 Survived the Holocaust’
31. ‘My Father’s Cousins Gathered for Their Grandfather’s Birthday in Oslo, Norway’
Looking for more ’30s content?
- 32 Powerful Photos of Life in the 1930s — From steelworkers perched on skyscrapers to grocers just trying to make an honest living, these images capture the grit, charm, and resilience of the 1930s.
- 33 Photos That Show Life in the Early 1930s — These vintage photos capture the emotion and grit of an era caught between hard times and a more hopeful future.
- 15 Haunting Photos of the 1930s Dust Bowl — Though the government eventually stepped in with programs to restore the soil, the Dust Bowl remains a somber reminder of how badly humans can damage nature.