Nurses have long been at the heart of medicine. Whether in bustling city hospitals or wartime field tents, nurses serve as more than caregivers; they bring a sense of calm and comfort for even the most anxious of patients. From the freshly-pressed Red Cross uniforms and starched caps of the past to the more practical scrubs of today, nursing attire has mirrored the evolution of the profession itself. Check out these 20 vintage photos that capture how nursing has changed through the ages.
1. Acclaimed British Writer Agatha Christie Serving as a Field Nurse During WWI, 1914
2. Nursing Students Pose Together in Their Uniforms, 1980s
3. A WWI Red Cross Nurse Poses for a Snap With Fido, Circa 1910
4. ‘My Mother’s Nursing School Graduation Photo, Circa 1968’
5. Colorized Image of US Army Nurses Outside a Field Hospital in France During WWII, August 1944
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6. Graduating Class of Nurses From New York’s Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, 1912
7. ‘My Mother Upon Graduating From Nursing College in 1957’
8. A Father Faints After Nurses Show Him His Newborn Twins at a Hospital in New York City, 1946
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9. A Group of Nurses Kneels To Pray Before the Start of a Day’s Work at a Hospital in Leeds, England, 1956
10. ‘My Granddad Training to Become the First Male Nurse in Denmark, 1951’
11. Eight-Year-Old Rózyczka Gozdziewska Worked as a Nurse During The Warsaw Uprising, 1944
12. A Japanese Nurse Slays in a Black Uniform, Circa 1905
13. ‘My Grandma Working as a WW2 Nurse’
14. Two Red Cross Nurses Playing Soccer During a Break, 1939
15. ‘My Great Aunt (Graduating From Nursing School) Looking Like the Epitome of the 1960s’
16. Capping Ceremony at the Mercy Hospital School of Nursing, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1971
17. A Nurse and Orderly Transport a Patient on a Stretcher at a Children’s Hospital in Canada, 1915
18. A Smiling Nurse Charts on a Hospital Computer, 1998
19. Nurses Need Breaks, Too: Students From St. Mary’s School of Nursing in Duluth, Minnesota, Enjoying Some Tunes and Billiards, 1937
20. ‘Nurses in Training, Circa 1964’
Curious about other professions?
There are plenty of antiquated professions to explore in 12 Jobs You’ll Probably Never See Again, along with 15 Powerful Photos of Everyday Jobs From Mid-Century America. You might also be interested in 10 Boomer Side Hustles That Built the Middle Class.
