Back When Daily
The pictures behind the memories
These photographs come from public collections and photographers who have made their work available for reuse. A photograph’s date may differ from the period discussed in a story. Credits and licenses apply to the individual images.
Making a mixtape was half the fun
Hmvh / Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
A collection of well-used audio cassettes, photographed in 2009.
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When the family phone belonged to the whole house
ProhibitOnions / Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
A Western Electric Model 500 rotary telephone, photographed in the modern era.
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There was always a place for you at the diner
Carol M. Highsmith / Library of Congress. Public domain.
The Modern Diner in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The archive dates this photograph between 1980 and 2006.
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When a trip to the mall was the whole afternoon
Carol M. Highsmith / Library of Congress. Public domain.
An indoor shopping mall photographed by Carol M. Highsmith. The archive dates the image to 1980–1990.
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The day your music could go everywhere with you
Retired electrician / Wikimedia Commons. CC0.
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A later Sony Walkman WM-28, a European-market model. This is not the original 1979 TPS-L2.
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Movie night began before you got home
Jacek Halicki / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized and cropped for display; photograph remains under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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A VHS cassette photographed in 2023. An illustration of the format, rather than a period video-store photograph.
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Before it was an icon, saving meant a floppy disk
Jacek Halicki / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized and cropped for display; photograph remains under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Verbatim 3.5-inch floppy disks and packaging, photographed in 2023.
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Your lunchbox said something before you even opened it
DrStew82 / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized and cropped for display; photograph remains under CC BY-SA 4.0.
A child's metal lunchbox at the Cameron Antiques Street Fair in North Carolina, photographed in May 2018.
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The little compartments that made a TV dinner feel special
Sir Beluga / Wikimedia Commons. CC0 1.0.
An opened, uncooked TV dinner in a divided tray, photographed in 2018.
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At the drive-in, waiting for dark was part of the movie
John Margolies / Wikimedia Commons. Public domain / no known copyright restrictions (Library of Congress).
The Star-Lite Drive-In sign in Cheyenne, Wyoming, photographed by John Margolies in 1980.
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One more lap: the small world of the roller rink
Jim Heaphy (Cullen328) / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized and cropped for display; photograph remains under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Over-shoe roller skates of a style common in the United States in the 1960s, photographed in 2017.
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The catalog pages you visited more than once
HA! Designs - Artbyheather / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.0. Resized and cropped for display; photograph remains under CC BY 2.0.
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Jewelry and accessories on a page identified as coming from a 1912 Sears catalog.
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When Saturday morning had its own television schedule
FA2010 / Wikimedia Commons. Public domain (released by photographer).
A Philco Predicta television, designed around 1958–1959, in the Dallas Museum of Art.
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A pocketful of quarters could become an entire afternoon
Digital Game Museum / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.0. Resized and cropped for display; photograph remains under CC BY 2.0.
Pong and Computer Space arcade cabinets photographed at a Digital Game Museum event in 2012.
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The photographs you had to wait to see
Terri Monahan / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 2.0. Resized and cropped for display; photograph remains under CC BY-SA 2.0.
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A Kodak FunSaver 35 single-use film camera, photographed in 2009.
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The little radio that made listening feel personal
Mister rf / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized and cropped for display; photograph remains under CC BY-SA 4.0.
An RCA Victor Pockette 1-TP-2E transistor radio, identified by its photographer as a 1960 model.
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When writing a page made a sound
P. Musgrave / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized and cropped for display; photograph remains under CC BY-SA 3.0.
A 1958 Smith-Corona Silent-Super portable typewriter, photographed by its owner in 2013.
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The board game was only half of game night
Benny Mazur / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.0. Resized and cropped for display; photograph remains under CC BY 2.0.
A well-played Scrabble board, photographed in January 2008.
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The baseball-card collection that fit in a shoebox
Unknown original artist; American Tobacco Company (issuer); Metropolitan Museum of Art scan; retouched by Fma12 / Wikimedia Commons. Public domain in the United States.
Honus Wagner on a T206 baseball card issued around 1909–1911.
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Choosing a jukebox song meant sharing your taste with the room
Paulo Philippidis / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.0. Resized and cropped for display; photograph remains under CC BY 2.0.
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The illuminated detail of a 1947 Wurlitzer model 1080 jukebox.
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The family car became a small world on a long road trip
Greg Gjerdingen / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.0. Resized and cropped for display; photograph remains under CC BY 2.0.
A 1974 Ford Country Squire at the 2018 10,000 Lakes Concours d’Elegance in Excelsior, Minnesota.
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A whole new place was one click away in a View-Master
Junkyardsparkle / Wikimedia Commons. CC0 1.0.
A Sawyer’s model G View-Master viewer from the pre-GAF era.
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