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Funny Moments Captured In Time

Updated on Mar 30, 2023. Originally added on Jun 22, 2018 by Kathy Pinna

When you think of vintage and historical photos, you likely think of black and white images containing the faces of non-smiling people. Well...these photos will help reshape your perspective a bit!

What's funny changes with time, and some topical jokes don't transcend too well. Who in the current generation understands (or even knows about) Ernestine, the telephone operator (one ringy dingy), or the "hippy dippy mailman"?

But visual humor usually translates well through the ages. Checkout these snapshots and photos taken of previous generations enjoying the lighter side of life.

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Those Funny Ancestors of Ours

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Just seeing someone else laughing is infectious!
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Photo of Jeremy Marshall Jeremy Marshall
4 favorites
shared on 05/21/2016

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1920 Mack Sennett comedy - poor doggy.

Yikes!

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Yes! Terrify your kid with an orangutan!

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When being held up was considered a joke among friends?

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Photo of Alan Mizell Alan Mizell
51 favorites
shared on 01/24/2017

Do you know a joke that starts with . . .

a lion, a witch, and a duck?
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Exactly what were these people thinking?

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Photo of Frank Furillo Frank Furillo
13 favorites
shared on 04/15/2013

I would name this "The Professor"

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March softly . . . and carry a big gun

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Ana Pando
15 favorites
shared on 02/10/2016

Look closely and you’ll see the cat is capturing milk directly from the source!

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Photo of Cindy Mcmillin Cindy Mcmillin
11 favorites
shared on 01/19/2012

Only ONE wrinkle? Hah!

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"The Missis"

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Dressing your pet up in clothing is nothing new. In fact, it's been going on for over a hundred years! Meet "The Missis" from circa 1905. I honestly had no idea until I stumbled on this photo that our ancestors invented this quirky habit of ours.

"An unexpected meeting of the Board"

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1906 "domestic comedy"!

Infectious Smiles

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Wedding party!

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Photo of David Pittman David Pittman
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shared on 11/11/2014

Honeymoon ride, 1920

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Giddyup . . . horsie?

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Cock a doodle doo

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Mrs. Humpty Dumpty?

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I bet she got attention walking down the street

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Who couldn’t use a good kick in the behind for some needed motivation?

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"Prince Olsom"

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You sure do know how to make a man feel short! World's biggest and smallest men in 1908? Not much is known about this photo, but the look on the short man's face is priceless!

They don't look very happy about their trip to Mars!

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Who. . . who is this?

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Here’s something you don’t see every day - Francis Sicher wearing a bucket with a beer in one hand, and a pipe in the other.

Running over your buddy - sure, that's funny!

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Keith Poremsky
9 favorites
shared on 03/13/2012

Boxing with the camera

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Photo of Cris James Cris James
11 favorites
shared on 07/13/2014

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Dennis Murphy
50 favorites
shared on 02/25/2015

Cracker Jack pose

We don't need no stinkin' horses!

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You see nothing . . .

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Ignore the parent behind the blanket!

Mel Blanc - he's just funny!

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Beginning sweet - then dissolving into laughter!
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A Day Dedicated to Laughter - April Fool's Day Some version of April Fool's Day - a day of playing pranks and laughing hilariously at the resuls - has been celebrated throughout the world for centuries, if not millennia. Remember replacing sugar with salt when you were a kid? Perhaps some of our childish pranks were considered innocent but in recent decades even companies and government agencies have played pranks - with sometimes less than ideal results. For instance, the Greater Manchester Police Radcliffe tweeted in 2015: "Know someone in prison? You can get them released early by voting for them on here. The prisoners with the most votes also wins a holiday." Many families' hopes were dashed by that one tweet. And Playboy Romania, on April 1, 2000, published an article with a step-by-step description on "how to beat your wife." Not funny at all!

Have photos that you'd like to see included? Share your photos or discover photos of of our ancestors when they were children (on the next page) - they'll make you grin!

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