I think for a lot of young people, it can be difficult to imagine what life looked liked 20 years ago. It was the time period when the Internet was just starting to gain popularity, when CDs and cassette tapes still dominated music sales and when DOS was still a popular computer operating system. I’ve worked with younger kids and sometimes it blows their minds thinking that if you needed to complete a research paper, you still had to use the card catalog and encyclopedias back in the mid-90s instead of typing a few words into Google.

But any time period beyond that? It might as well have been the Middle Ages. So, if there are any kids out there (or even adults) who are curious what life looked like years before you were ever born, check out these photos!

1. A childhood before TV and video games? When kids weren’t in school or helping around the house or on the farm, they played games like jacks.
Library of Congress/Photogrammar
2. Or you read, just like these kids reading the local newspaper.
Library of Congress/Photogrammar
3. Or you got to play sports in the community, like these kids playing baseball during an annual recreation day.
Library of Congress/Photogrammar
4. If you were a little older, community dances were something to look forward to on the weekends because it was one of your few chances to socialize.
Library of Congress/Photogrammar
5. Not everyone owned or had access to cars back then, so if you wanted to get somewhere you had to walk or get a ride on the back of a mule, like these kids.
Library of Congress/Photogrammar
6. Sometimes it also meant riding your bicycle everywhere.
Library of Congress/Photogrammar
7. Your average vehicle also looked a little different. Chances are it probably would have looked like this.
Library of Congress/Photogrammar
8. By the way, household chores were far less automated back then. Doing laundry with an electric washer in 1940 still meant having to get your hands wet.
Library of Congress/Photogrammar
9. Here’s an example of a similar washing machine in use. You also had to be careful not to squish your fingers in the wringer!
Library of Congress/Photogrammar
10. Or, if you didn’t have one of the electric versions, washing laundry had to be done by hand. Suddenly, tossing clothes into the washing machine then dryer seems not so bad.
Library of Congress/Photogrammar

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11. Having an electric refrigerator was a big deal and new enough that this salesman showed some consumers how it operates.
Library of Congress/Photogrammar
12. Finding a live band playing on the street or outside of a store was a treat, especially midday!
Library of Congress/Photogrammar
13. If you lived away from the city, your mail often came and went like this, even in 1940!
Library of Congress/Photogrammar
14. You still rode the bus to school but the busses and clothes looked a little different.
Library of Congress/Photogrammar
15. Classrooms looked a little different as well: just desks, a chalkboard, and some storage. No TVs, whiteboards, smartboards, computers, or other things you can find in classrooms today.
Library of Congress/Photogrammar
16. Life wasn’t always peachy, especially if your family was poor. Depending on what your family did for work, you might have lived in homes like these.
Library of Congress/Photogrammar
17. Farming was more common among families than it is today so, as a kid, you were expected to help out with planting, tending, and harvesting.
Library of Congress/Photogrammar
18. Depending on where in Arizona you lived, you probably also would see migrant families traveling towards California for work.
Library of Congress/Photogrammar
19. You learned vocational work at a younger age as well because not everyone graduated from high school in those days. Even fewer people went to college and graduated.
Library of Congress/Photogrammar
20. Just like this kid, who looks no older than 18, already working full-time in a railway yard in Winslow.
Library of Congress/Photogrammar
21. Office jobs still involved a lot of sitting but in front of gadgets like these instead of computers.
Library of Congress/Photogrammar

How do you think you, as your current self, would have fared in life all those years ago? Is there anything you’re thankful to have now that people didn’t have then? Share your thoughts in the comments section here!

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