History goes far beyond books, films, and museums. Sometimes, to get a really good feel for what life was like way back when, we just need to look at photographs from the era. The following historic photos of Missouri were all snapped in the mid-1930s, just a few years after the official end of the Great Depression. Here’s just a peek at what life looked like as Missouri recovered.

1. After a long day of work in early 1935, several farmers in Prairie City relax and read the paper. If you look closely, you can see that a box of cornflakes only cost 2.9 cents.
Photogrammar/Carl Mydans
A taxi driver kicks back and relaxes along St. Louis’ riverfront in 1936.
Photogrammar/Arthur Rothstein
A few children play in the dirt at a St. Louis-area playground in 1936. Behind then in the sparse playground is a public toilet.
Photogrammar/Arthur Rothstein
Residents convert a log house on the Cuivre River, near Troy, into a handy tool shed. The shed stood on the Watson homestead in 1936.
Photogrammar/Carl Mydans
It’s a typical summer day in 1936 as 81-year-old Nick Martin and his wife pose in front of their modest home in Ashland.
Photogrammar/Carl Mydans

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The more things change the more they stay the same: A mailbox sits along a rural road in Lake of the Ozarks, circa 1935.
Photogrammar/Carl Mydans
A resident of the Lake of the Ozarks carefully lines up her jars, so they can dry on the wooden fence posts circa 1936.
Photogrammar/Carl Mydans
A large family, with seven members, lived in this cabin that sat along U.S. Highway 60. Just a few members are pictured in this 1936 photograph.
Photogrammar/Carl Maydans
The land behind this home near Poplar Bluff would later be used to grow crops. Carl Maydans snapped this photo in 1936.
Photogrammar/Carl Maydans
A Mississippi steamboat meanders down the river in St. Louis in 1936.
Photogrammar/Arthur Rothstein
A woman cradles her baby as they both take refuge at a Sikeston schoolhouse after a flood. Russell Lee captured this photograph in February 1937.
Photogrammar/Russell Lee

Which of these are your favorite historic photos of Missouri? Join the conversation in the comments! Since we’re traveling back in time, take a peek at these 16 things you might not have known about the history of Missouri.

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