summer 1927

This month, my book club is reading Bill Bryson's latest book: One Summer: America, 1927. I'm only about half-way through, but so far it's been fascinating. That summer, Charles Lindberg made the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic from New York to Paris, Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs, and Al Jolson's "The Jazz Singer" was released as the first "talking picture". If you're a fan of the show Boardwalk Empire, you may already be familiar with the flappers, gangsters and bootleggers of the era (season 4 was supposed to take place in 1924), but as I've been reading, I've found myself wondering what everyday life looked like for most Americans. A little internet sleuthing turned up a treasure trove of great photos.

Read on for lots of fun photos from 1927:

Here's downtown San Francisco, 1927.

This is what 4-wheel drive looked like back then- such tiny trucks!

Milk was still delivered via horse and buggy in Washington D.C.

Babies were only ten cents! So cheap!

Clara Bow hats were all the rage

I think they mean "The scandalous American flapper Girl"- look at those bare shoulders!

This is what you wore if you weren't a flapper.
Side note: aren't these realistically colorized photos amazing? They really seem to bring the past to life. Check out more colorized photos here. 

Swimsuits were H-O-T-T!!

 Even the dudes were dapper. 

Will the nautical look ever not be in fashion?

And even back then, there were weirdos. Yes, she is painting a picture of a dog smoking a pipe...

For more photos from 1927, you can check out my Pinterest page. The website Shorpy.com is also chock-full of amazing old photos.


[Photos, from top: girls on beach, San Francisco, 4-wheel drive, milk buggy, babies, Clara Bow, American Girl, school photo, diving board, dapper dude, sailor jacket, smoking dog]