When people think 1920s they think speakeasies, gangsters, flappers, and The Great Gatsby. But the truth is, just like any other era in human history, the 20s were filled with weirdness.
From crazy pets to disturbing costumes to absurd inventions to people who were just completely out of their minds, there was just as much quirkiness back then as there is now, if not more.
Check out these vintage pics that show the peculiar side of the Roaring Twenties not in the history books. If the world today seems strange and scary, this gallery will serve as a reminder that it’s always been this way.
1
A 1920s football player wearing a protective mask
2
A flapper hanging out with a duck wearing glasses, circa 1920s
3
A woman wearing a swim mask to protect from sunburn, 1920s
4
A sign in a hotel forbidding guests from snoring, circa 1926
5
A pony deep underground pulling a minecart, circa 1920s
6
The Michelin Man mascot in the 1920s
7
“The Isolator”, an invention to help writers focus, 1925
8
Man in gorilla suit, 1927
9
A dog donning racing goggles and taking the wheel, 1920s
10
Lon Chaney in the 1928 movie Laugh Clown Laugh
11
A baby chimpanzee talking to an adult chimpanzee on the phone, 1920s
12
A Halloween costume in the 1920s.
13
College girls goofing off circa 1920s
14
A hippopotamus named Lotus pulling a chariot, 1924
15
Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly who started the fad of pole sitting in 1924
16
An alligator farm in California where kids could ride on alligators, 1920s
17
Cyclists helping each other smoke in the 1920 Tour de France
18
Harry Houdini using photo manipulation to create a spirit photograph of Abraham Lincoln, 1920s
19
A criminal mugshot in 1925
20
A New York City policeman hanging off of a building, 1920
21
A kid not too happy about sitting in the lap of a guy in a bear costume, circa 1920s
22
People avoiding the water by walking across chairs in the Paris Flood, 1924
