25 Photos of What Life Looked Like in 1929

Daniel Bonfiglio Published 02/12/2025 in wow

By 1929, the roaring '20s were effectively over. One of the biggest stock market crashes in history saw many families lose their life savings in a single day, and start bracing themselves for the decade to come.

But even with the economic downturn, 1929 was a year to close out the '20s with a bang. And if you lived in Europe, things weren't so bad... yet.

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1. 'I'm Not A Bootlegger.”
Taken near the Mexican border, 1929.
2. Black Tuesday
The stock market crash of 1929. The man in the photo is Walter Thornton, a top male model of the 1920s. It is unclear whether this photo was staged, or whether Thorton was genuinely in financial trouble.
3. Streams of Confiscated Liquor
Detroit during Prohibition, 1929.
4. Two Women Buying Cocaine Capsules
The lookout is standing in the background, Berlin, 1929.
5. The “George Bennie Railplane System of Transport”
An experimental railway in Scotland, 1929.
6. A Janitor Sweeps the Floor
The New York Stock Exchange following the Wall Street Crash, 1929.
7. First Class Sleeping Car
A train in 1929.
8. Sabiha Gökçen
A Turkish aviator, and the world's first female fighter pilot. Seen here aged 23 in 1929.
9. A Group of Kids
Talking to an elderly Civil war veteran, 1929.
10. A Movable Lifeguard Tower
Germany, 1929.
11. Al Capone
In South Florida circa 1929.
12. Grand Central Station
Sunlight streaming in, 1929. Photo by Louis Faurer.
13. German Children
Playfully stacking almost worthless Reichsmarks, during heavy inflation in 1929.
14. French Troops
The view from the Fortress Ehrenbreitstein overlooking the Deutsches Eck. Occupation of the Rhineland, 1929.
15. The Orient Express
Stuck in snow near Cerkezkoy, Turkey, 1929.
16. Princess Elizabeth of York as a Child
Shaking hands with an old soldier, 1929. London.
17. Harvard Medical School Professor
Harris P. Mosher teaching in 1929.
18. Confiscated Alcohol
Barrels on barrels, 1929.
19. Boarding School
Folk School Association in Tarnopol, Poland, now Ukraine. 1929.
20. Pasta Makers
Drying the pasta, Italy, 1929.
21. Cart Race
Moscow, 1929.
22. Chicago Board of Trade Floor
Under construction in 1929.
23. Horse Rescued From Canal
Amsterdam in 1929.
24. A Turkish Man
Reading the new Turkish alphabet in front of book seller, 1929.
25. African-American Jews Outside the Moorish Zionist Temple
Harlem, NY, 1929.

1. 'I'm Not A Bootlegger.”
Taken near the Mexican border, 1929.
2. Black Tuesday
The stock market crash of 1929. The man in the photo is Walter Thornton, a top male model of the 1920s. It is unclear whether this photo was staged, or whether Thorton was genuinely in financial trouble.
3. Streams of Confiscated Liquor
Detroit during Prohibition, 1929.
4. Two Women Buying Cocaine Capsules
The lookout is standing in the background, Berlin, 1929.
5. The “George Bennie Railplane System of Transport”
An experimental railway in Scotland, 1929.
6. A Janitor Sweeps the Floor
The New York Stock Exchange following the Wall Street Crash, 1929.
7. First Class Sleeping Car
A train in 1929.
8. Sabiha Gökçen
A Turkish aviator, and the world's first female fighter pilot. Seen here aged 23 in 1929.
9. A Group of Kids
Talking to an elderly Civil war veteran, 1929.
10. A Movable Lifeguard Tower
Germany, 1929.
11. Al Capone
In South Florida circa 1929.
12. Grand Central Station
Sunlight streaming in, 1929. Photo by Louis Faurer.
13. German Children
Playfully stacking almost worthless Reichsmarks, during heavy inflation in 1929.
14. French Troops
The view from the Fortress Ehrenbreitstein overlooking the Deutsches Eck. Occupation of the Rhineland, 1929.
15. The Orient Express
Stuck in snow near Cerkezkoy, Turkey, 1929.
16. Princess Elizabeth of York as a Child
Shaking hands with an old soldier, 1929. London.
17. Harvard Medical School Professor
Harris P. Mosher teaching in 1929.
18. Confiscated Alcohol
Barrels on barrels, 1929.
19. Boarding School
Folk School Association in Tarnopol, Poland, now Ukraine. 1929.
20. Pasta Makers
Drying the pasta, Italy, 1929.
21. Cart Race
Moscow, 1929.
22. Chicago Board of Trade Floor
Under construction in 1929.
23. Horse Rescued From Canal
Amsterdam in 1929.
24. A Turkish Man
Reading the new Turkish alphabet in front of book seller, 1929.
25. African-American Jews Outside the Moorish Zionist Temple
Harlem, NY, 1929.