Adding color to historical photographs allows us to see the past like few have seen it before.
While color restoration can bring old black-and-white photos to life, color restoration is more of an art form than a science. For example, the colors you see in these photos aren't exactly what they looked like at the time but are approximations based on historical knowledge.
So while these don't exactly open a portal through time, they are the next best thing to a time machine that we have.
1
Ava Gardner Photographed In 1948
2
September 1952. "Man In An Airport Control Tower Looking At Radar Screen."
3
Amelia Earhart With Her Cord 812 Phaeton Car And Her Lockheed Airplane, 1937
4
Civil Air Patrol Student, Taking A Sunbath At The Silver Lake Airfield, Baker California, 1944
5
Three Women Eating Spaghetti On Inflatable Mattresses At Capri, 1939.
6
1947 Ford Bubble Glass Top
7
Actress Clara Bow Photographed In 1927
8
A Young Girl Read A Comic Book At A Supermarket, Anchorage, Alaska, 1958
9
James Stewart On The Phone At His Father’s Hardware Store, 1945.
10
Sunset On The Place De La Concorde, Paris, 1960
12
Rochester, New York. "Mr. Babcock Tuning In For War News." September 1942
13
June 1922. Spectators At The Brooklands Racing Circuit, Surrey, (UK)
15
Florette Reading On The Annecy Lake, 1943.
16
Rita Hayworth, Photographed In 1941
17
Chidren From Detroit, Michigan. August 1942
18
No Caption Found For This Group Of 14 Teenagers Photographed In The 40’s
19
Traffic Officer Ticketing A Badly Parked Car On The Champs Elysées, Paris. Photographed In 1960
20
Carol Van Aken Snacking Pickles And Coca Cola Between Meals In Tallahassee, Florida. 1957
21
Essex Street And Henry Street, Lower East Side, New York City The 4th November 1959
22
September 1941. Yakima, Washington.
23
Preparing For The Landing, 1944
24
Al Anderson And Ot Huston, 1910
26
Sinclair Gasoline Station At Night, San Augustine, Texas. April 1939
27
A Couple In Formal Evening Wear Pose For A Fashion Shoot At Night In New York’s Times Square, 1959
28
Dorothy Lamour In 1939.
29
Kennett, Dunklin County, Missouri. Courthouse Square July 1942
30
Having Fun At The Gas Station, 1940
31
Nevada Test Site Forces Relaxing On A Military Leave In Las Vegas, Photographed In 1950
32
The Day After, 2nd Infantry Division, E-1 Draw, Easy Red Sector, Omaha Beach, D+1, June 7, 1944
33
Street Scene And Movie Theater, Lancaster, Ohio, USA,, August 1938
34
Steve Macqueen Get Into His Corvette Stingray. Photographed In 1966
35
A Young Woman Talks To Her Boy Friend After Her Evening's Work As A Cinema Usherette. England, 1954
36
Passengers Having A Sunbath On The Wings Of The Plane. All Aboard The Incredible Flying Yacht, Circa 1950
37
Sentry Posted Outside Of House Chamber, U.S. Capitol, East Front. Washington, D.c., 1942. Office Of War Information
.jpg)