24 Vintage Winter Photos That Deliver Snow Much Nostalgia

Along for the ride

“In 1958, my father, Sandy Sanderson, used this 1937 Dodge as a service car for his gas station in Goodells, Michigan, to push-start cars. He also let the neighbor kids learn to drive in the field. In winter, for fun, the driver would try to dump anyone riding behind. When we got cold, we switched places with someone inside the car,” says Jim Sanderson of Port Huron, Michigan.

Snow tunnel

“In 1963, our family was stationed for three years at Dow Air Force Base in Bangor, Maine. This was probably my first time ever building a snow tunnel. You can see the excitement on my face!” says John Clagg Jr., now of Bossier City, Louisiana.

Snowed in

In 1917, the year this vintage winter photo was taken in New York City, automobiles were equipped with windshields, but they did not yet have windows—you know, those pieces of glass that keep snow out of your vehicle. So during the Christmas season, snow removal was a back-breaking exterior and interior job.

Layers on layers

“During the winter of 1966 in Stoutsville, Ohio, my three brothers, Jerry, Joe and Jeff, and I couldn’t wait to get outside to play. Getting dressed was a production. We didn’t have fancy down-filled snowsuits or ski pants. Instead, we started with white flannel long underwear and layered on hand-me-down jeans and shirts. We topped it all off with hooded winter jackets. After hours outside, we were hungry, tired, wet and cold,” says John Scanlan, now of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

Thankful for snow

“A Thanksgiving snowstorm—probably the big one in 1956—left snow piled so high it dwarfed our Chevrolet,” says Louella Kightlinger of Erie, Pennsylvania.

Ice, ice baby

This vintage winter photo, snapped between 1909 and 1932, showcases how boys had to shovel the snow off the ice before skating on it, draining their energy and time. To sweep larger expanses, rink owners resorted to tractors dragging a scraper. The task was trying enough that it inspired at least one person to devise a better solution: After testing numerous prototypes, high school dropout Frank J. Zamboni, a proprietor of Iceland Skating Rink in southern California, received a patent for his eponymous ice-cleaning machine in 1953. Modern skating rinks use Zambonis to this day.

Style on skates

The chilly weather can’t stop this happy couple from showing off their moves as they glide across the ice on a winter day in Chicago in 1919.

Snow slide

Like the other vintage snow images on our list, this one comes with a major sense of nostalgia. “I was afraid that my roof would collapse in the blizzard of 1979, so I shoveled the garage roof snow to the ground. The snow pile was as high as the gutter, so I made a slide that took the kids down and all the way to the back of the lot,” says Greg Lopatka of Downers Grove, Illinois.

One giant leap

“This picture is from winter 1975. I thought it would be fun to jump off the roof,” says Craig Stroker, now of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Having a (snow)ball

“This is my sister Jill and my not-too-happy cousin Michael sitting on top of a giant snowball,” says Craig Stroker.

No snow days

Two of the most beautiful words in the world: “snow day.” Most modern school districts in frosty climates have budgeted a certain number of snow days into their schedules so that learning stays on track but kids stay safe when bad weather hits. That wasn’t always the case, though. In 1910, these Valdez, Alaska, students did not have the luxury of staying home. But they did have the pretty cool perk of being able to stand on their schoolhouse roof.

Winter traffic jam

Some things never change: Then and now, when it snows, you can count on travel being far more time-consuming and onerous than usual. In this vintage winter photo from 1950, members of the Ohio National Guard in Cleveland (one of the best Christmas towns in the U.S.) help clear the streets, shoveling snow away from totally engulfed cars. The weekend snowfall caused one of the city’s worst-ever traffic jams.

Frozen memories

It’s hard to believe that, shortly before this photo was taken, this Berlin, New Hampshire, building was on fire. But it was, and that’s why it looks like a frozen castle. See, the fire occurred on a 20-degrees-below-zero day in 1908. When firefighters doused it with water to put the fire out, the frigid temperature formed a massive layer of icicles almost instantly.

A walk in winter

“This is my mom, Wanda Wojcik; my brother, Roger; and my sister, Audrey, in front of the family home in Niagara Falls, New York, during the winter of 1938–39,” says Pat Bridges, now of Nashville, Tennessee.

Giant snowman

We all know the beloved Christmas movie character Frosty the Snowman. Well, Cathy Chubrick, now of Largo, Florida, stands next to a 9-foot snowman in front of her Bound Brook, New Jersey, home. Her dad, Steve, took the photo in December 1964, when she was 4 years old.

Piled high

The snow was piled high during the winter of 1939 in Muskegon Heights, Michigan, when John Johnson, now of East Grand Rapids, was 6 years old.

Terrifying transportation

Forget cars with seat warmers! Back in 1936, Minnesota students traveled to school in a cabin mounted on a sleigh. The trip took a bumpy two hours (one way), and that’s if their ride didn’t burst into flames first—the wooden compartment was heated by a stove. Of all the vintage winter photos on our list, this one should make you the most grateful for your car … even if it takes an eternity to heat up.

The milkman cometh

It was a rough day on the job for this milkman in Manchester, England, seen here slogging through heavy snowfall in 1946. In the 1940s, milkmen were beginning to lose popularity in the United Kingdom in favor of refrigeration and widespread supermarkets. 

Royal guard

Soldiers of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, an Irish regiment of the British army that existed from 1881 to 1968, brave the cold, decked in hats slightly less extravagant than those worn by the queen’s guard. The soldiers in this photo, which dates back to around 1911, are stationed in the British concession in the Chinese city of Tientsin (modern-day Tianjin).

Snow place like home

It’s hard to tell where the snow ends and the humble house begins in this photo from 1903. These Valdez, Alaska, residents had to dig out a door-shaped hole to enter their home. Things aren’t so different in that neck of the woods in the 21st century, though; in 2012, Valdez experienced a record-breaking snowfall of more than 20 feet!

Toiling in the brutal cold

These days, we can get the latest headlines just by scrolling through our phones—we don’t even need to leave our beds. And for those of us who prefer to read the actual newspaper, we can pay someone to deliver it to our doorstep. But until the Great Depression, newsies—boys who hawked newspapers on the streets for pennies a day—were the main way that the news was disseminated. In this vintage winter photo taken in 1909 in Hartford, Connecticut, the youngest newsie was 8 years old, and he’d already been on the job for three years.

Après-ski

Whether in the past or the present, winter isn’t all bad. This picture, taken in 1958, captures a group of skiers taking a load off after a day of hitting the Vermont slopes. Judging by their wardrobes and contented expressions, it looks like this was a mild, sunny winter day, perfect for outdoor merriment.

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