I don't believe that all past times were better, no matter how nostalgic and melancholy I can get sometimes. Not that the present is utopian, nor that we can't learn anything from those old days, but if I had to choose, I would always choose the present to be reborn.

What the past does have is that strangeness that, at times, can become terrifying. Nightmarish medical treatments, general insensitivity, the exhibition and mockery of the different, were common currency. Some of those things are shown in this gallery. It was inspired by various posts on imgur by user DaFunOne, but leaving aside all those images that show the worst of our human condition (of which you can find many in the original galleries). And it's that I don't like gratuitous morbidity.

Each little photo has a description of the year and circumstances in which they were taken, to provide some context. I hope you are as surprised as I was when discovering them.

Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
Freckle treatment. United States, 1933.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
Freckle treatment. United States, 1933.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
A bulletproof vest, with helmet and goggles. France, 1930.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
A circus artist demonstrating her flexibility. England, 1997.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
A clown poses with a family (but I'm sure there is more to say about this photograph). United States, 1962.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
A "Dance Until You Drop" contest, of those where they had to dance until they fell exhausted. If anyone's knees touched the ground, the couple was eliminated. United States, 1947.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
A hairdressing competition. Warsaw, Poland, 1932.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)

The illusion of the headless woman, of which we have already spoken on NeoTeo. United States, 1945.

Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
An excellent example of doctored photographs long before the existence of Photoshop. United States, 1937.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
A device for applying makeup correctly, demonstrated by Max Factor, its inventor. Poland, 1930.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
Demonstration of an invention that would help someone read without distractions. United States, 1940.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
A Navajo man dressed as Nayenezgani. United States, 1908.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
A nurse with a mask puts a baby in an iron lung. England, 1943.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
A psychiatric patient tied up in a mental institution. France, 1900.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
"La ballada de la Muerte y la Dama". England, 1906.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
A robot answering the phone. United States, 1944.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
A Russian fisherman with his catch. 1965.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
A dangerous child seat. What in the world were they thinking? United States, 1946.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)

Batichica, in 1904. 57 years before the DC character. Like Judex, the first superhero movie.

Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
A woman riding a crocodile, the mascot of an American football team. United States, 1934.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
A woman wearing a mask with a fake smile, in Budapest, Hungary, 1937. It was part of the therapy of the "Club de las Sonrisas", which helped people suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts. I don't know how much it would help.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
A woman wearing a very tight corset. France, 1894.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
Alice Elizabeth Doherty with her family. Alice suffered from hypertrichosis, which causes abnormal hair growth on the face. United States, 1903.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
Chemical weapons engineers using a rabbit to check if there had been a sarin gas leak in the factory. Luckily, the source reports that -at least that day- there was no leak. United States, 1970.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
Korean War veterans demonstrate the use of prosthetic legs. South Korea, 1955.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)

Archibald Purves testing the Dynasphere, which we already discussed on NeoTeo. England, 1932.

Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
Holy Week procession. Spain, 1960.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
The Statue of Liberty, before it was assembled. 1886.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
The winner of the "Miss Atomic Bomb" contest. United States, 1950.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
Three million volts pass through a car at the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, for a lightning test. The passenger suffered no harm. United States, 1940.
Strange and Terrifying Photographs from the Past (Gallery)
Two sisters posing for the photo. United States, 1926.