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29 vintage photos show how Americans used to trudge through snowstorms
29 vintage photos show how Americans used to trudge through snowstorms
James Pasley,James PasleyJan 14, 2020, 02:38 IST
Imagno/GettyA snowstorm in Cleveland, Ohio, around 1930.
Blizzards might be a hassle and life-threatening at times, but they used to be even more of a nightmare to travel through.
There was a time before cars or buses ferried people where they needed to go. Before UberEats or Amazon delivery, people had to go out into the snow to get their groceries and go to work.
There was a time when people truly trudged through blizzards.
They had no choice. Before cars were common, and buses ferried people around, people still had to get to work. Before UberEats or Amazon delivery, people had to go out and get their groceries from the supermarket.
Hats and umbrellas were uselessly clutched; footings were lost. Blizzards might be a hassle and life-threatening at times, but over the last century they've been a nightmare to travel through.
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On the positive side, kids escaped school early. And unremarkable cities could become winter wonderlands.
These photos from 1900 to 1993 show how Americans coped with snowstorms the best they could.
In 1900, people clutched their hats and umbrellas as New York was swept up in a snowstorm.
Some, like this homeless man in Manhattan, didn't try and walk through it, but instead slept in the snow.
In Cleveland, snow came at pedestrians at an angle. Those trudging did their best to hurry on with their lives.
In 1934, snowdrifts in Long Island made walking nearly impossible. Arthur C. Reichardt proved chivalry wasn't dead. He carried his wife through the drifts from the train station to their home.
In 1934, people weren't trudging through a snowstorm, but standing firm as they protested. Fish peddlers and store owners demanded lower prices for fish.
In 1935, people walked through a New York snowstorm. One woman buried her head in a man's shoulder. Others gripped on to hats as wind whipped by. The curb is almost impossible to see beneath the snow.
The conditions were often unkind to pedestrians. Here, a New York policeman helped a fallen man back to his feet on West Broadway.
In 1937, far from the cities, a lone cowboy monitored cattle during a white-out snowstorm.
In 1940, New York's streets appear deserted during a howling blizzard, other than one brave man.
In 1944, a man named Sam Karshnowitz led a horse through a bitter snowstorm in New York.
In 1945, pedestrians with linked arms waited to cross a road during a snowstorm in New York City.
In 1946, young Jerry Harrison continued his Denver Post delivery run during the city's worst snowstorm in 33 years. Deep snow made his bicycle useless, except to carry his newspaper bag.
In 1947, a few hardy pedestrians made their way toward the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan.
The streets remained busy during a miserable snow storm in the 1950s.
In 1958, children didn't let a storm with severe winds stop them from frolicking in Central Park.
In 1967, a New England woman buckled her collar during a spring snowstorm in Boston.
A trash collector in Lakewood continued working despite a snowstorm that left an inch of snow on the ground in Colorado.
In Denver, two women took a stroll near Cooper Lake as falling snow clung to their coats.
In 1978, two men with hands and heads covered hoped for a ride during a snowstorm in Commack, New York.
That same year, people skied through Boston, across 23.6 inches of snow, to get to where they had to go.
In Cleveland, the windchill dropped to -35 degrees Fahrenheit. Here, a man looks to be clutching his ear, while others try clear snow off the streets.
Traffic lights swung in the wind, as two people, bundled up against the snow, strolled through New York in 1978.
In Queens, New York, a carnival of stalled cars, stranded pedestrians, snow plows and children took over as a blanket of heavy snow transformed a normally congested road into a winter park.
In 1979, Chicago office workers begged for rides as snow fell on the city.
In 1982, a pedestrian balanced precariously on slush as she tried to cross the road during a blizzard.
In 1983, Plainview, New York, resident Debbie White pushed her groceries through a snowstorm.
In 1983, a woman crossed the road wielding an umbrella, even as gusts whipped by at about 40 mph.
In 1987, a snowstorm closed Douglas County school 90 minutes early. The students ran through falling snow to climb aboard the school bus.
At some point, all snowstorms end. In 1993, a lone skier passed the Washington Monument as the city began to recover from one of the biggest winter storms in years.
