Retronaut's Coffee Table Book: Brilliant History Porn

When it comes to getting your fix of history porn, Retronaut.com is the one-stop shop for everything under the sun. They've got upwards of a thousand years-worth of photographs, transcripts, and collections divided up by years and categories like 'Icons Unmade’ and ‘Alternative Realities.'

Recently, they've released their first book, RETRONAUT: The Photographic Time Machine, which showcases more than 300 photos that will change the way you see history. The book includes such photos as Martha Stewart as a fashion model, Ronald Reagan modeling for a sculpture class, and Kim Jong-il in a bumper car. We were lucky enough to track down some of their weirdest pictures and get the skinny on this hardcover time machine. Below, a preview of it all. 

#ToughGuyAlert: Motorcycle club members, London. (1966)

Before they were reserved for rich weirdos from the Hamptons, men used to sport double-breasted fur coats. (Early 1900s)

This handsome blimp is a replica of the original Mayflower—aptly-named the Mayflower II. Guess they didn't really try too hard on that one. (1957)

Aquatic performers apply lipstick underwater, as was the style at the time. (1941) 

Tourists ride horses past a life-size Apatosaurus statue in Dinosaur Park near Rapid City, South Dakota. They're moving in herds...they do move in herds.(1955) 

One of the very first documented photos of a British guard stricken with a case of the Mondays. (1965)

The National Geographic Society’s second president, Bell, and his wife, Mabel, kissing in a tetrahedral kite that Bell designed. It's about as romantic as it is geometrically sound. (1903) 

Here we go, folks. Kim Jong Trill in Pyongyang...in a bumper car. (1977) 

A Kentucky Fried Chicken in Abu Dhabi, captured on film before the consumption of chicken and mashed potatoes was punishable by exile. This last fact may or may not be true. (1975)


Jeremy Glass is the Vice editor for Supercompressor and genuinely wonders about the circumstances in which Kim Jong-il got onto a bumper car.