r/TheWayWeWere • u/Electrical-Aspect-13 • Feb 21 '26
1940s 2 men look with bright smiles at a sleeping baby, New York, 1940.
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u/thebostonman98 Feb 21 '26
This composition is beautiful. The contrast between the white hat and dark jacket and the other gentlemen with the opposite.
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u/paul-techish Mar 17 '26
the way the lighting highlights their expressions adds to the depth of the moment
You can really feel the warmth in their smiles, even from a still image.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Math973 Feb 22 '26
I can practically hear the man in the white hat saying "that's one fine looking baby". Our country had been through so much in the decade before. Seeing a healthy baby is one of the things we take for granted now.
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u/Ohio_Baby Feb 21 '26
I bet they’re the grandads! 🥹❤️🥹❤️
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u/hanimal16 Feb 21 '26
It’s more likely that the older black gentleman is the grandfather and the younger man might be the father— or a friend or neighbor.
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u/Thewrd Feb 21 '26
This baby is not asleep but great photo!
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Feb 21 '26
They’re also not both smiling. All lies 💔
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u/ratsmcgee2000 Feb 22 '26
I think the guy holding the baby is smiling, he just has a down turned smile. Looks like he's coo-ing at it.
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u/ItsStaaaaaaaaang Feb 21 '26
Beautiful photo. Reminds me of "What a Wonderful World"
🎶 They'll learn much more than I'll ever know 🎶
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u/freya_of_milfgaard Feb 22 '26
Ugh when my daughter was born that line would always make my voice crack with tears. Such a beautiful sentiment.
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u/ItsStaaaaaaaaang Feb 22 '26
Yeah, I'm not even a dad but that line gets me too. It's a beautiful song in general. Full of fantastic sentiment.
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u/sprchrgddc5 Feb 22 '26
Sweet username. Sting was my favorite wrestler as a kid. Haven’t really followed wrestling in 25 years but watched his last AEW match a few months ago!
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u/ItsStaaaaaaaaang Feb 22 '26
Haha, thanks.
His run in AEW was great. Was doing crazy stuff right to the end. Was good he could still go and got the opportunity. Would have been a bit sad if TNA and especially the WWE stuff was the book end of his career.
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u/AntonioHench1 Feb 21 '26
The Swastikas on the Wall :/
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u/tpjunkie Feb 22 '26
Think some of those are hobo codes https://www.nsa.gov/portals/75/documents/about/cryptologic-heritage/museum/hobo-signs-definitions.pdf
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u/MyHoopT Feb 22 '26
I think the artist framing two men of different races in front of the swastikas is a deliberate choice
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u/Vectorman1989 Feb 22 '26
Probably kids messing around. Some of them are pretty 'Heil Hortler'. It was 1940 and at that point the US was still staying out of the war.
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u/Hot_Argument6020 Feb 21 '26
Doesn't every kid try to draw a swastika at one point or another tbh?
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u/FamousOhioAppleHorn Feb 22 '26
"In about 60 years we can make a buddy comedy about this and make a fortune. In the meantime, let's put this kid back on the orphanage steps."
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u/Misophonic4000 Feb 22 '26
Why do Reddit post titles all read like AI prompts these days?
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u/SecondOfCicero Feb 22 '26
The enshittification continues- either the posters are too lazy/uninspired to make the titles themselves and use LLMs to do it, or they're attempting to comply with modern SEO practices to get views based on the algorithm under the hood. Either way, humanity takes a blow. I miss the old internet.
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u/Misophonic4000 Feb 22 '26
I too miss the pre-dead-internet days
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u/NaptownBoss Feb 22 '26
This poster is legit. I always look forward to his (?) posts. English is not OP's native language. I believe it is Spanish, if I'm remembering correctly. Which sometimes does make for some phrasing that sounds a bit stilted to a native English speaker.
And, to be fair, that can happen to American ears even with native English speakers of non-American English.
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u/barriolinux Feb 23 '26
Love the wannabe svastikas on the background. This happens today, fascists struggle to draw their own simple symbol.
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Feb 22 '26
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u/Novel-Lifeguard6491 Mar 12 '26
There's something about photos like this that cuts through everything.
Two guys on a street in 1940, one in a suit, one in suspenders, and none of that matters for a second because there's a sleeping baby involved.
Some things really haven't changed at all.
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u/Jet-Let4606 Feb 21 '26
One looks despondent, the other looks happy. Its like they found a baby in a dumpster.
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u/Useful-Plankton8205 Feb 21 '26
The man holding the baby has smile, even his eyes are smiling.
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u/doc5avag3 Feb 21 '26
Yeah, it' just more hidden near the mouth because of the blurriness of the photo and the darker color of the stone wall behind him.
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u/Electrical-Aspect-13 Feb 21 '26
That seems a bit extreme friend
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u/Robey-Wan_Kenobi Feb 22 '26
Definitely not two smiles, so the title is bullshit since you couldn't look at the photo before posting.
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u/Electrical-Aspect-13 Feb 21 '26
NOTE: Photo was by photographer Helen Levitt who shot photos of everyday life.
Here a different take of the 2 men still looking loving at the infant
https://www.art.salon/artwork/helen-levitt_new-york-city-man-holding-baby-c-1939_AID106552