"Time Traveler" in 1941: "modern" dress in old photos?

[Fletch]

This photograph has been making the rounds of teh toobz lately, with commentary that the individual in the shades and printed shirt, 3rd from right, is actually a 21st century hipster and that the pic is thus "proof of time travel" - or at least a clever fake.

"Reopening of the South Fork Bridge, 1941(?), after flood in Nov. 1940. Gold Bridge, B.C., Canada."

He is certainly scruffy for his era, but the sunglasses look like those used for mountaineering at the time, and the shirt could easily be from a school or athletic team. The haircut, however, is classically pre-WW2, as is the camera he's holding.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

It's the next incarnation of Doctor Who.

 

[Fletch]

Does kinda look like a W at that...All he'd need is a backstory that took him to a bridge reopening in BFE*, British Columbia.

*Blinkin' Far from Everywhere

 

[Dinerman]

Sunglasses look like the ones in these ads from 1939

Here's a pair of what the pair from the second ad looks like in the flesh

 

[sixties.nut]

I'm fixing too...

Post a photograph of me with the boys during the Winchester Hat Factory tour and I wasn't even really there...


___________________
or was I... ? lol

 

[LizzieMaine]

He is certainly scruffy for his era, but the sunglasses look like those used for mountaineering at the time, and the shirt could easily be from a school or athletic team. The haircut, however, is classically pre-WW2, as is the camera he's holding.

Exactly what I thought -- Dinerman beat me to pointing out those sunglasses, but they were actually very popular at that time. Basically this guy looks like the typical high school/college boy of the day -- especially because he isn't wearing a hat. Look thru the films of crowds at the New York World's Fair and you'll see plenty of guys looking just like him.

 

[reetpleat]

His top does not look so much like a printed shirt as a knit school sweater, with the contrasting colors being knit in. The jacket is unusual. If it were 50s I would guess it was a synthetic fake fur jacket, not too unusual for the time. being 1941, not so sure. But I don't see anything impossible in his look.

 

[Feraud]

The head and chest look like they have been photoshopped onto the hands holding the camera..

 

[Undertow]

Wow, this is pretty cool. Thanks Dinerman for the photos of said sunglasses. Very interesting. I'll have to show this off to some local rubes and insist I'm ACTUALLY from another era just as I've told them all along.

 

[reetpleat]

Looking closer, the lines on the M seem to be rough indicating a knit, and the neck of the sweater seems kind of oval across the shoulders, again, indicating vintage.

But my guess is an LA hipster somehow got caught in a time warp with Forgotten Man, and they somehow switched time periods.

The weirdest part is this may turn out to be his grandfather.

 

[The Good]

That man would definitely blend in with a crowd in the modern-day. Even if it is a sweater, it looks vaguely like a printed t-shirt, and the jacket may as well be something that's still available today, for that matter. The sunglasses though, really "modernize" his appearance.

 

[MisterCairo]

I admit it, it was me.

What can I say, I really like bridges in the BC interior

 

[Yeps]

Most of the trips of more than ten years are overnights on the time-liners, I sometimes forget what century I was going to when I arrive in the morning, and some confusion results. This guy clearly has a bit of the same problem. Either that or he was traveling second class and did not have room for a wardrobe. However, he could have probably chosen a more versatile look.

 

[Scotus]

I agree he looks pretty modern, but I thought (before I read the rest of the post) that the sunglasses were definately pre-WWII. Having said that, I like Hemingway Jones' explaination best; it's the next Dr. Who.

 

[Foofoogal]

my Father played on a 6, 7 or something football team during the depression. They would hitchhike to games as no one on the team had a car.
Somewhere I have a photo or 2 with the team and the outfits look just like this guy in the photo.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I've recently come across a "time traveler" in the Compton, CA 1930 yearbook:

Barbara King looks like she should be in my mother's yearbook from 1970. If her hair was in ringlets, they had fallen out making her hair look more "70s" to me. Her face doesn't fit in with the other cherubic faces of the time. Also her "I know too much" expression. Nothing about her looks 1930.

 

[Story]

Saw that photo on FARK.

/Appropo

 

[Scotus]

I've recently come across a "time traveler" in the Compton, CA 1930 yearbook:

Barbara King looks like she should be in my mother's yearbook from 1970. If her hair was in ringlets, they had fallen out making her hair look more "70s" to me. Her face doesn't fit in with the other cherubic faces of the time. Also her "I know too much" expression. Nothing about her looks 1930.

You're right! Maybe she's Dr. Who's traveling companion; the new Rose?

Seriously though, her hair looks quite unlike most of those in photos from the 20s/30s.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The third lady from the right in the front row gave me a real start when I found this pic. I've never owned a hat like that, I swear.

 

[LocktownDog]

Lizzie -
Where is the pic from? I've got to know what these people were there for. The lady on the right yawning widely, and the elderly woman directly in front of her and falling asleep ... well, they've piqued my curiosity.