Vintage Photos That Show How Much Cooler Our Parents Were Than Us

It might be hard to believe but all of our parents had lives before we were born. While we know them as “mom” and “dad”, other people know them as the wild teenagers that skateboarded through the neighborhood and caused trouble. 

This perfect photo of someone’s mom skateboarding barefoot in the ‘70s just takes us right back in time. The wind in her hair and the dirt on her feet are such a sign of carefree and simpler times.

This poster shared an amazing photo of their dad from 1980. From the fluffy hair and mustache to the tight shirt and cool car in the back, everything about this photo is iconic.

While most of us probably keep the shoes on when we get on any kind of bike, it looks like shoes were utterly optional in the 1960s. This person shared this photo of their dad from the late ‘60s.

We don’t think we could have afforded a car on our lemonade stand earnings and allowances, but this person’s dad bought his very own car at the ripe age of 11!

This person shared an incredible photo of his father pulling out the ‘70s movies on the skateboard. Why ride on your feet when you could ride on your hands? 

This man is clearly doing exactly what he loves and he’s doing it in style. We just feel lucky that this perfect moment was captured on camera for us all to gawk at. 

I don’t seem to remember my teachers having this much style when I was in class. But this person shared an amazing image of their dad teaching math in the late ‘70s or early ‘80s. 

This person’s mom was taking selfies in 1989, way before they were cool. Not to mention, she was rocking the mirror self, an even more niche version of the photos we see all over social media today. 

This wholesome photo just warms our hearts. There is nothing sweeter than a son who wants to be just like dad. In this case, dad is a fighter pilot and the son is looking up to him (literally).

Apparently, this person was looking through old photos when they stumbled across this random pic of their dad with a very famous basketball player. Yes, that is Magic Johnson in the arms of their dad!

This person’s mom shared a photo of their mom skateboarding with a broken wrist, giving new meaning to that old saying “just rub some dirt in it”.

Girls rule and boys drool. This person’s mom was proving that point way back in 1950. Here she is pictured with a mouthful of pie right before she was crowned the winner of a pie-eating contest.

This person shared a photo of their dad in the ‘70 striking a pretty dramatic pose. If you couldn’t tell from the hat or the clothes, this was taken in Paris, France.

The mystery of this photo will remain a mystery because we truly don’t know what this person’s dad was doing fully clothed wading through a body of water. But, when asked about the context of the image, he gave the best answer.

This person had the pleasure of finding a wonderful photo that captured their parents’ young love. The two were apparently galavanting around Globe and stopped to take this photo in 1985. 

This person’s dad can be seen atop the shoulders of his cousins in what would make probably the coolest Christmas card in the entire world. We can’t be sure how they even managed this incredible formation.

The story behind this image is even more impressive than the image itself. Apparently, this person’s dad won that Shelby GT500 on accident! He is 16 in this photo and he entered himself into a contest at the local shoe store.

This man was stationed in Vietnam and their kid shared this amazing photo of him from 1966. Apparently, he had his own pet monkey as you can probably tell from the animal on a leash in his arms.

Some of us might have similar photos or memories to this picture but in ours, we’re all playing rockband. This rockstar was playing the real guitar in one of the most “‘80s” style photos we’ve ever seen.

Apparently this guy had no idea he would be setting records when he and a few buddies headed out to sea to go fishing. But, despite throwing back a few beers, he managed to catch a huge tuna.

When you look through old photos of your parents you really never know what to expect. But, what you certainly don’t expect to find is a photo of your dad balancing on not one, but three unicycles.

What we love about this one is that there are probably so many people of all different ages that shared this same experience and probably have photos just like it. This snapshot of someone’s mom was taken in 1969 on her prom night.

The ‘50s were a much different time for more reasons than the style and music. Apparently, people were feeding bears back in the day as well! Someone shared this image of their dad hand-feeding a real-life bear on the side of the road.

This photo should be used as a vintage ad for Gatorade. This person found this pic of their dad who was a firefighter holding up this Gateraide can as if he was paid to do so.

Being in the FBI sounds like a very cool job, but this photo basically just proves it. It appears this image could have been pulled right from a movie! It’s really an image of someone’s dad in the 1960s.

As we’ve seen, people had some really interesting pets back in the day. We’ve seen a man with a monkey and a man feeding soda to a bear, but this one might be even more intriguing.

If you needed to display what the ‘70s were in one image, this one might just do it. The old Mustang is a truly stunning car, but the dad pictured here really takes the cake. His afro, mustache, and aviators are too perfect.

Before he was driving his kids to and from soccer practice, changing diapers, and helping with math homework, dear old dad was catching waves and beach bumming around.

In a long list of pictures you don’t expect to see of your dad comes this image of the man squaring off with a cheetah. We can’t be sure why or how he came face to face with the fastest animal in the world.

Everybody loves a good barbecue but we haven’t seen very many people barbecuing on top of a submarine. This dad and his buddies decided to light up the grill and make some burgers and dogs.

This person shared an incredible picture of their father creating a bust of their mother’s face. And, from the look of things, he’s doing an excellent job! The photo was taken in the 1980s if you couldn’t tell from the mustache and rotary phone.

One of the biggest things that makes our parents so much cooler than us is their travel stories! Most of us can only dream of visiting all the incredible places our parents have gone.

This might be the coolest wedding photo we have ever seen. We wonder if they had the entire wedding party ride on those bikes after the ceremony.

This Redditor shared an image of their mom in the 90s. She lived in Alaska so it’s only natural that she would have a Husky puppy.

This person shared a very cool picture of their very cool mom on the F-4 Phantom in the 1980s. This fighter jet was designed in the 80s for the U.S. Navy.

Of all the coolest jobs in the world, we have to assume that hanging out with animals every day is close to the top of that list. This person shared an image of their friend’s dad.

This photo of brothers at their joint wedding is pretty spectacular. If you couldn’t tell from the style of dresses and the smoke in the air, this was a wedding in the 1970s.

This mom was truly a wicked cool woman from the time she was very young. That car she’s sitting on is a ‘63 corvette which she bought all on her own at the ripe age of 20!

Everything about this picture makes us smile. We do have to applaud his style. We have never seen a sombrero paired with a t-shirt that says “piss off” so it’s certainly a unique look.

This is a redditor’s mom at the Weiser Idaho Fiddle Festival in 1973. Her wide smile really says it all! It was a time to be alive.

This person is convinced that their dad might have just been the coolest guy to exist from this picture alone. To be honest, we might have to agree.

This person takes their shades very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that he kept his sunglasses on throughout his entire wedding ceremony. Whether he just really loved his aviators or didn’t want anyone to see him cry is uncertain.

Apparently this person’s dad was a real ladies man back in the 80s. Here he is with her friends at the arcade. It looks like his friend might even be a little jealous!

This photo was taken just after this man arrived in Australia from Vietnam in the 80s. He looks to be settling in quite nicely. We wish we could know what kind of music was playing on that amazing boombox.

A Redditor shared this image of their mom at an Allman Brothers concert. Her arm was broken and in a sling but that wasn’t about to stop her from enjoying some live music. 

You may notice that one person stands out in this photo. Right smack dab in the middle is the only woman in the class. This person’s mom was the only woman in her welding class back in 1984.

This person shared a photo of their dad at his first job. And his first job just so happened to be at NASA! We can only imagine how exciting it was to be a part of NASA in 1986. There was so much innovation happening to form the space program we know today.

Now, we’d be impressed by anyone that can pin someone in a martial arts match, but this one is especially spectacular because not many people can say that they’ve been able to pin the original Texas Ranger.

It looks like the “cool factor” runs in this family. This redditor contributed this photo of their dad as a kid with his mom. His mom was a veterinarian so they had a pet lion which they raised for 2 years!

Some people can really just do it all, and this woman is proof of that! This poster shared this image of their mom holding them as a baby. 

As kids, we see our parents as just that; our parents. But, it’s fun to look back on old photos of them from before we were born because it shows us a whole other life they had before they were “mom” and “dad”. 

This redditor shared one of their favorite photos of their parents from the late 70s. We love this creative photograph and wonder how they came up with such a fun concept!

Clearly, humor runs in the family. The young boy with the magazine is this redditor’s father at his Bar Mitzvah in 1972. His uncle is the one looking over his shoulder with the same wide-eyed expression.

A graduation photo like this should be replicated by the next generation because it’s too iconic not to! This photo is clearly from the 1970s judging by the all white tux with ruffles and a bow tie.

This person’s dad had his motorcycle shipped to Europe and decided to bike all around the country in 1973. We admire his spontaneity and lust for adventure!

This person shared a photo of their friend’s parents back in the 70s. Their expressions really do say it all: They’re too cool for school and they know it!

We imagine most of these young men are probably fathers now and we hope all of their children are as impressed by this photo as this Redditor. Can you guess which one is his father?

This is a poster’s mom in the 1980s casually doing a handstand on her skateboard. Not to mention, there are 2 skateboards stacked on top of each other because one just wasn’t enough of a challenge!

In the 80s, this poster’s mom flew Helicopters! We can’t think of many more jobs that are cooler than this.