Jump in to our time machine as we take you back 100 years to the United Sates in 1923. What was going on in the daily lives of people, what events were happening? Are there things we do now that were surprisingly similar all that time ago? When you do see something in these images that you think relates to your life now, that is the crucial moment when you do feel you have that electrifying link all the way back to that moment and you right now…
New York, New York: c. 1923.A couple showing how they get to work on their autoped during the latest transit strike. 
Lake Placid, New York: January 3, 1923..Two young women ice skaters at the Lake Placid Club enjoy an afternoon tea served hot off the ski-tea table. 
New York, New York: December 31, 1923..The proprietor of the new Maison Arthur Grill distributed $100,000,000 in German marks to be used for confetti on New Year’s Eve, 1923. .The exchange rate then in December, 1923, was between 3.4 to 5.72 billion marks to the dollar. In January of 1923 it was between 7,000 to 48,000 marks to the dollar. 
Illinois: February 19, 1923 .Passengers on the Chicago & Alton Railroad are entertained by an experimental showing of the movie, The Flame of Life, starring Priscilla Dean, on the Chicago-St. Louis flyer. The railroad was so pleased with the passenger response that they will install movie machines on all of its crack trains. 
Rochester, New York: c. 1923.Workers assembling Cine-Kodaks at the Camera Works at the Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first 16mm camera. 
New York, New York: c. 1923..These women have already bought all their presents and are mailing them early, just like the sign says. 
Cincinnati, Ohio: April 27, 1923.Train passengers can listen to music and news. For the very first time on any railroad, two B & O trains are now equipped with radio service. A special car speaker makes it possible for all passengers in the car to hear distinctly above the noise of the train. 
Brooklyn, New York: January 18, 1923..This skater is amusing the crowd with his hand springs this afternoon. 
St. Louis, Missouri: 1923. Birdie Reeve, the world’s fastest typist, can type over 200 words per minute. She views typing as a sport, and here displays her muscle development. 
Bear Mountain, New York: c. 1923..Speed skaters check their blades in preparation for the 1924 Winter Olympic tryouts to be held under the eye of Coach William Taylor at Brentmere Camp in New York state. 
United States: c. 1923..A woman trims the excess crust off a pie before baking. 
Long Pond, Maine: c. 1923.A man cooking lunch in a frying pan over an open camp fire at an old logging camp. 
New York, New York: c. 1923.The Lower New York skyline at sundown. 
Washington, D.C.: July 21, 1923. Jock the monkey listens in on the Scopes trial verdict to find out if the allegations are true that he is some distant kin of and related to the humans. 
San Francisco, California: August 24, 1923..A couple brave the chilly waters of San Francisco Bay for a high speed dual aquaplane ride. 
United States: c. 1923..A woman sitting at a desk with her head in her hand, looking depressed with a pile of papers. 
Schenectady, New York: July 28, 1923.Dr. William D. Coolidge of the General Electric Company, inventor of the Coolidge X-Ray tube, with the newest type of tube and it’s portable mechanism..July 28. 1923 
New York, New York: c. 1923. Entrance to the Manhattan Municipal Building 
Maine: c. 1923. A solitary man reading a book at his campsite on a lake. 
San Francisco, California: October 29, 1923. Inventor and rancher A. N. Sheldon walks across San Francisco Bay from SF to Oakland on his “water skis”. The trip took three hours. 
New York, New York: January 27, 1923.Boy Scounts camped out in the store window of Abercrombie & Fitch as part of their recruitment drive for new scout members. 
United States: August 5, 1923. Two men with a Navy Curtis Seaplane racer with a pilot in the cockpit. 
Cape Cod, Massachusetts: c. 1923.Scene on the beach at Cape Cod. 
New York, New York: c. 1923. View of Wall Street and Trinity Church at the end. 
Long Island City, New York: 1923.The Chiclet packing department at the American Chicle Company plant. 
New York, New York: 1923.Two couples eating at an Automat. 
Chicago, Illinois: c. 1923. A normal day on State Street, the heart of the shopping district in Chicago. 
California: 1923. Two stylish young women with their Essex automobile. 
Pasadena, California: c. 1923.Japanese golfers are coming to play in American tournaments. Bottom to top: J. Miyamato, Osaka; R. Asami, Yokohama, A. G. Sato, now of San Francisco, CA, and K. Yasuda, Tokyo. They are at the openig of the $4,000 open golf tournament in Pasadena. 
Florida: c. 1923.A woman in a rowboat trying to reel in a tarpon. 
New York, New York, October 11, 1923
Eugene Grossman broadcasting the World Series between the New York Yankees and the New York Giants from the Polo Grounds on radio station WEAF.
The images in this post are from the Underwood Archives collection, represented by UIG. All images featured in this post and on the Kaleidoscope blog are available for licensing. Please contact us at info@universalimagesgroup.com