It’s weird, but when I think of any era before the 1950s, I always picture it in black-and-white. I guess it’s just the effect of all the old movies and photos. The technology for color photography was actually around from sometime in the late-1800s, it was just too expensive and the techniques weren’t perfected for commercial use until the 1930s, after which it still took a while to become wide-spread.

But here’s proof that the world wasn’t actually all black-and-white before the ’50s…some amazing old photos of the early 1900s in color, taken by wealthy (and seemingly eccentric) french banker Albert Kahn.

For example, see a picture of the Taj Mahal below.

They’re from a 9-part BBC documentary about Albert Kahn.

[Via Gizmodo]

Also, from a slightly later period, but also very interesting, are some color photos from Depression-era America.

[Via Denver Post]