28 Historical Photos of Dads Doing Dad Things

Getty Images
Getty Images / Getty Images

As you celebrate Dad today, take a look back at fathers through the years. All photos and captions via Getty Images.

1. 1865: Two children enjoying an afternoon tea at home with their father.

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2. 1865: A father and mother inspecting their daughter's appearance.

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3. 1870: A Native American man and his son outside a Catholic church on a reservation.

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4. 1895: Wearing a check knickerbocker suit with ribbed three-quarter socks and low-laced oxfords and holding a terrier pup a father sits arm-in -arm between his two daughters clad in stripes.

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5. 1900: A Chinese father posing with his children.

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6. 1905: A father addresses his children in the sitting room.

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7. 1913: How a father amuses his children at Christmas.

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8. 1919: A soldier, home after fighting in the Great War meets his newborn daughter for the first time.

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9. 1920: Mr Austin, whose father was a clown before him, instructs his young son in the art of laughter-making before a performance at London's Crystal Palace Circus.

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10. 1922: Walks for all on the beach at Clacton, Dad, dog and toddler included.

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11. 1933: British racing driver Sir Malcolm Campbell (1885 - 1948) with his son Donald (1921 - 1967) standing by 'Bluebird', the car in which he set the land speed record.

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12. 1923: Peggy Ingram and her father in action during a mixed doubles match at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships.

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13. 1924: RAF Squadron Leader Archibald Stuart-MacLaren holding his daughter Lilian from the cockpit of his Vickers Vulture amphibious biplane at Calshot aerodrome, Hampshire, 25th March 1924.

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14. 1924: Off on holiday to the seaside with her dad.

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15. 1925: A father and sons out boating on the lake at the German resort of Wannsee near Berlin.

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16. 1925: American star of the silent screen Buster Keaton (1895 - 1966) sitting in the living room of his bungalow at MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer) studios, with his two sons Bob and Joe and his father Joe Keaton. The bungalow, named 'Keaton's Kennel' was built for him as a dressing room.

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17. 1927: John Derek, the future actor and film director, at 15 months, sitting on his father's lap in a small goat-drawn cart, Los Angeles, California.

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18. 1928: Jean Bongers (aged 12), winner of a children's hairstyle competition at White City, London, with her father, who styled her prizewinning hair.

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19. 1932: 14-year-old schoolboy Charles Highfield of Coventry, who claims to be the strongest boy in Great Britain, supports the weight of his father on his neck.

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20. 1932: Steeplejack Alfred Blackaby with his three sons Alfred, Victor and John, all of whom have embarked on the same career as their father. The climbing family are working on the church steeple in the ancient town of Thaxted, Essex.

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21. 1936: A little girl takes great delight in drenching her dad with shockingly cold water from the garden hose as he sunbathes on a hot day.

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22. 1937: Master Lyon Blackwell celebrates his first birthday with an outing to the swimming baths with his father, in London.

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23. 1945: Passing the crowds outside Buckingham Palace on VE Day, a father takes his child on a tour of London's West End in unorthodox style.

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24. 1950: A child sits on the running board of a fire engine pulling on a pair of firefighter's boots. He is assisted by his father, a captain of the New York City Fire Department.

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25. 1950: A father smiles as he plays a game of checkers at home with one of his sons.

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26. 1950: Tightrope walker Arthur Dressler leads his 15-month-old daughter Franziska along a rope, watched by Arthur's father Friedrik Dressler.

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27. 1956: An observation window enables visiting fathers to look at their new-born offspring at the Maternity Ward of the North Shore Hospital in Sydney.

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28. 1960: A father and son, both fire-eaters, at their daily practice together.

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