I love a good gallery wall and this one just may be my favorite one yet! Meet my vintage panoramic photo gallery wall! Plus I did some research and found out some fun tidbits about this very unique form of photography.
Months ago, I found one of these framed photos on Facebook Marketplace and a few days after I picked it up, the seller messaged me letting me know he had more and asked if I was interested! Was I interested? OF COURSE I WAS INTERESTED! I zoomed over to his house and picked up the other six and I didn’t let the fact that my husband commented that it would be nice if the people in the photos were actually related to us!
I love the way they look stacked on top of each other with no spacing between the frames. The bottom photo measures 3 1/2 feet long!
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Find Vintage Panoramic Photos Here
A panorama is a wide-angle view of a space. The first mass-produced American panoramic camera, the Al-Vista, was introduced in 1898 but it was the Cirkut camera, patented in 1904, that took panoramic photography to another level. It was capable of producing a 360-degree photograph measuring up to 20 feet long. These cameras were used mostly by commercial photographers to capture city views, group portraits, and special events.
The annual outing (1949) of the Empire Trust Co included a game of baseball! The bats add so much interest and I love the clothes and hair styles and the fact that all the women are sitting in their most lady-like poses … except for one rebel!
The glum look on the gal fourth from left leads me to believe she did not get a good GPA! Many panoramic photos have the photographer, the occasion and the date written on them. This graduation photo was taken by the Thompson Photo Company, Yonkers, NY.
This group of ladies belongs to the class of Wilson College in Chambersburg, PA and I assume the man and woman standing are professors.
The photo at the top of the stack is of the Kelly Press School in Des Moines, IA!
It’s fun to look closely at the photos and notice all the little details and of course grouped together, they make such a huge impact.
Maybe I need to frame the panoramic class photo of my girls 5th grade trip to Washington, DC and add it to the wall!
Love this! I have some old panoramic photos I need to frame.
Get them framed and hung Gina!
Really cool look! You’ll have to do another post explaining how you hung the frames with such precision.
Thanks Tammara! Hanging the photos isn’t hard. I just measured the height of them all together to decide the lowest point to hang the bottom photo. Then I sat the next photo on top of it and marked the wall with pencil where the top of the photo hit. Then I measured down the back of the photo to find where the wire was, marked that number below the pencil mark and hung.
Love this wall!
Thank you so much Lana!
What a great collections of pictures, I too love looking at old photos.
Its so fun to examine them up close Marlene!
I really enjoyed this post and learned new facts from it. These photos look fantastic. Thank you for sharing their stories.
So glad you enjoy them as much as I do!
Love this! Wondering if I have a few in my parents photos~
You need to go look!
Hi Kelly – That for sure is one cool collection – so unique and just your eclectic style! It looks perfect on the wall space.
Thank you Diane! I really do love it!
Love these type of photos. I think the older photos hold so much history & interesting things! This display is great! Giving me great inspiration for a fun idea!!
Ohhh what do you have in mind Celia?!
Love this!! I have 2 that were my Grandpa’s (your husband would be soo happy!) One is of him and his shipmates on the deck of their ship the Rhode Island and the other is of his ship coming into the port of Havana in 1912. I love that one with the horse and buggies and the chairs all set up for a concert in the park. Your display inspires me, I’d like to find one more to do at least a 3 high stack in my hallway.
How nice that you have people actually related to you in your photos Mary! My dad was born in Cuba so that Havana one sounds great!!
This is really awesome Kelly! I think old photos are so fascinating! Thank you for always educating us also!
Glad you enjoyed it Lisa!
I’m curious, because I love gallery walls, too!
When you hang your various items – plates, baskets, silhouettes, etc. – do you use nails or command hooks? If nails, do you touch-up the paint when you change things out?
I like to change things out, too, but always end up staying the same because of the marks left on the walls.
Tell me your secret, please 🙂
For art, I use nails because I don’t want anything falling off the wall! For the baskets, I use command hooks. The holes left are so small and I usually cover it with something else, so I don’t bother touching up the paint. Also, Magic Eraser is great for getting scuffs off the walls if the art leaves marks.
What a score! Good things come to those who seek? I have seen many of these types of photos on the walls of my relatives, all being shots of wedding parties on the steps of churches. Notably, Notré Dame in Montreal.
You are displaying these in such an interesting manner! You should have a plant stand with a magnifying glass nearby! I would spend hours pouring over these. Thanks for this share!!
Thanks so much Joanne – it’s so fun to look closely at all the details in these old photos!
I am just now seeing this post about the gallery wall with the old photos. I love it!!! I also love the paint color on you wall… may I ask what it is. Thanks.
Thanks so much Becky! These old photos are so much fun to look at! My paint color is Benjamin Moore Agreeable Gray.