Looking northeast along Via Nazario Sauro
Roanoke, Virginia-based artist Matt Ames was rummaging around in a thrift store last year when he stumbled upon over 400 vintage photographs of Italy taken in 1938.
Ames made this amazing discovery at the Good Samaritan Inn, where he and his mother had stopped to indulge in their favorite pastime of thrifting.
His eyes were drawn to a pile of tin cans and after peering into their contents, he noticed that the negatives were still in good condition and were already developed.
After purchasing them, Ames had them scanned and did some investigative sleuthing to determine their origins.
The majority of the 35mm black-and-white photographs appear to be of Naples and depict the city and its inhabitants, including Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii, as well as Manhattan. Judging from the date, they were taken just before World War II broke out.
Most spectacularly, they also included scenes of impending Nazi invasion and one stunning photograph of Adolf Hitler taking part in a parade, which will no doubt thrill historians and history buffs.
Ames did more research and concluded that the images were taken by a New York-based photographer who was possibly an engineer at Mobil Oil.
Despite his efforts to find out who dropped off the negatives, the identity of the stranger remains a mystery.
Meanwhile, enjoy some of the wonderful vintage snaps below and view more, including infographics about his investigation into the dates they were taken, at Ames’ Flickr page.
A Nazi parade. Hitler is pictured in dark attire in the car
A view of Naples from the street next to Castel Sant’Elmo. Mount Vesuvius and Monte Somma are pictured on the right
Along the lungomare (promenade) at the edge of Villa Communale
A Fiat office
Piazza della Repubblica looking down Viale Gramsci toward Posillipo
Mount Vesuvius
Some of the rolls that Ames discovered in the thrift store
[via Peta Pixel, images via Flickr]