Way Back Then: Traffic Jams of the Past

These 14 vintage photos show that traffic jams had been occurring since the 1800s.

Buyers create a traffic jam at the Los Angeles wholesale produce market, 1927

China, December 1948

Embankment, London, 1926

Pont de la Concorde Paris 1956, by Frank Horvat

Berlin, Germany, 1927

London Bridge 1900 Traffic Jam

Traffic jam in Detroit, 1928

Paris 1954, by Robert Doisneau

The Brandenburg Gates traffic jam between East and West Germany on the first Saturday after the fall of the Berlin Wall, 1989

Rush hour in Chicago, 1909.

London, 1890s

Moscow’s Traffic Jam

Traffic Jam in Piccadilly Circus, London, ca. 1901

Los Angeles, 1950