10 Instances Of "Old School Cool" From Moms And Dads

Robert Whitman-Byrne

The seasons change. Over time, fashion trends emerge and disappear. But no matter how much time passes, parents essentially remain the same. Whether it's 2022 or 1972, they're still the same kind, loving, and helpful folks. But it's also really wonderful to look back in time and see the attitudes and fashion that our parents adopted, as well as how they enjoyed themselves and made fools of themselves. You then get out the family photo album to make yourself smile.

But what if you could peek inside the photo albums of folks all over the world? That's where the Instagram projects Old School Dads and Old School Moms shine. The two pages, which are the creation of Chase Banta, "toast and roast" the coolest and goofiest antique parent pictures. Chase, who is now a father, was motivated to launch the two broadcasts by his own father.

But what if you could peek inside the photo albums of folks all over the world? That's where the Instagram projects "Old School Cool" from Moms and Dads.

#1 My dad (front) in Vietnam in 1971. He didn’t know this photo existed until i came across it randomly on the internet. He cried when he saw it


Old School Cool, old school dads, old school dadSource: strawberrygnome



#2 Bridget, my stepmom


Old School Cool, old school dads, old school dadSource: oldschoolmoms






She came into my life when I was 5. Because of her I grew up with Alex Haley, Malcolm X, Richard Pryor, New Edition, Maya Angelou, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Prince, and countless other cultural ps. She never tried to replace my mother, but loved me like one. She died of sickle cell anemia in 2006. She had a PHD in sociology and worked in college admissions at UCSB and Cal State San Marcos. Bridget, my dad and I watched the Rodney King riots from the home that she grew up in in Pasadena.

Her family accepted my father and me truly as family. He and I were the only white people at their church on sundays. I’m posting this because she’s on my mind a lot these days. This is hard. I don’t always know what to do. But I try to ask her in my mind. I believe in anti-racism, that when I see it externally or internally I need to fight it. I also know what I know about all this because Bridget was in love with my German, white AF dad. Love is at the core of the solution



#3 Cutest picture of all time alert


Old School Cool, old school dads, old school dadSource: oldschooldads



#4 Thought he was sitting me down to say he was a dungeons and dragons fan. what a relief!


Old School Cool, old school dads, old school dadSource: oldschoolmoms



#5 My mom flew helicopters for the army in the 80s


Old School CoolSource: completedesaster



#6 That's my dad


Old School Cool, old school dads, old school dadSource: oldschooldads


I can already smell the Bensons and Hedges menthols, the Sta-Sof-Fro he’d put in his hair, the Fendi cologne he’d wear. Dressed to the nines with Armani shirts, Saks Fifth Ave slacks and Ferragamo’s on his feet. He had to know he was the flyest brother in the room. But he never did say much. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I’d wake up at night to grab a snack as a kid and he’d be up alone in the kitchen, smoking a cigarette. He’d look over, glare at me for a minute and ask, “Boy, you want to hear a story?” I’d sit up on the counter and he’d share bits and pieces from his life: You’d never know he was born in a barn in Tennessee. You’d wouldn’t think he and his mom fled north to Chicago during the great migration, lived in the boiler room of a housing project until he was twelve. He never talks about the days he had to enter through the back door or walk a little further to use the colored bathrooms.

He hides the fact that he was a helicopter door gunner in Vietnam, loading the dead and wounded on board in between firefights. What he would say, on a good day, is that his names Melvin, he likes jazz, he’s from the midwest and, his favorite food has always been fried catfish."

#7 My godsend of a mother nursing my 2 month old brother while making me green eggs and ham because i was right in the middle of my dr suess only food phase


Old School Cool, old school dads, old school dadSource: oldschoolmoms



#8 My favorite picture of my mom. she was the only girl in her welding class in 1984. byrd high school, shreveport, louisiana


Old School CoolSource: lizzyhaze



#9 My mother doing a handstand on two skateboards (circa 1980's)


Old School CoolSource: Nirokie



#10 my dad at his first job at nasa!


Old School CoolSource: sonokoroxs