The Blizzard of 1888 was a massive, catastrophic snow storm that changed the landscape of the time, and changed America in many ways. The vintage photos show mountains of snow that disrupted the already tough and brutal day to day of nineteenth century life, and how they dealt with it. Steam trains were derailed, the massive webs of power lines collapsed, and children enjoyed a welcome break from either school or their pre-child labor law factory jobs.

Particularly in the East Coast cities of the U.S., this storm brought on massive infrastructure changes. The destroyed power lines showed that they needed to be put underground, which in turn brought on the rise of underground subways. It also turned the city's attention to the necessity of heating and plumbing for all of its citizens, and general accessibility in cramped urban spaces.

Thanks to global warming, we’ll probably never see another snowy apocalypse like this again - so take a look back and enjoy some frozen vintage mustachioed men and all the chaos that comes with the cold.