120 Times People Realized Their Parents Were Cooler Than Them (New Pics)

Our parents weren't always parents. Yes, I know, that sounds self-explanatory, but let that sink in. Before these people were changing our diapers, they were young, wild, and free to do whatever they desired. In many cases, their old lives were even more impressive than our current ones. Building motorcycles, stopping bank robberies... It's one thing to hear those stories, but it's another to see photographic proof.

Surprised by and proud of their parents' past, people are sharing photos of their moms and dads on the subreddit r/OldSchoolCool. So continue scrolling to take a trip back in time to when they were rocking leather jackets and high-waisted jeans and when you're done, check out similar Bored Panda articles here and here.

#1 My Mama Circa '83. This Explains Why I'm The Uncoolest Person Ever, Cos She Took It All! Oh And That Bike? She Built It

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#2 My Mom At 18 Years Old Protesting The Kkk In 1976 Atlanta, Ga

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#3 My Mother When She Was A Tank Instructor In 1984

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#4 Late 1960s, My Dad

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#5 My Mom And Arnold On A Date In The 70s

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#6 My Dad Sculpting A Bust Of My Mom, 1980s

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#7 My Mom Working As A Dj, Late 1970s

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#8 48 Beers And A Unicycle. My Dad In The Early 80s

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#9 My Dad Skateboarding At Hyde School 1982. I Think He Was Cooler Than Me

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#10 My Mom Would Always Talk About How She Was An Editor For Tiger Beat Magazine When She Was A Teenager In The 1960’s. She Would Brag About Spending Time With The Stones And The Beatles. We Always Thought She Was Telling Tall Tales. Uncovered This Pic Cleaning Out Her House Last Week

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#11 France, 1985. My Mom Feeding Me Backstage During A Ballet Dancing Show

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#12 My Mother Skateboarding Barefoot In California, 1974

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#13 My Mom Immigrated To The US From Iran In November, 1978. Here She Is Dressed As Wonder Woman A Year Later

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#14 My Parents When They Were 16 And 17 (1987). They’ve Been Together For 34 Years Now

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#15 My Mom Voting For The First Time In A Presidential Election In 1972 In Indiana, Pa

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#16 My Pregnant Mom At Gunpoint Trying To Get Home. May 1969, Berkeley

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#17 My Mom's All Girl Rock Band In The 60's

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#18 My Dad's First Car, A 1939 Ford. He Bought It With His Own Money That He Earned While Farming. He Was 11 When He Bought It, So This Photo Was Taken In 1948

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#19 My Mom In ‘78, Glendale, Ca. Newly Immigrated From Japan And Working Her Butt Off -But Still Managed To Save Up And Buy This Chevy Impala For $500

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#20 My Dad Taking A Selfie, Using A Piece Of Wood To Activate The Shutter, Circa 1957

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#21 My Mom In The Early 90s. She Painted Her Own Shield

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#22 My Mom, 1954. She Came To America In 1948 At Age 18. She Hardly Spoke English And Was Looked Down On Because She Was German And A War Bride. She Later Did Some Modeling - This Is Just One Of Many Beautiful Photos We Have Of Her

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#23 Chatting With My Dad While He Was On Break Back In The 80s

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#24 After Their First Fight, My Dad Apologized To My Mom Through Polaroids. The True Og Of Apologies, My Man (1987)

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#25 My Mom Looking Like A Queen On Her Wedding Day 1979

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#26 My Mom And Bob Ross During An Event In Central Park, NYC In 1989

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#27 My Dad Made Anything Look Cool (1981)

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#28 My Dad Showing Mr. Rogers The Process Of Designing Toys On Mr. Rogers Neighborhood (1986)

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#29 My Mom Was A Boston Park Ranger In The 80s

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#30 My Mom At 16 Yrs Old With Her Camaro In 1975

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#31 My Cool Mom Partying With Robin Williams And Billy Crystal In LA, 1982

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#32 My Dad 1969 Bronx, NY. Speaking Against The Vietnam War

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#33 My Dad At The 1966 International Science Fair. He Was A Finalist In 65, 66, And 67. In This Picture He Created A Perfusion System To Keep A Rat Kidney Alive When Removed From The Body, Like A Heart-Lung Machine

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#34 I See All Of Your Cool Dads, And Raise You My Cool Mom With Her Firebird. Sometime Around Early 80's

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#35 My Mom Was One Of The First Female Graduates Of The Culinary Institute Of America. Here She Is Working As The First Female Pastry Chef At A Hotel In Pittsburgh In 1980

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#36 My Mom In 1970s Vietnam, On A Motorcycle

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#37 Mom’s Senior Portrait That My Grandma Refused To Let Her Publish In The Year Book (1976)

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#38 My Cool Mom And Dad Back In ‘90

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#39 In Honor Of Father's Day, My Dad Circa 1988

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#40 My Dad And His Partner While They Were Undercover. This Picture Was Taken After They Stopped A Bank Robbery In The Late 70s

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#41 My Dad (Left) Looking Like A Young Luke Skywalker, Chile, 1977

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#42 Talking With My Mom About Ozark And She Told Me She Went Skiing With Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) Back On New Year’s Day 1987

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#43 My Mom And Dad Building Their House In 1953. My Mom (91 Now) Still Lives There

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#44 My Mom Helping Bill Before A Conference Mid 80’s

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#45 My Dad Working On The Set Of The Movie Critters In The 1980s

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#46 My Dad In The Late 80s / Early 90s. One Of The First Rockers In China

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#47 My Dad Was A Popstar In Argentina. Here He Is With Ella Fitzgerald, Mid 1960s

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#48 My Family Was Looking Through Pictures And We Found This Gem Of My Dad In The 80's

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#49 My Dad At Marching Band Practice, 1985

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#50 My Dad And Friends Look Like The Cast Of Stranger Things (1982)

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#51 My Mom During Her First Year Of Architecture School. 1986, China

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#52 I Always Knew My Mom Was A Tough Lady. Photo Taken Circa 1985

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#53 Found This Old Picture Of My Dad From Back In 1976. I Feel Like The Picture Captures An Awful Lot And Tells A Story

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#54 My Dad’s Landscaping Crew In The 1980s

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#55 My Dad And Michelle Pfeiffer In 1979

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#56 My Mom And Her Friends Looking Like The Cast Of An 80s Movie In Grad School, Uva, Late 1980's

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#57 Mom Wasn't The Pilot, But She Was A Tech On The F-4 Phantom Back In The 80's

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#58 My Dad And My Mom Shortly After He Got Hired As A Pilot At United (1978)

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#59 My Mom And Dad In The 1960's

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#60 My Dads First Day On The Job, 1987

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#61 My Dad Taking A Smoking Break While Fighting Saddam Husseins Army In The 80s

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#62 My Dad Around 1986 When He First Started Working At GE

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#63 My Step-Dad Is Convinced He Was The Coolest Guy In The 80's

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#64 My Dad And His Friends After Sleeping On The Schools' Roof During Summer, 1993

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#65 Mid To Late 1970s, My Dad Graduating A Class Taught By Chuck Norris

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#66 My Dad Squaring Off With A Cheetah, 1979

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#67 My Dad And His Pet Monkey In Vietnam, 1966

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#68 My Dad, Kicking Back With A Cup Of Coffee, 1988

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#69 Me Looking Up To My Fighter Pilot Dad In The Late 1980's

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#70 My Dad Wasn't Famous, But His Moves Were Pretty Cool (1977)

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#71 My Mother. 1968

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#72 Mom, Ran Away From Parent Home To Live Her Own Life; Brazil, 1968

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#73 My Mom In An Annual Report Pamphlet From Company Where She Was Employed Back In 1984

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#74 My Moms Selfie Before It Was Cool (1989)

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#75 My Mom Was A Nurse In The Army For Over 20 Years. Here She Is Shaking Hands With Some Guy In The Mid/Late 1980's

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#76 Mom, Circa 1970, After Completing Her Master's, The First Woman In Her Family To Do So

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#77 My Mom Grew Up On A Dairy Farm. Her Older Brothers Were Oil Truckers, They Brought Coors Home By The Case (1975)

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#78 My Mom At 20, Drinking A Cup Of Coffee In 1985; Making Big Plans For The Future

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#79 My Dad In The Mid 80’s After Finally Saving Enough Money For His First Car. He Worked In The Fields Of California Picking Fruit

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#80 My Dad In The Late 80s

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#81 My Dad Stationed In Germany Standing Next To The Border Of Czechoslovakia - 1982

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#82 My Dad, The FBI Agent, At A Bahamas Airport, Late 1960s

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#83 My Dad Fishing.... On A Nuclear Submarine. 1966

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#84 My Parents Accidentally Inventing A Selfie Stick 1990

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#85 My Mom With Ice Cube Circa 1992

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#86 My Dad’s Self-Portrait, Circa 1980

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#87 My Mom Sometime In The 80s Messing With My Dads Guitar (Birmingham UK)

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#88 50 Years Ago My Mom Made Some Clothes And Had My Dad Model Them

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#89 My Mom Rocking Her Adidas In ‘87

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#90 My Mom Graduating From The Air Force Academy In 1986

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#91 My Artsy Mom In The 70s

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#92 My Dad In The 70's With His Mustang

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#93 My Dad Playing Guitar On Top Of A Giant Stack With Heart - Japan Jam '79

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#94 My Dad And Those Amazing Pants Posing In His First Gas Station, Early 90s

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#95 My Dad And A Tiny Kitten Looking Like A Modern Hipster In The Early 1980s

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#96 My Dad's Graduation Photo. Circa 1970's

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#97 My Dad Rocking Out At Monsters Of Rock Festival 1991

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#98 My Parents In The 80s, In Their Traditional Japanese Marriage Portait

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#99 My Dad Breaking Usaf Facial Hair Regs In Greenland Circa 1969

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#100 My Dad In 1978

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#101 My Dad And The Notorious B.i.g. Circa 1996 When He Visited My Dad’s Clothing Store In Detroit, Michigan

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#102 My Mom Posing With Eazy-E Outside Of A London Hotel In The Late 80s

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#103 My Dear Mom In The 70s With Her German Shepard And Manta

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#104 My Father Circa 1972. He Worked On A 600 Cow Ranch At The Time And Drove A Chopper That He Built Himself. Also, He Probably Slept With Your Mom

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#105 My Dad In Northern Montana 1989

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#106 My Dad About To Get Dragged Across The Floor By Chazz Palminteri While Filming "A Bronx Tale" - 1992

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#107 My Dad With His M60, In The 1990-1991 Gulf War. Specifically Desert Storm

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#108 My Dad On The Set Of A Movie He Was Filming In Cuba. I Think This Was In 1960's-1970's

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#109 My Dad Sitting Happily On The 1929 Indian Police Special He Restored, Circa 1982

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#110 My Dad In 1971

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#111 1964, My Dad Working At The Original Tower Records In Sacramento, California

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#112 My Dad, Late 70s/Early 80s I’d Have To Guess, Holding The First Neon Sign He Ever Bent

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#113 My Dad And His Fox Patricia (1987)

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#114 My Dad In Vietnam

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#115 My Dad In Saudi Arabia In The 70's Working As A Us Military Contractor Diving In The Red Sea

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#116 My Dad And His Roadster. 1950s?

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#117 My Then 23 Year Old Mom In 1970 In A Polish Film Called "Hydrozagadka”. She Worked For Lot Polish Airlines, They Used Some Of The Real Airline Employees In The Film

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#118 My Dad Super Excited About His New Keyboard Christmas Of 1988

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#119 My Dad, 80’s Fighter Pilot

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#120 My Dad Pictured With Rapper Ice Cube At A Record Store Signing, 1990

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