Working from home, or ‘WFH,’ became commonplace during the COVID pandemic. But it’s not nearly as new a concept as you might think. In fact, people have been working at home much longer than they’ve worked in offices.
From Agatha Christie to Mark Twain, here are vintage photos of some of the most brilliant and creative minds in history as they work their magic right from the comfort of their own homes.
Albert Einstein
Here is the German-born American physicist Albert Einstein at home in his study in Princeton, New Jersey, taken in 1951.
Leo Tolstoy
The Russian author Leo Tolstoy, who penned the famous novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, is pictured working in his home. He was 80 years old when this photo was taken in 1908.
Sigmund Freud
Here is Sigmund Freud, the founding father of psychoanalysis, reviewing a manuscript in his Vienna home. The photo is dated 1930.
Anna Freud
Like father, like daughter. This is Anna Freud, the daughter of Sigmund Freud, who also became a psychoanalyst. She’s pictured at home in this 1920 photo.
Agatha Christie
Iconic detective novelist Agatha Christie works on a typewriter at her home in Devon England, in 1946.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
The civil rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. is seen in his study in this 1956 photo taken in his Montgomery, Alabama home.
Mark Twain
Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, writes in his study at Quarry Farm, Elmira, New York, where he created the iconic characters Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
Thomas Edison
More from us: Illuminating Facts About Thomas Edison
The prolific inventor Thomas Edison is pictured in his New Jersey home, tinkering with one of his many creations.