They were taken when colour film was either rare of unheard of.
But we have used technology to inject new colour into iconic pictures of the city dating back from the early 20th century, and into the 1960s, showing new, colourised versions of some famous black and white images of the city.
They range from dramatic pictures of the Sheffield Blitz during World War Two, to the Beatles at City Hall.
The idea is to make them look a little more like the world people really saw at the time.
We did this by putting archive pictures, many taken from The Star’s 1988 book, Sheffield since 1900, through a modern computer program, designed to bring them to life with colour.
The results? Some are stunning. Browse through our gallery and see what you think.
1. New colour
These pictures, all pre-1970s, have been transformed from their original black and white into colour Photo: Sheffield Newpapers
2. Schoolboys in the snow
Colour has added a new dimension to this picture taken in Crosspool, in 1952 Photo: Sheffield Newspapers
3. Beatles at City Hall
These pictures of the Beatles at Sheffield City Hall in 1965 have been brought to life by artificial intelligence adding colour to the original black and white Photo: Sheffield Newspapers
4. 50s Petrol station
There are few bright shades in this colourised picture of the Spic Garage, on Attercliffe Roadon budget night, 1951. Picture from Sheffield Since 1900. Photo: Sheffield Newspapers