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.
9. Great Yorkshire Show
Traces of colour on the tram were picked out by the AI on this tram, decorated to mark the holding the the Great Yorkshire Show in Sheffield in 1935. Picture from Sheffield Since 1900. Photo: Sheffield Newspapers
10. Bomb damage
This colourised picture of bomb damage during the blitz at Archiband Road, Nether Edge, in December 1940 has little bright colour. Photo: Sheffield Newspapers
11. Bramall Lane
This colourised picture of bomb damage at Bramall Lane brings out the green of the pitch. Picture from Sheffield Since 1900 Photo: Sheffield Newpapers
12. Blitz
This is what a picture of the Sheffield Blitz looked like after being colourised by an AI program. The picture is taken from Sheffield Since 1900 Photo: Sheffield Newspapers