Smiling in the 1800's.

[Texas Dave]

For some reason I have a fascination with old black and white photos. I visit "shorpy" and "vintage everyday" on a pretty regular basis. It seems to me that it wasn't until around the turn of the century that people started smiling for their portraits.

I understand life was hard back then and maybe the anticipation of a small bomb going off for the flash could be somewhat nerve wracking but I can't help but wonder why it was so rare to smile.

Just a thought.

[KingsHockeyFan]

Back then the exposure time for plate photography must have been fairly long.....maybe it was tougher to hold a smile and remain still for that long than it was to just relax the face

[rpcrowe]

I think that Kris partially nailed it but, in addition: smiling was simply not a thing to do on portraits - it didn't matter if these portraits were painted or photographed. After all, the one old portrait with a smile, The Mona Lisa, has gained its fame because of the smile...

[Manfred M]

Missing teeth and / or bad teeth.

Seriously; this question came up at in the photographic history section of a composition and design course I'm taking and that was the answer that was given by the prof.

[IzzieK]

I think too that Kris nailed the answer to this question too because I posed the question to my husband and he said the same thing. Manfred's reply is also a possibility...

[Stryno]

I can see the bad teeth theory, but I think the time thing is the most accepted. I know it is the case for paintings, so it only makes since long exposure and tradition would carry on through the 1900's. I know when I was young it was still a no no in sports pictures, if you smiled the team got mad.

[jcuknz]

Would you smile if you had a great lump of metal stuck up your back to stop you moving for not only the exposure but the time the photographer messed around covering his plate with the recording 'emulsion' ....at one stage I worked in a plan printing department and we used egg albium.
Then of course most photos were serious records of occasions and only my grandmother smurked at capturing her man .... a dashing Navy officer [seated]

Even after a few years with two children in WWI and probably a box brownie ....still no smiling ... my Aunt standing possibly ....

Film COST!

[rpcrowe]

It is a shame that they didn't smile. Both these folks from my family tree were nice looking and both would have improved their looks with a smile. John Hart my first cousin 3 times removed was born in 1859 and died in 1904. Extrapolating from birth and death dates, I would guess this portrait was shot somewhere in the 1880's of 1890's. I think that Mary Luque, his wife, would have been quite lovely with a different hairdo, some make up and above all a smile...



BTW: I have a lot of nice looking people in my family tree but, no smiles!

Maybe no one smiled. Life wasn't too comfortable back then.