American Daguerreotype Portraits of Women From the 1840's and 1850's: Part 1

A collection of daguerreotype portraits of identified and unidentified women in the United States taken during the 1840's and 1850's. By photographers such as Jesse Harrison Whitehurst, Francis Grice, Otis H. Cooley, J. White, and Marcus Aurelius Root,
Source: Library of Congress.
Tags: history, portrait, photos, rare, vintage, american, books, pics. early, earliest, oldest, old, pictures, studio, photography, us, historical, daguerreotypes, museum, exhibit, antique, documentary, fashion, dress, dresses, bonnet, clothing, victorian era, times, age, images, mystery, mysterious, unknown, book, springfield, massachusetts, broom, new england, mrs. miller, providence, rhode island, chair, sitting, fan, temperance, hair, hairstyle, joanette clark benjamin, mary ann bartlett, ann minerva rodgers macomb, 1854, philadelphia, pennsylvania, eunice fiske durfee,

[@scottmatheson2390]

I like the pics of the old women - people born in the 1790's or earlier, who wore "old fashioned" clothing reminiscent of their younger days, just as people continue to do today.

[@fraclarke6523]

Think most of the women in these pics posed with books to show they were educated and learned , ?

[@gailknight3128]

It's strange but many times with these old photos I think oh she looks like someone I know, one looked just like my grandmother when she was young.

[@juanjulioromancampos9814]

Interesante como podemos ver el pasado en las fotografías,como habría sido sus vidas,quienes serán sus descendientes?...

[@catman8670]

I love looking back at our predecessors ❤️

[@roberttreasure1986]

Women had hard lives back then and it shows.

[@نعيمةالسنهاجي]

people in the comments are harsh you have no respect for the dead

[@goshujinsama666]

Exactly!!! These comments are awful :(

[@stevewhite7426]

I had a similar take on 1:44…Is that mustache?

[@coolcat5714]

The babies of these ladies fought the civil war ...

[@sandalwhich]

Love the girl at 1:02. She had style.

[@1982kinger]

Yeah that I would tap

[@joycerandall1935]

I think a lot of the ladies were pretty.

[@Jinglebella2024]

The camera has to focus and adjust for a long time. Also when they do the flash there’s a bulb that usually explodes so it’s a long tedious process. They did not have iPhones to take selfies. That’s why they were not allowed to smile.

[@irisheyesofbelfast]

It took exactly one minute of stillness to take a photo back then. Where did you get the idea they weren't allowed to smile? That's untrue. Holding still a full minute isn't as easy as it sounds, that's what stands were for, to help hold a pose. Try smiling a full minute. Not easy. Plus poor dental hygiene didn't help either.

[@CrowIIII]

1:42 might be a man. Bonnets were for out-of-doors. When they appear in an indoor sitting, which was rare after outdoor sunlight was no longer necessary, they are part of an ensemble. This one is incongruous. It doesn’t go with the unfashionable 1830’s paisley shawl, which is not being worn properly for a portrait. I think it’s being worn to hide the hairstyle, which shows loose ends at the sides rather than sausage curls, ringlets, braids, or just being swept back. The part is suspect: ladies took care to get it dead center. The hands are large and the brows are heavy. Ladies had known how to pluck their eyebrows since the Egyptians, so those caterpillars never would’ve been tolerated. What really does it for me is the sly look: not an option for early Victorian ladies having their picture made.

[@thomaszaccone3960]

Trans sexual?

[@cbsk341]

0:43 looks nice

[@Jinglebella2024]

Ok the reason they don’t smile is because when they pose for pictures back in the day they have to stand there or sit there motionless for a long time. Their mouth would get tired if they were smiling for 20 or 30 min straight. I hope this answers some questions here.

[@irisheyesofbelfast]

It would if you were correct, but you are wrong. One minute for a photo.

[@shirleybalinski4535]

20-25 "seconds for this type of photo tobe taken. It was not considered fashionable to smile. These photos were considered just as serious as sitting for a formal oil portrait. Photography was in its infancy, life was serious & hard, society did not treat fools kindly, photography was expensive. To smile was considered as fooling around, something only a person of low economic stands or low intelligence would have done.

[@allengipson6433]

I'm sure there are homely women in any decade or century.Ideal good looks changes over time.Some of these women are homely by any standard,but some were considered attractive by the men of those times.Something to think about!

[@Anarchsis]

Allen Gipson Lets face it, most people are average in looks, only about 1% are very attractive, but let’s hope most of these ladies were loved.

[@jimbo7577]

It made it easier for men to go off and get killed in war when they had women that looked like this at home.

[@donnav7103]

The men where no better.

[@goshujinsama666]

The comment section in this video in comparison to the comment sections in the videos with men's photos is very disturbing. It really shows how deeply rooted sexism and objectification of women still is in people today. Yall should be ashamed of yourselves. Grow up already.

[@ilanamillion8942]

I agree. It's the same with videos showing pictures of people in the 1950s and all the mysoginistic comments from men talk about how women weren't fat back then and didn't have tattoos, etc. Meanwhile these guys have shirts with no sleeves and bellies bigger than a 9 month pregnant woman.

[@edmundsveikutis1698]

Wow , glad I didn’t live back then.

[@michaelam9063]

4:37 looks like Weird Al Yankovic.

[@magnomaxx2010]

What was it like to live in a black and white world?

[@coolcat5714]

4:40 looks like a mean one...

[@erikb8979]

Interesting

[@fauxmanchu8094]

The second girl is really pretty.

[@cuffdaddy1162]

True. The one at 2:24 looks like she very good at her "oral" abilities, especially with her hair down

[@Lardenoy]

A 0'32 : chaise "à la cathédrale" : gothic revival...

[@Nancy-mz2eh]

I didn't see any really blonde women. There was only one with lighter hair.

[@Alice-ov3rd]

Wow most of y’all sound bitter as hell at the women. Geesh lol.

[@holdmybeerwatchthis6503]

Amazing, no fat ones! Today it would be like taking Close-ups of large Farm animals. You need a Wide Angle lens to take photos of most women today.

[@gailknight3128]

And many men 😉

[@ilanamillion8942]

And there sure aren't guys with gigantic beer bellies around nowadays, are there?

[@legion1a]

Was it against the law to smile in the 19th Century?

[@ilanamillion8942]

They really couldn't smile for photographs because they had to sit for a very long time for the photo to be taken. No one can hold a smile that long.

[@Odo55]

Alot of the older women have dark hair- natural and dyed ?

[@kmterpin]

The hair styles are so odd...and I never quite understood those lacy things on their heads...maybe to hide the hair style.

[@Mybpeterson]

The lace caps (as opposed to bonnets) were used to denote a woman's status as a mother or widow. Some married women wore them regardless of whether or not they had children, but not always.

[@nancymatias570]

Aaay!!! El rostro de estas damas ...please,, sin expresión ...ni un esbozo de sonrisa alguna ...😞😞😟😟

[@thomaszaccone3960]

Looking at these women, I can understand why the men back then went west.

[@MikeDial]

Now we see why it's plausible that Lincoln dressed as a woman when he changed trains in Baltimore, on his way to Washington to assume the presidency.

[@jimbo7577]

But why did he allow his picture to be taken in a dress?

[@whiff1962]

Is it just my impression, or was homeliness in vogue in the day?

[@daveqr]

Let's be honest, the average middle-aged woman, and most of these are at least middle-aged, is well past her prime. The girl at 0:13 is very pretty.

[@yaelrar.4460]

whiff1962 With poor nutrition, no exercise, substandard and in many cases non-existant medical care, and lower standards of hygeine, these women were simply products of their age. We are so brainwashed into seeing glamour gals all the time, any average person seems "homely". Look at the average woman on the street today. Its very rare to see anyone who takes your breath away.

[@deeanderson4164]

I say you are full of it. The women were natural, without gobs of makeup. They used their natural beauty.

[@richardkoon6918]

These women already in their graves a century ago.

[@qgde3rty8uiojh90]

3:06 BURN THE WITCH!!!

[@mattwilliam5522]

You just know that none of those women shaved

[@fsbirdhouse]

Didn't breed 'em for beauty back then did they? Of course there were exceptions! And judging from the pictures of men, it would seem the camera was invented before the comb.

[@tomcata1467]

I see a lot of strait-laced, corseted, dour looking, New England and Yankee women pictured here, but, don't believe there is one Southern Belle in the group.......

[@jimbo7577]

😂

[@cynthiajohnson1914]

Half of them look like men 🤔