Why Nobody Smiles in Old Photographs

[@jessicajayes8326]

I have seen photos of a Victorian couple trying to pose for a picture but their giggles got the best of them. It's one of the cutest moments I've ever seen.

[@Fiilis1]

Got that pic in my phone. I love it!

[@mokomothman5713]

I've seen that one, and they looked so in love. :)

[@Tracy-xe9zu]

I love that series, they're so cute 🥰

[@DragonsOfSnow]

Thise pics are adorable, I love them.

[@dcjway]

Where can I find these photos? Thanks

[@tommoncrieff1154]

The main reason people did not smile was the length of the exposure required to take a photograph. It is very difficult to hold a smile dead still for long enough. Exposure times were so long they had neck and head braces in studios to keep you held firm and still. In moving footage, when it came in, people smile all the time and behave pretty much as they do today.

[@kenstr321]

Honestly, I thought everyone knew that. But I forget most people tend not to retain simple un-usefull information.

[@terrylynn9984]

It's common sense

[@kenstr321]

@@terrylynn9984 as many people have told me. There's nothing common about common sense.

[@Thunder_Dome45]

This!

[@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing]

This was explained in the video... There was even imagery of the braces...

[@mrsbluesky8415]

Let’s face it, it’s a bit awkward posing for a picture and even with todays quick snaps, it’s not easy sitting still with a fake grin on your face.

[@poppinpatty2507]

Hey, at least they didn't have to worry about having red eyes in the pictures back then, LMAO.

[@skyden24195]

The trick is to constantly think of something funny/enjoyable and not of the camera. Admittingly, easier said than done.

[@DragonsOfSnow]

Forced smiles look downright creepy on 99% of people.

[@houseofvanity8]

Mamma I am a professional model even I struggle it’s like smile but with ur eyes to much now look happy but don’t smile use ur inner happiness but not move ur face lord have mercy

[@zackkelley2940]

and God forbid if this was BEFORE cameras and you had to hold still for someone to do a PAINTING of you.

[@JoJoJoker]

Long exposure times. Bad dental times. Sad times…

[@user-ru9gf7ky2y]

Yeah, that's why I am curious as to what the hell this guy is talking about

[@Skyebooo]

We still have long exposure times, it's just different today. Instead of one photo taking forever, we are forever needing to act like we're on camera because they're everywhere all the time.

[@loneshewolf74]

The child mortality rate being much higher didn't help, either. Considering that many death photos were of babies.

[@SoulforSale]

Single ply toilet paper

[@benmcreynolds8581]

I love seeing the serious historical pictures. They just have a great documenting feeling to them and not "trying to force anything" just documenting it.

[@JohnWilson-um1ly]

My grandmother said it took up to an hour of sitting perfectly still to take a photo. To prevent head movement they had a u shaped hook that held your head in place and it was terribly uncomfortable which is why no one smiled

[@Catdog2727]

I didn't take no hour to take a picture 🤣

[@JohnWilson-um1ly]

@@Catdog2727 were you taking pics a hundred years ago?

[@claranora2617]

@@JohnWilson-um1ly 🙌🏼

[@nicklewis470]

The longest it took was like.... 20 minutes, which is still a long time

[@irisheyesofbelfast]

@Nick Lewis one minute. Good try though.

[@pookabunny2051]

i thought it was because it took so long to get the picture, much like the reason there are no smiles in painted portraits. sitting there smiling for extended periods would be too hard.

[@coolstorybruh88]

did you watch the video?

[@Talirus]

@@coolstorybruh88 did you? Did I? Did we? Did they? Did us?

[@baileystewart6305]

When you use your brain am I right haha

[@crlaf1978]

That’s what we were taught. If they moved, the exposure smudged

[@theguythatcould]

The 40+ people who liked this comment didn't watch the video either 😑

[@Seventeen_Syllables]

Since I managed to guess most of the reasons for the phenomenon of not smiling in photographs back in history, I'll regale you with an anecdote about saying "cheese" while being photographed instead of discussing how amazing photography and the various superstitions surround it are. It was years ago and I worked for a company that had a couple of engineering and support centers in China. There were a number of our Chinese colleagues on visit to our office in CA pretty much all the time, often staying for up to a year. One time a few of them asked me to take their picture as a souvenir. I agreed and directed them to say "cheese." They all giggled and afterwards asked how I, a non-Chinese speaker, knew that was what they (Chinese people) said when taking a photograph. I explained, then they realized that I was talking about a dairy product and they were talking about eggplant. The Chinese word 茄子 sounds sort of like "cheese" to an English speaker, and the English word "cheese" sounds sort of like 茄子 to a Chinese speaker. Turns out that in China when you take someone's picture, you ask them to say "eggplant." Of course, in many parts of the world you would ask them to say "aubergine", but we needn't mention that because it's a different story entirely.

[@SofaKingShit]

If l asked for an utterance of"oh shit, the cops" then I'd probably get a panicked look (at least amongst my acquaintances) and then I'd probably have to ask them to stop beating me. I'll probably just go with the mention of some food product. God I'm high.

[@Divineeyereadings]

That's interesting. Your friends must have been Mandarin because in Cantonese eggplant doesn't sound like cheese. Sounds more like "peh zi". I wish I could ask what my grandparents thought of this. As they had to wait for long exposure times and I wondered what they said if there was alternative to "cheese".

[@Seventeen_Syllables]

@@Divineeyereadings Yes, they spoke Mandarin. I considered mentioning that Cantonese and Mandarin sound nothing alike, but wasn't really expecting anyone with Chinese language skills to notice. Thanks though! My expectations have been exceeded.

[@Divineeyereadings]

@@Seventeen_Syllables haha no worries! There are some similarities between Mandarin and Cantonese but in this case eggplant wouldn't work for Cantonese. So now I'm curious what do Cantonese people say? Probably Cheese still I am guessing but not sure

[@carlcushmanhybels8159]

@@Divineeyereadings A side thought: Long ago I had a largely-Chinese ancestry girlfriend: She said many Chinese people don't eat cheese; cheese not being common in China, at least till recently. Not having grown up with it many Chinese are lactose-intolerant. My girlfriend was fine with cheese and liked it.

[@colmastro4373]

I just tried to hold a smile for 5 seconds and i felt deranged, so yup, 100% agree with the 15min frowns lol.

[@dominicanfrankster]

People from the past get so much flack. Clearly they knew that if we relaxed social norms too much it would lead to the duck face.

[@IamRa-18]

I know you’re just joking but the truth is that we don’t cut people from the past enough slack. What we see in the social justice world with their opinions on US history is detestable. Even my extremely Liberal Us history professor from William & Mary (yet another liberal dominated college) taught that it is a huge mistake to look back on past generations, and judge them based off of an application of our current standards of morality. Let me give you an example of what a liberal of today would say in 100 years HOW DARE YOU MONSTERS LEGALLY KILL AND EAT CONSCIOUS LIVING BEINGS HOW DARE YOU MONSTERS For killing literally millions of unborn babies HOW DARE YOU MONSTERS for incarcerating drug addicts and people with mental illness, allowing homelessness and poverty and hunger to exist in the greatest country on earth, and allowing those same things to run rampant across the globe HOW DARE YOU MONSTERS For allowing more slaves to be alive today than at any other point in history(that’s a true fact) So I guess the truth is that we are all awful people Oh wait, what’s that? The truth is much more complex and tearing down and erasing our histories Is an act of ignorance of the likes of racism and bigotry. Sorry I’m not ranting at you @dominicanfrankster I actually really liked your comment, just to others haha

[@julienielsen3746]

I rather see anyone with a serious photo than making silly faces.

[@wwehulk8798]

@@julienielsen3746 why? Sounds boring

[@julienielsen3746]

@@wwehulk8798 Because silly face photos make them look stupid. Once in awhile ok. But, kids and people these days over do it and it makes it no longer funny. NO. I rather see a nice normal face any day.

[@wwehulk8798]

@@julienielsen3746 Fair enough, nothing wrong with moderation.

[@JacobAndJamal]

I don’t like to smile in my photos , and it drives me nuts when everyone insists I do . To me I look goofy with a forced smile . It also can be seen as weak in some circles to be smiling in a photo .

[@jloomis7]

I was told many years ago that they didn't traditionally smile because the first cameras needed the "subjects" had to be as still as possible to get a decent shot. It's much harder to hold a smile than a straight face.

[@iTsEfFiNsTePhh]

Fun fact Vigée Le Brun (1755 - 1842) was as far as we know the very first painter to include people smiling in her paintings 😊 So while smiling wasn't as popular or as socially acceptable back in the day as it is now there were some people who slipped through the cracks- i've seen some 1800's pictures of people smiling/laughing/smirking, seen a lot of Vigée's work and i've seen a lot of even older stuff of people being people. Remember people have always been the same only difference is the clothing and societal rules 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@twobrokeguyz1214]

You are right, people are people, but their ways of thinking have changed of course... to some degree anyway. I bet THOSE individuals that were smiling were probably 'different' for their time. I just looked up Vigée Le Brun, and her work is spectacular! Her paintings have a fun, joyful look to them. Very different for the time.

[@Leppymusic]

Cool fact 😊

[@drewelliott9062]

They had hard lives and were happy but they didn't smile in the pictures. Now people have easy lives and aren't happy but smile in all their pictures.

[@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing]

Perspective. To them, they lived in the _good_ times, an age of wonders, unlike their ancestors in centuries prior. As we all do. Either that, or our radioactive mutant grandkids are going to be fighting it out on Fury Road for a few drops of gasoline and a bite of longpork in the wasteland.

[@elinfame8572]

@@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing Borderlands vibes

[@Skyebooo]

THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO! In my adolescence, my family abhorred photos and often covered their faces. (And they worked for Kodak!) They never smile in photos because it "looks crazy". My father-in-law demands teeth-grinning smiles in his family photos requiring several takes to get that perfect smile which is irritating and fake. Part of my frustration is his incessant need to take photos at EVERY family gathering. Your video has help me to better understand this family dynamic.

[@여보-t7v]

So cool

[@twobrokeguyz1214]

Did working for Kodak have something to do with their views on how we should look in photos, you think?

[@Skyebooo]

@@twobrokeguyz1214 I believe it was just a family custom but back when there was film photography, I remember being told don't ever take a nude picture because Kodak employees passed them around and make copies.

[@GodiscomingBhappy]

hilarious, i have just subscribed. It reminded me of my trip to India. One of the nicest, most smiley and kindest people I have encountered on my travels. They were very curious about pictures (in rural areas that is) and when I offered to take a picture of them they all went "serious as in a funeral" mode and couldn´t understand why.... i found that amusing. Also in the countries in Africa I have visited they seemed to have the same "serious" tone when having their picture taken. loved this video. thanks. edit: by the way.... passport pictures are also a good example! in some countries smiles are accepted whereas in others are not allowed..... crazy i found :-)

[@BeaOtch]

I loathe having my picture taken. Actually loathe isn't a strong enough word. I avoid them at all costs. Having to pose, not moving waiting for your picture to take sounds like torture to me.

[@ruthbyrnes1492]

At last, a lady after my own heart 😃 I’ve been avoiding it my whole life. Being a keen photographer is a good excuse .

[@BeaOtch]

@@ruthbyrnes1492 my son is the same way. He won't even get his school pictures taken. I don't know why we're like that. I even cringe when I see people taking selfies. Lol. I cover my face, turn my back if I notice people taking pictures.

[@oooh19]

My cousin was the same way but I always loved getting my photo taken.

[@GroundersSourceOfficial]

Fun fact: Cameras of yesteryear had long exposure times and when they had to sit for long time periods, the necks and spine would stiffen up, causing discomfort and headaches. Edit: It kind of makes all of those Western dramas hold a historic inaccuracy as the actors smiled all the time (looking at you Michael Landon) and had perfect teeth.

[@tangyorange6509]

When I take portraits of people on the Wet Plate Collodion process I use a head rest that lets them know where to keep their head so it’s not just floating

[@insaneone4369]

"The Native Americans believed a photograph could steal your soul" - River Phoenix.

[@FinehomesofNewHampshire]

"Im dead" ~also River Phoenix

[@poochie81]

@@FinehomesofNewHampshire lol ~ me

[@cjsa7174]

Native Americans haven’t smiled since 1491. No cameras back then 🤷‍♀️

[@MomentsInTrading]

I’ve been working on a video on the civil war, and in doing so have been colorizing some civil war photos of soldiers. One thing I have found is that the photos of people who had more money are WAY higher quality. Some of the photos of generals are super high quality on glass negatives. Impressively high quality for the time! On the other had, some of the photos of someone who was just a regular soldier will be very small, grainy, low resolution, and that will be the only photo they took in their life.

[@Duckgrabber]

I'm a wet plate photographer with three years experience. Really, the collodion process has no grain.

[@carlcushmanhybels8159]

@@Duckgrabber Plate photography 1940's and more recent is different than Civil War era.

[@DJDoubleCee]

I think I remember seeing another history video that one of the reasons why nobody smiled in pictures back in the old days was because people thought smiling in photos would make you look foolish.

[@Saudyization]

They didn't know what *smiling* means

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

That is still the case in much of continental Europe. Indeed, in Russia, they have a special term for a fake wide grin with no joy behind it, ulybka amerikankaya, the American smile.

[@momkatmax]

@@nemo2203 yeah, they think you are simple so to speak.

[@joywebster2678]

Thus video says same thing

[@truth4004]

They were right lots of smiling fools around and fake smiles.

[@kathywithak7529]

A smiling woman would be considered a lunatic, while a grinning man would be considered a drunken pervert 😂🤣😂

[@stevenrichards3699]

You mean like Kamala Harris, and Joe Biden ?

[@RC-bw8wk]

I smile! But interestingly enough, my mom preferred that I don’t show too much of my teeth in photos and my dad would scold me for laughing too loudly. My parents were interesting and not as old as you think. Maybe it was the way they were raised, that’s fascinating how things like culture and technology affect the way people were perceived. Thanks for another great history lesson!

[@outlaw-of-torn3548]

Thanks for sharing

[@dakmycat3688]

I smile without trying to show a lot of teeth. I have dimples so I developed my Own😂🤣

[@RC-bw8wk]

@@dakmycat3688 dimples are so cute! I think how we smile, with or without teeth, with or without dimples…as long as we are honest in our feelings, is beautiful!

[@dakmycat3688]

@@RC-bw8wk 😊

[@Cannabis112]

What was a standard look for beauty in Victorian times, today is called down syndrome.

[@ozknmahn8690]

Had that question in my head every time i saw pics like that. Thanks for shedding light.

[@colexp5458]

Werid history is informative and entertaining… if only all history teachers were like this I probably would’ve paid more attention🤷🏻‍♀️

[@anemicsilence]

😊👍

[@lordnecrofrost]

My 6th grade history teacher taught this way. I loved that class.

[@lizaluk]

They have been in the true mood, no fake smile has been practiced.

[@ankhpom9296]

An assignment in a photo class I took was to do a portrait-a true picture of the subject. I wanted to be different. So my subject was a shirtless photo of my late uncle. He was in his early 70s and was still in very good shape. The photo got a bit of a stir from people in the class.

[@nontokozomkhize4449]

They actually look more like genuine people in my opinion. No fake smiles

[@DragonsOfSnow]

I wish we could go back to not needing or feeling the need to smile in pictures. I can't do the fake smile because it looks extremely fake and forced so I just look mad all the time in pics cause I'm also cursed with a severe RBF, lol. But I'd rather look natural (even if it is a little angry looking) than having a weird fake smile on me. The only smiling pics I like are the ones where I was genuinely laughing at something while taking pics. Fake smiles just look creepy on 99% of people.

[@blue85610]

This is interesting! I've always wondered why most Victorian photos were always looked serious

[@feldgeist2637]

I still look dead serious on nearly every picture .......and quite homicidal if someone managed to capture me smiling can't stand them modern shameless smilers

[@twobrokeguyz1214]

Thank you for this information! It’s nice to learn other reasons why people didn’t smile other than they had to sit very still.

[@patrickbrown8540]

“Every photograph was at least a little haunted….by default” 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@HoneyGreenTea390]

Say "prunes"?? 🤨🤣🤣🤣 Definitely going to be laughing at this all day.

[@pamelamays4186]

Suggestion: The weird history of cellular telephones. Also: Jetsons tech: from cartoon fantasy to tech we take for granted today.

[@BA86AB]

Love the Jetson idea! I’d like to hear Star Trek too.

[@tomoedaidoji2318]

Aside from the established practical reasons already mentioned, I think the photographic portrait aesthetic was a carry-over from the painted portrait where smiling or being too animated would take away gravitas from the moment that they're trying to preserve in Daguerreotypes. Which probably led to the later appeal of "candid shots" which were supposedly spontaneous, even when most were staged 🙂

[@HopeSwe]

Fun fact: the photo at 5:53 is a photo of ”the Hesse sisters”. From left to right they are: Princess Irene of Hesse, Princess Victoria Hesse, Princess Elisabeth “Ella” of Hesse and Princess Alix of Hesse. Alix later married Nicholas of Russia who then was the Tsarevich but later would become the last Tsar of Russia. Upon her marriage her official name was changed to Alexandra. Alexandra’s eldest sister Victoria (second from the left) was Prince Philip’s (Queen Elisabeth’s II’s spouse’s) grandmother.

[@tabby73]

Interesting. Thank you! Do you know when this picture was taken? (approximately)

[@HopeSwe]

@@tabby73 In april 1885 according to the Royal Collection Trust.

[@tabby73]

@@HopeSwe Awesome. Thanks!

[@michealdrake3421]

3:50 I know it was meant as a joke, but yeah, a couple hundred years ago the standard was a lot lower for entertainment, just because people weren't used to what we are now. People used to go to watch court proceedings like we go to the movies today. They often had no personal interest in the cases, it was just something to do. And every once in a while, something crazy happened. It actually just occurred to me the other day that in a pretty short span of time we went from having to play music yourself or go see a live performance if you want to hear music, to being able to live your entire life with a personal soundtrack playing 24/7 without knowing what a musical instrument looks like. The phonograph was the first way to hear music without having to attend a performance or play it yourself and it was invented less than 150 years ago. And the first practical portable music player, not until the 1970s or 80s. So yeah, in a lot of ways, entertainment was pretty shit by modern standards. We're pretty spoiled with Hollywood and the internet. I recall hearing about a medieval jester, he was crazy famous in his time, a superstar by the standards of the day. He took huge payments from monarchs and nobles all over Europe to perform. His big act, the one that everyone lost their shit over, was juggling. The dude could juggle. Not alligators or swords or anything, just like, three or four balls, or whatever. But at the time that was something you told your grandkids about seeing when you were their age and they accuse you of exaggerating or going senile.

[@ElginChris]

“No. Showing one’s teeth is a sign of weakness. You smile at me and all I see is a scared chimp.”

[@lsuhutch9570]

I Effin Love This Channel!! Im always pumped when I see a new video pop up. Keep up the great work. Also, I’d love to see any topics that have to do with my home state of Louisiana and more specifically, the history of the Cajuns in the swamps.

[@gram.]

Smiling wasn't invented til 1969

[@NotFckingBen]

Yeah, since the year was _really_ nice.

[@The7Reaper]

Yep, Edward Smilington was the first when he laughed without sound for the first time

[@derekbootle8316]

It came with the invention of bong rips.

[@Saudyization]

.1969??..yea A number that prob turn them be more sexual maybe thata why lol..sorry be sexual here.. but only so I can say😁

[@Thermodynamicool]

Always wondered about this.. and now I know, this weird history. Earned my sub on this one. Been watching for a while and look forward to watching even more. Thanks!

[@janayarroyo22]

This was AWESOME Weird History ☺️

[@downbntout]

Telling a kid to smile guarantees a terrible photo. Take the photo while they're having fun doing something

[@tabby73]

First of all thank you for this very funny, interesting and enjoyable video! I was giggling and laughing non-stop 😁👍 In parts of the world the serious-photo-trend apparently was still the norm until fairly recently. Looking at old photos of my Indian husband's family they were always serious. And that was in the 1970-80s! My husband's father, born in the 1920s even had his portrait done as a young man instead of having his photo taken. I think privately owned cameras have never been the big market in India as they were in the West. That only changed in the 21st century with the rise of the smartphone of course. My husband though is still uncomfortable to this day having his photo taken. If he smiles at all it looks very fake lol 😆

[@sheilataura179]

This video surprised me, I thought people didn’t smile in old photographs because of the lengthy exposure time but I learned so much more 👍🏻

[@poetcomic1]

I was just looking at old family photos on the midwest farm ca. 1890's. About12 people together posed for an itinerant photographer - no one smiles, no one even looks alive except for the happy happy family dog.

[@logos125]

It is rare to to see people smiling in portraits in many modern Asian countries

[@GabrielGonzalez-vw5ir]

I look forward to all of your videos. Thank you for your hard work, humor, and great content.

[@taylorlibby7642]

The smile wasn't actually discovered until 1932 when Antoine Smiléy developed horrible gas pains after a long night of snail eating and noticed his wife seemed to like his unique grimace.

[@nonprogrediestregredi1711]

Yes, and it's a shame that poor Antoine was locked away for the remainder of his days as people interpreted his smile for lunacy. He never bore witness to the social acceptance of his discovery. It's tragic!

[@emmapeel8163]

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼😁

[@jennyrose9454]

The drunken pervert comment made me laugh

[@jennyrose9454]

What's that snail parasite called? Schisto something??

[@juliachildress2943]

Bravo!

[@btetschner]

Hahaha! The importance of dressing up pets for pictures. Amazing video, and very interesting. I imagine that those photos were so valuable that people who be able to memorize every detail of them. Thank you for the video.

[@maxmcgraw3571]

I would love to hear you do a weird history on the history of coffee ☕ , or the brewing of coffee ☕

[@bettysmith4641]

I would like to see a video on the different types of medicines they had available in the 1800's. I know at one time they sold Morphine over the counter

[@taylorlibby7642]

As much as you could carry.

[@steveaustin5399]

You could buy heroin, cocaine and syringes from sears and roebucks catalogues lol!!

[@jennyrose9454]

Cool

[@judeinLA.]

Modern society frowns and questions when strangers are randomly smiling in public.

[@tabby73]

True. And there are many countries today where a woman smiling in public is seen as open to approaches from random men.

[@thegreencat9947]

@@tabby73 heck yeah....even at work when you smile at a male customer they take it the wrong way.

[@auntvesuvi3872]

Thank you for this! 📸

[@robgau2501]

My grandparents on both sides always just stared off into the distance with some regal stance. I just assumed it was something similar to what you said here.

[@chrisvanbuggenum871]

I have a few Kodak Box Brownie cameras. They came in a range of designs and look pretty good on the shelf.

[@ninabeena83]

I don’t personally love posed photos nor smiling, BUT I have always felt I looked over serious and unhappy in photos where I’m not smiling, so I always do. Which means you have to catch me in a candid shot most of the time because 😬🙅🏾‍♀️📸 lol

[@jasonchen9645]

For this episode, the narrator was in rare form! It was a really funny episode! You should have more like these, they're really good.

[@Tully_23_32]

Look at our passport photos, we all look like we are having our prison photo taken

[@norasand2321]

Trying to smile for 15 minutes sounds very painful 😓

[@derpyazerty]

And modern people smile a lot in photos but are sercretly miserable, the irony

[@loriserna]

Great video!

[@mahoganybrown5402]

I love the Narrator 🫶🏽 Perfect tone, pitch, & sarcasm is just awesome

[@salmathecopt7969]

Smiling ruins pictures for average folks

[@Uzair_Of_Babylon465]

Fantastic video keep it up your doing amazing job.

[@truepersona6804]

There was no good cheese. Everytime the photographer said "say cheese" everyone frowned.

[@thegreencat9947]

O.k. that was a good one 🤣

[@Myriako]

Thank you for this video ! 😊🌻

[@alexisgreen-hernandez8604]

Wow I like this very much thanks. I use to be extremely camera 📷 😕 🤭 shy. Being in front of the camera 📷 makes me feel uncomfortable 😐 people ask me why do not smile in your photos? 📸 I always say Idk?? Thanks 😃 for sharing this with us on You tube take care. It makes me think 🤔 more after watching 👀 this video 📹 clip. 🤣🤣😎

[@villain68]

When I was in the 7th grade I was looking at old fashioned pics and wondered why no one smiled.

[@ChloeKruegerSenpai]

Back then: Can't smile Now: Selfie with aStick

[@Kazooples]

I don’t like having to guess which person is dead in death portraits, sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes not so much, but it’s always haunting.

[@milleijones2828]

I hate having my picture taken, mainly because I'm expected to force a smile. I have an ugly smile, especially when it's forced.

[@drewp.weiner2473]

Every photograph steals a part of your soul

[@CoreyChambersLA]

Three reasons. The culture was not Hollywood, was less smiley, more challenging and serious. Photographs took several seconds to snap, sometimes more than a minute in front of a giant, strange camera. Holding a smile that long is difficult and unnatural. On top of all that, their teeth were not as good as modern subjects.

[@Saudyization]

In those days they didn't prob had Colgate to advertise so no one will show their teeth😁.. I rarely smile too so thata fine. 😐

[@AIIen.alledgedly2]

Your British Honduran so I’m sure they’re really nice straight white teeth

[@Saudyization]

@@AIIen.alledgedly2 I'm not lol.. my country was once British Honduras yea. So idk 😁😉

[@80sMetalHead]

Very interesting…as always! 👍👍

[@spartamerican6758]

Basically...they didn't fake it. We do.

[@migue4793]

And so what if they didn't smile as much, 100 - 150 years ago times were different. People had more class then as compared to today, and people knew hard work paid off. Today, many feel entitled to everything, and is definitely a sign that society is moving in the wrong direction as Narcissism runs rampant with all the social media stations. These behaviours are obviously not healthy.

[@agenericaccount3935]

I still don’t smile. Always found it weird to.

[@K113-A]

Wait, there are people who think people in the 19th century wasn't happy? And happiness was only founded in the mid 20th century? Imagine the people in the 24th century seeing us...

[@nataliaalfonso2662]

We are admittedly very unhappy.

[@yooperlooper]

Educational, interesting and at times it made me LOL. Great Fun video!

[@leannyarbrough7414]

&4:37 I hope the photographer and parents don’t think we can’t clearly tell that is probably their mother with something covering her from head to toe😆☺️😉

[@ronniefan2480]

Very interesting, thank you for your sharing.

[@julienielsen3746]

I like the historical photos and paintings on Mystery Scoop on KZbin, that are changed to having smiles and move. Cool stuff.

[@TheDarkThunder]

I miss the Sears Portrait Studio. The picture of you sitting with a larger, side turned disembodied face shot looking up at the light beside you was so good.

[@gcanyon3114]

Some of those crisp vintage photos are incredible! (9:27)

[@eatlocalhoney]

I took one of my wedding photos “non smiling” and it’s my favorite one!

[@zorkikat]

Cultural considerations were as much as a factor as technology. Even way late into the 19th century when photography when exposures became shorter, smiles were still absent more for cultural or social reasons than long exposures.

[@Reesee000]

Hahahha. I love ur videos❕❕. And…educational ♥️😃

[@Indicauch]

@WeirdHistory I would like for you to explain the history behind the illegality of marihuana ! Thank you, I enjoy your channel so much!

[@gentillydanny]

They wanted a real likeness, not a disguising smile.

[@robertekis2450]

Everybody knows people didn't smile in old pictures because cheese hadn't been invented yet :)

[@m.f.richardson1602]

Very interesting. Thank you💕🇺🇲

[@inuwooddog3027]

Just a personal opinion. Forcing yourself to smile in photograph is just stupid, and I really don't like this trend.

[@johnmontgomery4923]

Because they had to hold poses for at least 15 minutes. In addition, in some cases a neck brace

[@feralbluee]

one thing you aren’t aware of. in the ‘50’s, when a picture was taken of you outside, you had to face directly in the sun’s light. thus, lots of us kids ended up smiling and squinting at the same time. LOL 📷😚😄

[@finnerfin]

For anyone in a hurry: "Because smiling hadn't yet been invented." I'm 0:01 seconds in...

[@MarcusZepeda]

Why no one smiled in old photographs?. Yes very true but there is photos back then of people smiling in the 1800s/1900s. You just have to look it up

[@christisking777]

This guy… best narrator in history. They should do an episode just on him.

[@cuteladybug8622]

I don't like having my picture taken, but love old black and white photographs.There's something very dignified about them that you don't see in modern photographs with all the stupid, fake smiling. I get annoyed with how we're expected to smile in pictures these days. Sometimes I wish we would go back to the old way of taking pictures because when taking pictures today we're instructed to smile until our faces hurt..literally.

[@keturahspencer]

Why people smile in modern pictures is the real mystery.