NO SMILES

'Smiling Faces Sometimes' by the Temptations

 go something like this ~

 Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes

 They don't tell the truth.

(The key word in those lyrics is 'Sometimes')

People did not smile in old photographs!  

What was up with that?  Bad teeth?  

I'm sure that was true in some cases, 

but not for everyone and every picture!

Smiles were perceived quite differently centuries ago.  Although today we think of smiles as

being indicative of happiness, humor, and warmth, they apparently had very different

meaning back in the day:  "By the 17th century in Europe it was a well-established fact that

the only people who smiled broadly, in life and in art, were the poor, the lewd, the drunk,

the innocent, and the entertainment."  So if you wanted to be seen as upper class and

as a person of good character?  Don't smile.

 MORE POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS FOR THE 'NO SMILING FACES'

Probably the biggest reason people didn't smile in old photographs was that the exposure time for the pictures was extremely long. It was very difficult for people to remain still for the period needed to create a clear picture, let alone to sit the entire time with a realistic-looking smile. It would take up to fifteen minutes for the photography to be taken.  In that time if the subject moved around then the picture of them would be blurry.  Since it's difficult to keep a smile in place for 15 minutes, photographers 

advised people to keep a straight face.

Getting a photo taken used to be fairly expensive, and thus it was a rare,

 formal occasion where people felt it would be inappropriate to smile.

Mark Twain, in a letter to the Sacramento Daily Union, wrote, "A photograph is a most

important document, and there is nothing more damning to go down to posterity

than a silly, foolish smile caught and fixed forever."

Abraham Lincoln, although known for his humorous personality during his time, 

is now remembered more by the extremely serious expressions he 

wore during official portrait sessions.

Nancy Ashburn Speck ~ No Smile Here

3rd Great Grand Aunt

John Speck ~ Definitely No Smile

Husband of Nancy

Mary Frances "Frankey" Ashburn Vaughn

3rd Great Grand Aunt

(I see an 'almost' smile on her face ~ I think I do...)

James Anderson 'Anse' Ashburn Family around 1900

2nd Great Grand Uncle

NO SMILING ALLOWED!

These 'NO SMILING FACES' ~

All are gone ~ the old familiar faces.

Our faces will one day 

be 'the old familiar faces'… 

familiar to someone - I pray.

Winfield Scott Burgess

(My husband's 1st Great Grand Uncle)

Leoma Mary Burgess Lollar

(My husband's 1st Great Grand Aunt)

Oh, the stories behind the faces ~ the faces with 'no smiles'.