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'.











Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BORN IN CHICKACOEN

-
Image
8th Great Grandmother - Powhatan Indian Mary Ann 'Little Flower' Baskett Lots of reading in this post... Here we go… Mary Ann 'Little Flower' Baskett was born  about  1662   in  Chickacoen (Chickacorn) District, Lancaster,Virginia.  She was a Powhatan Indian.  She married Thomas  Cardwell SR (my 8th Great Grandfather) in either 1681 or 1684.  They had four sons and three daughters between 1681 and 1700.  'Little Flower' died before  June 1737   in Henrico County, Virginia Reconstructed Powhatan village at the Jamestown Settlement  living-history museum. (Area in red approximate location of the Chickacoen District in Virginia) The history of the tract of land which is now Arlington County may be said to commence with the establishment of the County  of Northumberland in 1649. Previous to that time, this section  of Virginia was known as Chickacoen.     Northumberland County, VA (Home to the Powhatan Indians) Area als
Read more

COMING TO AMERICA ~ Indentured Servant

-
Image
MARTHA HAMILTON ALLISON My 5th Great Grandmother Born 1731(+/-3yrs) Ireland ~ Died 1838(+/-?) Orange County, North Carolina  A descendant of the Plantation of Ulster, Martha was born in Antrim County, Ireland around 1731. In 1746 (one source says she was around 13 years of age) she sailed for America as an indentured servant aboard the ship Rundell ; this was likely due to the famine of 1740-41, in which an estimated 400,000 died in Ireland. The typical arrangement for indenture was to agree to be 'sold' for a four year term upon arrival in America; ship's passage was paid after the fact by the person purchasing the indentured servant, and the term was typically viewed as an opportunity to gradually acclimate to the new culture in the company of one's fellow countrymen.  The following is from Michael Tepper's  'Emigrants To Pennsylvania ,  1641-1819' (1975, Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc., Baltimore MD):  "October 4th. Jam
Read more

DOROTHY JONES ~ A Woman Of SPIRIT And INDEPENDENCE

-
Image
DOROTHY JONES  My 9th Great Grandmother Birth   1672   in Denbigh, Wales Death August 30,  1755   in Philadelphia, PA Buried Gloria Dei Burial Ground, Philadelphia, PA Dorothy was born in Wales.  She was the third of four children of Ellis and Jane Jones, who were Quakers  from either Flint, or Denbigh, Wales, and came to America to escape religious persecution.  Dorothy came to America with her family on the ship "Submission" in the autumn of 1682.  This is a ship from the same era as The Submission;                                                        however,  The Submission was older and smaller than this one. The ship's log had Dorothy's age as 10 years.  _____________________________________ The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine,  Volume 1, Issue 1 - has a true copy of Submission's Log. It l ists the ship as having 49 heads and 37 passengers.  After studying the log, it appears that the additional '12' head c
Read more