The Victorian era gave us many great inventions that we still use today - bicycles, Morse code, ice cream as we know it, and even the telephone. The era of Queen Victoria's reign, though, had some pretty bizarre happenings too. Such as ladies getting stuck in doorways because of their extra big dress skirts and constantly fainting as a result of very tight corsets. Also, the London fog did exist, and it comprised of nothing else than heavy pollution from coal mines and the city being in regular fires. Victorians were oddly obsessed with Egyptology and makeup, especially lipstick, which was compared to witchcraft. To add even more fun to the mix, the social rules and behavior codes were amazingly strict.
With life this pleasant, it's no wonder that nobody was smiling in the creepy pictures taken in the Victorian era. Everybody looks so severe that it seems as if people in the 1800s just didn't have the time, or strength to have fun. But as these rare vintage photos prove, that wasn't always the case.
There are many theories as to why Victorians always look so dour in pictures. Long exposure times made smiling difficult (and by long we mean several hours. Seriously. Ever tried smiling for several hours? It hurts) and the high cost of portraits gave people very little to smile about. Poor dental hygiene made people reluctant to show their teeth (or whatever teeth they had left), and let's not forget that many Victorians simply had it too rough a life to take funny pictures. But as you can see from the vintage photography exemplars below, some still found something to smile about. From gentlemen cross-dressing as fair ladies of the times, to probably the first awkward family photos in history, the few Victorians, who managed to have some fun, are all here. (h/t: whizzpast)
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A Victorian Couple Trying Not To Laugh While Getting Their Portraits Done, 1890s
There was a journalist / comedian called Jorge Ginsburg here in Argentina who looked just like this fellow.
Men And Women Cross Dress In This Silly Victorian Snap, 1880-1900
Say That Again, And I'll Dip You In, 1897
Vacation Sports At The Seaside
if this wasn't their normal beach attire, i'd say it was actually rather fashionable.
Richard Freiherr Von Krafft-Ebing
He came op with the words sadism and masochism. And made a very popular book about sexual behaviors, partly in Latin so not every one could read it.. quote wiki: Krafft-Ebing's principal work is Psychopathia Sexualis: eine Klinisch-Forensische Studie (Sexual Psychopathy: A Clinical-Forensic Study), which was first published in 1886 and expanded in subsequent editions. The last edition from the hand of the author (the twelfth) contained a total of 238 case histories of human sexual behaviour.
Courting In The 1800s Never Looked Better
This Is As Close To A Victorian Selfie As It's Going To Get
I have found actual selfies from the early 1910s. They were by college girls and were preserved in a scrapbook I found at an antique store.
Tsar Nicholas II Goofing Around, 1899
Victorians Pulling Face, 1900
Smiling Victorians, 1900s
Tsar Nicholas II, 1899
Smiling Victorian, 1800s
Man Pulling A Funny Face
A Woman Riding A 'scorcher', A Victorian Bicycle, In St James' Park, London
It is a photo, a woman on a bike in a photographer 's studio with an fake background.
Smiling Victorian Servants
A Group Of Smiling Edwardians
Man Pulling A Comical Face, 1900
A Group Of Women To Celebrate The Centenary Of The London Bus
I don't think this picture is actually from the victorian era. Its way to clear and sharp.
Evelyn Winchester
Smiling Victorians, 1900s
Even then they had photo bombers. Lol. The man laying in the background.
Smiling Victorian, 1800s
I like lists like these, showing a more humane side of people of the past, making them feel closer to us, since we're thinking of them as just abstract characters usually. I bet the "dark middle ages" were really not as dark either.
Most people were unable to afford photographs taken with a quick exposure camera, which would explain Czar Nicholas having the fastest shutter speed. I've seen a few others on this list before as examples of experimental photography from the time: the woman jumping is a good example, and I've seen it before. To be fair, several appear to be Edwardian, but I'm a photographer, not a historian.. the processes on a few appear newer and on silver nitrate.
I was suspicious of a few of them too, but what the hell, it's fun.
Me too
utterly fabulous
I like lists like these, showing a more humane side of people of the past, making them feel closer to us, since we're thinking of them as just abstract characters usually. I bet the "dark middle ages" were really not as dark either.
Most people were unable to afford photographs taken with a quick exposure camera, which would explain Czar Nicholas having the fastest shutter speed. I've seen a few others on this list before as examples of experimental photography from the time: the woman jumping is a good example, and I've seen it before. To be fair, several appear to be Edwardian, but I'm a photographer, not a historian.. the processes on a few appear newer and on silver nitrate.
I was suspicious of a few of them too, but what the hell, it's fun.
Me too
utterly fabulous