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.

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.

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.

Long exposure times. Bad dental times. Sad times…

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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 .

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.

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.

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.

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 🤷🏻‍♀️

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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

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

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 :-)

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.

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.

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

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

Smiling wasn't invented til 1969

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!

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 🙂

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.

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.

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

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

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. 😐

This was AWESOME Weird History ☺️

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

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

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.

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 👍🏻

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 😆

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Smiling in public is still strange in NYC. In fact it took me awhile to get used to it outside of NYC. In NYC they still think smiling means your a bit crazy. Probably cause we have a lot of them walking around. 🤔

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.

Fantastic video keep it up your doing amazing job.

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.

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

Great video!

Thank you for this video ! 😊🌻

Thank you for this! 📸

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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...

For my first passport photo my dad told me to go to Kinkos where they did photos you could take by yourself in one of those little booths. I went with a friend who had really thick glasses and i thought it would be cool if i took pic with his glasses and made really weird smile. I came back with pics and my dad was so mad lol. Told me not to smile and wear ridiculous glasses and go back. I didnt know passport photo was so serious and thought it wasnt big deal hahaha

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

Frederick Douglass was the most photographed person in the 19th century.Look it up- it’s really interesting.

Hi, I love your channel, your videos are always interesting and witty. Can you make a video explaining the ranks in titles, like duke, baron etc. and why having a job in the old days was not respectable.

Very interesting…as always! 👍👍

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

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.

Every photograph steals a part of your soul

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

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 📷😚😄

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.

Very interesting, thank you for your sharing.

Things i never thought about but now will not get out of my head for a while.

It took hours to get the picture and also they had bad teeth

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.

I think I read or learned somewhere that they didn't smile because it was seen as silly especially in like military photos. It was just seen as being more serious if you didn't smile or something. I think I remember hearing about sitting there forever and the bad teeth bit too.

Not surprised nobody smiled. Things sucked

Love the cheeky humor of the narrator

I would've fit right in back then, I hate "social smiling" and only smile when I find something legitimately funny. People who go around grinning at strangers all the time make me uncomfortable.

Now, in America , mental instability is actually the Norm and you are considered odd and oppressive if you don't have an instability. Amazing how social norms evolve.

Life was very hard in those days. There wasn’t much to smile about.

This is probably the first Weird history where I already knew the answer before watching the video, or reading the synoposis.

I’ve always wondered,thank you for telling me :)

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

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.

It's still considered strange to smile in public, if you live in a city

I learned this in college, it took people at least 30minutes for the picture to be exposed so the smile went away…especially if they had to stand. The first picture made, which unfortunately didn’t stabilize on the photo paper (similar to a Polaroid from the 70s) was in 1837…while the first picture was in 1863-5 where Lincoln is shown in the room (side view).

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

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

I saw a photo of my grandma's big family old photo that i often spot in her house. In the photo, she's the only one smiling while the rest of the family are emotionless.

Gee a serious society that was ordered, focused and not self-indulgent. How refreshing.

I’d love to see one of these for portraits and old paintings