Children of George Eastman Wright and Emma Smythe
Date & Place:
in Ohio USA
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Children of George Eastman Wright and Emma Smythe
Updated Mar 10, 2025
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Nathan Towne
3 followers 251 favorites
09/06/2011
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via Facebook
looks like a photo after a family member died. kerp in mind they did not have more than a few colors in fabric; black, indego, a purple color, and brown.
Ree Young
1 follower 234 favorites
06/10/2016
Mourning clothes for the family for the first year were generally black, but as time passed, even the widow could wear purples and browns with white collars and cuffs to brighten the look. Other than mourning and clothes for the poorer classes and for the women who had to work, things like evening gowns and afternoon tea gowns were white and pastels, like sky blue and pinks. But scarlet, peacock blues, greens of all shades, lilac, and other bright colors were also very much in evidence. By 1905, the Victorian Era gave way to the Edwardian Era, and the tendency to follow Queen Victoria's fashion sense gave way to the Edwardian Era and lighter and more colorful fabrics.
My dad (born in 1901) and some of my aunts grew up in that era, and they described the colors and styles of many of the old photographs of themselves to me. But the colors and such can be found by Googling, too.
My dad (born in 1901) and some of my aunts grew up in that era, and they described the colors and styles of many of the old photographs of themselves to me. But the colors and such can be found by Googling, too.
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I also thought it looked like mourning. Most little girls did not dress in black.
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I think it is likely the last part of their mourning time. They also maybe did not have a lot of choices for clothing and wore what fit and was in their closet.
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Mourning clothes and the father is missing?
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my Timmons family, 1903 in Newton KS ... my grandmother Grace is the beautiful girl in back ...
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I never look at one of these Victorian pics without peering at each face to see if they were living or dead for the portrait. You just never know without a careful scrutiny.
via Facebook
Post mortem photographs do not show people who are standing and rarely even sitting because the weight of a dead body could not be supported without an extreme amount of solid support. If you're thinking the posing stands were used to support dead bodies think again. Simply not true. Try thanatos.net
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Ree Young
1 follower 234 favorites
06/10/2016
Posing stands were also used to help support live people for photographs, too. Just seeing evidence of a stand doesn't mean the person was dead.
And having one's picture taken was a formal occasion, so people did not laugh and smile. The more natural and active-looking photos were the exception, not the norm.
Besides, these kids probably weren't all that happy about getting dressed up and standing there for minutes on end. Most kids still dislike formal family portraits. The father could have wanted this photo taken of his family to place on his desk at work. His absence doesn't automatically mean he was dead.
And having one's picture taken was a formal occasion, so people did not laugh and smile. The more natural and active-looking photos were the exception, not the norm.
Besides, these kids probably weren't all that happy about getting dressed up and standing there for minutes on end. Most kids still dislike formal family portraits. The father could have wanted this photo taken of his family to place on his desk at work. His absence doesn't automatically mean he was dead.
Ree Young
1 follower 234 favorites
06/10/2016
Christine Pietrandrea The two babies certainly don't look dead. This is a Hidden Mother picture. Mothers were hidden under a covering to hold the living baby. Do you know for a fact that the children in these photos were deceased??
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Ree Young , well if they weren't dead then, they sure are now.
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The point is that it was indeed done. Frequently. The mere practice make one pay more attention. That was my original impetus for comment. The veracity of the practice in unquestionable so to look carefully is human nature. Period. End of story.
Ree Young
1 follower 234 favorites
06/10/2016
Also, beware of websites that show a bunch of photos claiming that these people are deceased and posed.
I saw one (ViralNova) that showed, among other photos, one of a man sitting in a chair with his head resting on his hand. The caption was " Notice the way the photographer has positioned the man's arm in order to support the head?" But the photo was that of Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland, and taken at a time when he was very much ALIVE!!!!
I saw one (ViralNova) that showed, among other photos, one of a man sitting in a chair with his head resting on his hand. The caption was " Notice the way the photographer has positioned the man's arm in order to support the head?" But the photo was that of Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland, and taken at a time when he was very much ALIVE!!!!
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Thankyou Donna Johnson Dyer it's nice to see someone else with common sense and not just assuming every Victorian photograph has a dead person in it!
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This is not a creepy photograph of people in mourning. This is a formal portrait in their Sunday best. Oh, and by the way, they had plenty of colors in fabric.
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No - usually kids are in white or light colors. this is severe and unsmiling. It may have been taken for documentation ...
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Checking through both our textile collection and our photograph collection at the Richland County Museum, I would have to firmly disagree.
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Remember that with early photography the subjects had to sit very still due to the long exposure time needed for just one photograph. Imagine holding a smile for five minutes straight and you'll understand why many people have somber expressions in old photos.
via Facebook
Also, life was a lot tougher then, they worked long hours doing strenuous labor just to make a few dollars a week.
via Facebook
Photos, even by the Civil War, could have very short exposure times. A 1905 photo would have been taken instantaneously. This seems to have been taken in a photographer's shop, and probably even used flash powder. The subjects were having an important photograph taken, and wanted to look dignified.
via Facebook
yes in those days, looking dignified meant "not smiling" you would look too jovial and not serious enough...
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It actually looks like a mourning photo - like the husband died- they look like in mourning dress
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Adrianne, you really have to give up this romantically morbid story....
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Adrianne Balcom You are probably right about that...they did take photos like that - and it does look like mourning clothing - they may have just come from the funeral. And don't forget - they also would have taken a photo of the deceased person.....
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Child on far right looks like Wednesday Adams
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Why don't people smile, it seems like most people are not happy, I mean I know life was hard, but they would have been used to it
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Silly comment. Excuse me but I mean... if you have any knowledge about life then and how photographs were made then you should know better. I am just 32 and I know better.
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Just to let you know, by that date photography had come a long way and taking pictures took a lot shorter than it did 35 years before, about 10 seconds is not so bad, I can't stand know it all people who call people names, rude!
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.I have been studying antique photographs for 30 years. Believe me, most are alive and well. We are just not used to seeing these early photos and the people do look eerie sometimes. Post mortem photography was mostly coffin photos. ...I have a book showing an original 19th c advertisement for the photographer stands and they are clearly meant for the living
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