“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. “ —Mark Twain

I don’t have to tell you that Victorians aren’t exactly known for their broad smiles and light-hearted humor. Unlike today, smiling for a photo simply wasn’t a thing that people did, as Mark Twain exemplifies in the quote above. This lack of friendly grins has somewhat influenced how we view Victorians from our modern perspective, perhaps making them seem more stuffy and grave than they actually were.

There are a ton of given reasons why Victorians didn’t smile in photos, such as long exposure times, high costs for having portraits taken, poor dental hygiene, and, perhaps most importantly, it was simply seen as bad etiquette. But luckily, there’s still some evidence that Victorians just couldn’t help cracking a smile or breaking the usual stiff pose every now and then. We’ve gathered together a few of our favorite shots of Victorians seeming a little less…Victorian. Enjoy!









Three fashionable young men at Yale, c. 1883.

Evelyn Winchester.

Photo from 1880-1900 of a happy couple, discovered in Scotland.

Tea for two?











Unknown Victorian in mid-jump (date also unknown).

Photo from The Strand magazine, January 1892, of two women making a Snow Lady. The caption said that “No foundation of any kind was used, and no sticks or wires were concealed under the figure for the purpose of supporting head, body, or arms. An enlargement of the original photograph was shown at the Photographic Exhibition during last autumn, and gave rise to many remarks, sage and otherwise.” It looks like a photoshop to me, but I’ll take their word on it!

Unknown woman and unknown date. But isn’t it a great photo?

Another anonymous woman. This tintype sold on ebay for a pretty penny awhile back.









Evidence suggests that these photos are passport photos from the 1890s.

A group of smiling Edwardians.

And finally, proof that even Queen Victoria smiled at least one time!

We hope that seeing the lighter side of Victorians made you smile! Let us know in the comments which photo is your favorite.

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