Rare Photos Showing That Victorians Weren't That Serious

Before you could burst-shot 4 selfies per second with your mobile phone, photography was a very expensive pleasure. Back in the Victorian era, for instance, the cost of pictures meant that you'd only have your photo taken once or twice in a lifetime. Or sometimes even after it, as post-mortem photography (i.e posing with dead members of your family) was actually a thing back then. Yeah. Cheerful times.

So photography wasn't as casual as it is now, and getting yourself snapped was a rather big deal. As a result, you won't find too many photos of Victorians actually enjoying themselves in front of a camera. But a few photographers were lucky enough to a capture a lighter side of the otherwise serious-looking Victorians, and thanks to the guys at Whizzpast, we get to see it.

(h/t: boredpanda)

#1 A Victorian Couple Trying Not To Laugh While Getting Their Portraits Done, 1890s

#2 A Unique Tea Setting For Two

#3 Cakewalk Dance

#4 A Snow Lady, 1892

Image source: The Strand magazine

#5 Unusual Portrait Of A Victorian Lady, 1840

#6 Three Fashionable Young Men At Yale, 1883

#7 Awkward Family Photo, Victorian Edition

#8 Tsar Nicholas II Goofing Around, 1899

Image source: statearchive

#9 Vintage Humor

Image source: statearchive

#10 Piggy Nose

#11 Men And Women Cross Dress In This Silly Victorian Snap, 1880-1900

#12 Say That Again, And I'll Dip You In, 1897

Image source: James M. Davis

#13 Unknown Victorian In Mid-jump

#14 Vacation Sports At The Seaside

Image source: Strohmeyer and Wyman

#15 Richard Freiherr Von Krafft-Ebing

Image source: Krafft-Ebing Take a look at more vintage goodness from World War 2.