As promised, I'm presenting my top ten most popular posts as part of my one thousandth post celebration. Lip Lock was first published on July 17th, 2012. I'm not sure why it's been so popular.
It's #4 on my top ten hits list, and here it is after 1,159 page views:
Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,
I have had many discussions with people, some of them actual friends (I DO TO HAVE FRIENDS), about the reason people in olden golden times didn't smile when they had their pictures taken.
We've always reached the conclusion that it was the custom then. Besides, if you had your photo taken once in your life, or maybe once every twenty years, then it was a serious occasion. You wouldn't be flashing them pearly whites.
Or maybe having your picture taken was frightening. What could possibly come out of that machine? Would the flash blind you for the rest of your life?
And then there are the people who couldn't bring themselves to smile cuz they were mean and grouchy as a result of constipation (my opinion of Milton).
Maybe most of those people didn't smile for the same reason I don't: I hate the way I look when I smile. I don't have gorgeous pearly whites. I'm not that crazy about the way I look from the neck up even with my mouth closed, but I really hate a picture that shows my teeth. I never had the orthodontic work I needed.
In olden golden times, folks probably tended to have rotten teeth, or no teeth, or crooked teeth, or . . . who knows?
But as the years passed, more and more people -- except in England -- saw dentists and orthodontists and had toothbrushes and toothpaste. Crest was invented. And as the years pass, we start to see people smiling in photos.
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| Courtney Cox's High School Yearbook Photo |
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| Halle Berry (now that's a smile) |
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| It's always been my contention that Princess Diana was revered in England because she was the only person with nice teeth. *See note after post, please. |
Infinities of love,
Janie Junebug, the insecure one
*Note: People of the U.K., please do not write a million comments telling me how nice your teeth are. I know that dental work has improved in your country. At least a dozen of you have had the braces you needed.
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| She's from London. |
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| She's from Devon. |
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| Camilla Parker-Bowles' High School Yearbook Picture |
Great post! I think that is exactly the reason people did not smile back then. Thank God for modern dentistry.
ReplyDeleteMy dad spent a fortune on my braces and I smile all the time, just so he can recoup his investment. No one throws $100 bills my way for me flashing them a grin, but one can always hope.
best,
MOV
Good for Dad. Braces are a worthwhile investment. I'm so proud of my kids' teeth I might even smile . . . when no one is looking.
DeleteI think you're on to something with the smiling thing. Only the wealthy had nice wooden pretty teeth. The rest, well they just needed enough to fight in the militia... which would be two, one on the top and one on the bottom. :)
ReplyDeleteThey needed one on top and one on the bottom to bite the opponent when their weapons failed them, right?
DeleteBINGO! By George, I think you've got it! Dental care was scarce, at best, in them good old days, and even when it became more prevalent, a lot of people couldn't afford it, or simply didn't give a jolly damn about their teeth. My college roommate was very self-conscious about her teeth, and never showed them when she smiled, and usually held her hand over her mouth when she laughed. Dunno why; I thought she was beautiful. As we grew older, she lost some of that earlier self-consciousness, and in the months before she died of cancer, she was flashing her pearly whites quite often. Ironic, isn't it? (Oh, naughty girl, those pics of the "Brits" are just plain mean... FUNNY... TRUE... but mean...)
ReplyDeleteI love being naughty. It brings me such joy. Maybe it's because I was so well behaved when I was younger.
DeleteHi Janie, this post is so funny, you're a riot. I totally agree with the teeth thing, until I had mine reworked I always looked pissed off in my photos. I think people in the olden times didn't have any teeth, cause they had never heard about brushing, flossing or gargling. And yes, people from England do not have the best teeth in the world, even the actors on tv etc. do not spend a lot of money on their smiles, maybe it's because it rains so darn much, everybody is too pissed to go to the dentist....
ReplyDeleteLove your blog :)
too pissed to go to the dentist -- that's funny
DeleteActually, The Hurricane has had more than one British boyfriend and they all had nice teeth. Shame on me for making fun of my lovely British friends. Shame!
I usually don't like to crack a giant smile because it winds up making my face look fat. :)
ReplyDeleteSo when you smile, people wander around, shaking their heads and saying, Poor fat-faced Rick. We would like him if it weren't for that fat face.
DeleteI am not a fan of my smile because I have a very gummy smile since my front teeth are quite short. Thankfully though, I got my dad's naturally straight teeth and didn't have to have braces or anything. My sis did though..hehehehe ;)
ReplyDeleteWhy, Maggie, I'm surprised at you. That's actually quite an evil little hehehehe. Good job.
DeleteI have to take what I can get when it comes to the gene pool pickings between my sis and myself. She got the super high metabolism and the only times she has ever weighed slightly more than me was both times she was heavily pregnant (which I did rub in!) and she has the good eyesight, can tan, and is taller. I've always said that she got the good genes but I got the "genes" you had to lay on the bed, suck it in, and squeeze into!
DeleteI used to have the skinny genes, and thus, the skinny jeans, but not anymore. I can never again attend a family gathering!
DeleteI was going to say it was because of the teeth that they didn't smile. Plus life was more serious back then. Growing up I had buckteeth so bad I could eat corn through a picket fence. Even on of my classmates, Joy, ask be to kiss her because her tonsils itched. Bitch! But plenty of dental work and I am the smoking hot hunk of hickey bate you see today.
ReplyDeleteThank God dentistry made you the man you are, and that's the man for me.
DeleteJanie, you're so funny and the pictures do tell the story.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Peaches. I even feel funny today. Or perhaps it's more accurate to say I feel I'm humorous.
DeleteLife was HARD. Photos were expensive, and they had to SIT STILL while the plate took the exposed picture. I doubt if mirrors were hanging on every wall and the finished product must have been cause for pride. Thank gawd for digital cameras so I can erase the photos of myself. Out of 20, I can usually save one.
ReplyDeleteIF I allowed my photo to be taken, I might like one shot out of a thousand.
DeleteThat may be a good reason not to smile, but I always thought it had more to do with how they took photos back then. You had to sit perfectly still for a period of time. I can imagine that it was harder to plaster a genuine smile on your face for any length of time without coming across blurry mouthed or garish. But teeth could have had a lot to do with it, too. ;)
ReplyDeleteI think you make an excellent point, but I had heard that the reason people didn't smile in photos was because they had to still for something like 10 or 20 minutes because it took so long for the photo to 'take' and smiling that long would be impossible. No clue if that's true, but that's the info I have in my head, anyhow :)
ReplyDeleteAnd, by the way, my new blog is up and running, finally. Here's the link if you want to pop over and visit! WritesyDaisy.com
Some other people said that about photos, too. I found your blog and added it to my reading list. Thanks for telling me how.
DeleteCamilla Parker-Bowles....BAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete-andi
Look at how nasty I can be.
DeleteI have deep set eyes. When I smile in a photo, it looks as if they are closed unless I make a special effort to hold them wide open.
ReplyDeleteI once photographed a woman for a newspaper story and her eyes disappeared. I told her to keep them wide open and she looked ridiculously startled.
DeleteThat mean thing you said about the Brits? Well-behaved women seldom make history.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I have said it too.
And, I needed braces very much when I was a child.
My new dentist is trying to talk me into braces. I still long for them, but I can't afford them and at this point in my life, why bother?
DeleteI forgot to say that The Hurricane used that quotation about women for her high school valedictory.
DeleteI think you've solved the mystery! Too funny!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mama.
DeleteOh my goodness! lol England…
ReplyDeleteI actually can't help but smile, even when I had braces. My senior year in high school though, I felt self-conscious and hardly smiled. My pictures for that year make me look like a gangster with an attitude. Ah well, nothing stops me now.
Awesome post! Glad you re-posted it :D (<~ that's me grinning)
I like to smile with my lips held together very tightly, kind of like a puckered asshole.
DeleteI also do not like to smile in photos, why because I look stupid and fake and my teeth are not white but mostly I just don't look that good when I smile, well I don't think I do
ReplyDeleteI hate the way I look with a fake smile.
Delete