People used to say “prunes” instead of “cheese” when having their pictures taken. In the 1840s, a big—dare we say, cheesy—grin was seen as childish, so one London photographer told people to say “prunes” to keep their mouths taut. And that look predated today’s “fish face” selfie by, oh, about 180 years.
100 Mind-Blowing Prunes Facts
People used to say “prunes” instead of “cheese” when getting their pictures taken. In the 1840s, a cheesy grin was seen as childish, so a London photographer told people to say “prunes” to keep their mouths tight. Now you know why people never smiled in old photos.
Victorians said “prunes” when taking pictures. Whenever we take photos, we say “cheese” because it makes us smile. However, smiling in photographs was once seen as a vulgar act. To keep a neutral face, they would say “prunes,” but there was little to no chance of it forming a smile.
People used to say “prunes” when taking pictures. In the 1840s, it was considered childish to smile for pictures so it became popular for people to say “prunes” instead of “cheese” to keep their mouths taut.
In the 1840s, children were taught to say “prunes” instead of “cheese.” This was to have their mouths closed. Just another weird historical fact in the world of photography.
In the 1840s, people said “prunes” instead of “cheese” when having their picture taken.
People used to say “prunes” when taking pictures because smiling for photos was “childish” in the 1840s.